The University Archives includes records of University of Southern Maine from about 1970 to the present.
The University Archives are organized into numbered Record Groups and subgroups that reflect the hierarchical organization of the University at a given time. For example, the records of the Libraries are in RG12, the records of the Office of the Librarian are in RG12-1, and the records of Library departments are in RG12-5.
A list of Record Groups and Series is available here.
Since most records in the Archives were created before the restructuring of 2014-2015, Record Groups do not reflect the current organizational structure of the University.
The contents of the University Archives are recorded in Registers. There is a Register for each Series in each Record Group. Registers are currently available in person in the Special Collections Reading Room. Selected registers are digitzed and available on USM Digital Commons.
Within each Register, records are listed in the order they were received by Special Collections, meaning they are not organized by date or subject. This is the main difference between a Register and a Finding Aid.
Entries in the Register include a box number (eg. R-19) and a descriptive folder title with dates. Some entries also include a folder number (eg. 1) or an accession number (eg. #76-37).
When requesting records in the Reading Room, include the Record Group number, Series number, Box number, and Folder number or Accession number on the request slip. For example, RG20-3, Box R-19, Folder 1, Accession #76-37.
Special Collections staff and student workers are in the process of providing digital access to the original paper Archives Registers by scanning and cataloging them.
A temporary Google Drive file of digitized Registers is available here. Please note that it is a work in process, and contact us with any questions.
When our project is complete, all 7526 pages of the Archives Registers will be keyword searchable in Digital Commons.
Alumni papers, faculty papers, research papers, and the records of the colleges and universities on our campuses before 1970 can be found in the Manuscript Collection.
Learn about searching and browsing Manuscript Collections here.
The records of the University of Maine System can be found in UMaine Special Collections & Archives, Raymond H. Fogler Library, Orono, ME. Learn more about the UMaine and UMS archives here.
Digitzed minutes of the UMS Board of Trustees are available on Digital Commons@UMaine.
