Hertford College Archives

Collecting & donations

Please contact the Archivist if you have a document, photograph or other item that you think would be of interest. We are always interested to see items that tell us something more about the college, and we will be happy to provide advice and further information where possible.

We aim to strengthen our collections by acquiring and permanently preserving records created by Hertford College and its predecessors, Hart Hall and Magdalen Hall; so if you are considering making a donation the Archivist would be delighted to discuss this. We are particularly interested in collecting:

• Personal papers of fellows, college staff, servants and alumni, especially if they are illustrative of the history of the college or its predecessors
• Official college photographs and personal photographs of individuals with a close connection to the college, or that are illustrative of college life
• Records of college societies and related organisations
• Records relating to significant events in the life of the college

We are always delighted to consider potential donations and we accept archival records in a wide range of formats, including digital files. If you have an item which you think might be relevant to our collections, please contact the archivist before sending the item. Unfortunately we are not normally able to take objects, works of art or printed books unless they are of high significance to the history of the college or our collections. All potential donations will be assessed in accordance with our Collecting Policy. If we are unable to accept your items, we may be able to suggest other potential places of deposit.

We are happy to accept digital files in most standard formats – please contact us beforehand to discuss this further. If you are considering donating scans of photographs, please talk to the Archivist about the most suitable file formats for long term preservation and the best method of transfer.