1. The BCPM will not accept materials without a legal transfer of title, Deed of Gift, Request for Deposit, or other official acknowledgment.


2. If a donor requests the return of materials for which there is a legal Deed of Gift, the BCPM will consult the university legal counsel before making any decisions. Legally, the university does not have to return any item for which a Deed of Gift is on file.


3. If materials have been accepted in the past and there is no Deed of Gift, a donor may legally request materials be returned.

B. Loans, deposits, donations :

1. Loans : The BCPM will under no circumstances accept loans of materials.


2. Deposits : Materials may be deposited for a specified period of time subject to review at the end of the specified period.

a. No materials are to be deposited for an indefinite period of time.


b. Deposits should be for five years and may be renewed upon written request.


c. Deposited materials will not be processed.


3. Donations : No materials are to be permanently donated to the BCPM without a Deed of Gift.
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C. Closed collections :

1. Permanently: The BCPM will not accept collections that are permanently closed to public access by the donor .


2. Temporarily: The BCPM will accept collections that are temporarily closed by the donor to public access for a reasonable period of time.


3. Classified materials: Declassification of materials will be in accordance with state and federal laws. Congress has legislated that House committee records have restricted access for 30 years and Senate committee records for 20 years. [See Rules XI and XXXVI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, and Senate rules XI and XXVI 10 (a), and S. Res. 474, 96th Congress].
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D. Deaccessioning/Sampling : The BCPM reserves the right to deaccession/sample any materials within its collections, subject to the terms of acquisition and the notification of the donor or his/her heirs.

1. Case files are a controversial part of any congressional collection. Most materials in case files are protected by federal privacy legislation and should be sealed for 75 years from date of closing. Options include complete disposal immediately or after ten years, or selective sampling of files which (a) illustrate the "personal" aspects of governmental policy or (b) relate specifically to the Congressperson's district.


2. Military applications do not have long-term historical value and the contents raise serious questions concerning third-party privacy rights. Furthermore, access to them prior to the death of the applicants probably violates federal privacy legislation. Deaccession of such materials is strongly recommended.


3. Duplicate materials :

a. Duplicate materials may be deaccessioned and either discarded, offered to another repository, returned to the donor or donor's family, or discarded.


b. A Separation Sheet should be filled out and filed for all materials removed from a collection.


4. Other materials which can be deaccessioned or sampled include the following :

a. Desk calendars; invitations; recommendations; memorabilia; telephone message slips; legislation not authored by the Congressperson; Congressional Record; publications of state and federal agencies; congratulations/condolences/greetings; issue mail; letters from school children; petitions; reference files; request for flags/publications; unidentified or duplicate media; press mailing lists; personnel applications; personnel files; security clearances; office equipment records and travel expenses or vouchers.


b. A Separation Sheet should be filled out and filed for all materials removed from a collection.,
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E. Exhibit :

1. The BCPM reserves the right to include unrestricted materials in exhibitions on the Baylor University campus in accordance with normally accepted archival principles and practices.


2. Generally, no original materials will be loaned for off-campus exhibitions although photocopies may be ordered.


3. Special arrangements may be made for the loan of original materials by major exhibitors such as the Smithsonian or Library of Congress. Such requests will be considered on an individual basis and must be approved by the Director and/or library committee.
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F. Revision of policie : BCPM reserves the right to make changes in its policies as these seem reasonable and prudent. While every effort will be made to conform to the intent of the agreement made between the library and the donor at the time of accession, the library does not undertake to notify each donor of policy revisions.
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G. Emergencies: Baylor University has standard practices and prescribed procedures to follow in the event of emergencies which would threaten the collection. Duplicates of some materials may need to be made in case the original is destroyed. Such duplicates will be stored at another site to ensure survival of the intellectual content of the originals.

1. Theft:
a. Special security measures will be followed to protect those collections which contain sensitive materials or potentially valuable signatures of prominent individuals.


b. Careful inventories of all materials will be maintained to authenticate ownership in case of theft, and consideration will be given to the use of a nonintrusive permanent library ownership mark on certain types of highly desirable items.


c. Library officials will contact national organizations and stolen materials databases in the event of a theft, giving detailed descriptions of items believed stolen.


2. Fire: While the possibility of fire is remote, the BCPM staff should, nevertheless, take precautions with valuable or sensitive materials to ensure that they are not destroyed by fire or damaged by smoke.


3. Vermin :

a. Materials being accepted into the BCPM should be cleaned, whenever practicable, or fumigated, if needed, before being brought into the building.


b. Periodic spraying of the building for insects will be carried out to preserve the materials in the collection.


4. Flood : As the BCPM is several feet below ground level and at the edge of a flood plain, the staff should take precautions to protect the collections. Therefore, no boxes or papers should be stored on the floor either permanently or temporarily during processing.
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H. Duplicate material : Congressional and other manuscript collections generally contain significant quantities of duplicate materials. The BCPM will handle duplicates as follows :

1. Criteria for cataloging: If an item is already in the OPAC, the BCPM may retain it for cataloging if it supplements the materials in one of the collections or documents the legislative process.


2. Criteria for disposal: If an item is in the OPAC, it may be offered to Technical Services as a duplicate copy. They may dispose of it if it is not needed.


3. Government document : If duplicate documents, whether received from a government agency or as part of a donated collection, do not enhance existing materials in the BCPM, any government documents may be offered to the Government Documents Department of the Baylor University library system. If they are not accepted by that department, procedures will be followed as outlined in section VII.
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