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8th Circuit Court Archives
Collection Development Policy
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MissionThe mission of the Eighth Circuit Court Archives is to collect, organize, preserve and make
available materials related to the history of the federal courts in the United States Eighth
Circuit.
IntroductionLocation and ManagementThe U.S. Courts Library Eighth Circuit is the repository of the Court Archives. The Collection
is located in the headquarters library's Archives and Rare Books Room on the 22nd floor of the
Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Eighth Circuit's nine branch libraries may elect to collect historic materials on the courts
and judges of their respective jurisdictions, listed below.
Currently, the Fargo and Kansas City branch libraries collect historic materials.
St. Louis Library as Archival Repository
The Archives Room in the St. Louis library has a temperature, humidity, and light controlled
environment in order to preserve the life of the Archives Collection. As such, it is the
official repository of archival materials for the Court of Appeals and the recommended
repository for all the other federal courts in the Eighth Circuit. While courts and branch
libraries may wish to collect historic materials for local access, the recommended practice
is to make a copy for local collections, when feasible, and send the original material to
the St. Louis library for preservation in the Court Archives.
History
The Court Archives has its roots in material collected by the Circuit Executive's Office. The
Office retained materials generated during the planning of judicial ceremonies; videos and
audio cassettes capturing judicial ceremonies and interviews; photographs, negatives, and
portraits of Court of Appeals judges, and recorded proceedings, programs, and resolutions
of the Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference. Since approximately 1987, the Office has also
maintained a collection of current photos of each federal judge, Court of Appeals unit head,
clerk of court, chief probation officer, chief pretrial services officer, and federal public
defender for inclusion in the Eighth Circuit's Annual Report.
In the 1980s, the Eighth Circuit's U.S. Courts Library developed files on federal judges
containing biographical sketches from various sources and newspaper and journal articles by
or about the judges. In addition, the library collected books on court history and in 1981
began weekly compilations of newspaper articles concerning Eighth Circuit judges, cases,
and courthouses.
During the planning of the new St. Louis federal courthouse in the 1990s, then Chief U.S.
Court of Appeals Judge Richard S. Arnold designated the library as the future official
repository of the Court Archives for the Court of Appeals. In 1998, the Circuit Executive
transferred custody of the Court of Appeals Archives to the St. Louis headquarters library.
The library moved into the new Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse in August, 2000, and the
Court Archives Collection was placed in the library's temperature, humidity, and light
controlled Archives and Rare Book Room.
Organization and cataloging of the Court Archives began in earnest in April, 2001. As
of 2004, individual items such as books and videos are all cataloged, and work
in processing the paper materials is well under way. Work on the photographs,
negatives, portraits, and memorabilia will be planned.
Acquisitions PolicyScope of Policy
This collection development policy governs the Court Archives in the U.S. Courts Library
Eighth Circuit. While courts in the Eighth Circuit may wish to collect historic materials,
they are not bound to this policy. They may, however, wish to use it as guidelines in their
acquisition of historic materials.
Scope of Collection
The Court Archives will collect materials documenting the history of the federal Circuit,
Court of Appeals, Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, District and Bankruptcy courts and staff in
the legal jurisdictional boundaries of the United States Eighth Circuit. These materials
may be created by, received by, or be about the federal courts and staff in this
jurisdiction.
States, or judicial districts, falling under the jurisdiction of the Eighth Circuit
have varied over time since the Circuit's establishment in 1837. For this history, see
the web site of the Federal Judicial
Center History Office. The current structure of the Eighth Circuit was established in 1929
as the seven states of Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and
South Dakota.
Formats Collected
Materials may be collected in any format. Current formats include paper, newspaper, books,
video recordings, audio recordings, CD-ROMs, photographs, portraits, architectural drawings,
maps, and memorabilia.
Topics and Materials Collected
The categories listed below will be collected for the Court Archives. All pertain to the federal
courts of the Eighth Circuit. Included are examples of what the Archives collects in those areas.
invitations; programs; recorded proceedings; proceedings transcripts in draft form and West booklets; correspondence; news and journal articles; photographs; negatives; memorabilia
Materials Not Collected
The Court Archives does not serve as a repository for Eighth Circuit federal case records.
The clerks' offices of the Eighth Circuit maintain the case records and deposit non-current,
official court records with the National Archives and Records Administration.
The Court Archives also does not serve as a repository for collections of judges' papers.
These are more appropriately placed in manuscript repositories. For information on likely
repositories, contact the Archives Librarian.
A U.S. Courts library may choose to not acquire items for the Archives which require
preservation care (supplies, techniques, or environmental control) not available in the
respective library. In such cases, the items may more appropriately be deposited in a
local archival institution providing such preservation care.
AccessWho May Access
The following persons may access the Court Archives: Eighth Circuit federal court staff;
national federal court staff; researchers and members of the public granted access
permission by the Circuit Librarian, Deputy Circuit Librarian, or the Archives Librarian.
Restricted Materials
Some materials may be restricted due to security or privacy concerns. These materials will
be kept in locked archival storage and may only be accessed according to the individual
item's restricted access policy.
Circulation
Some archival items may be circulated to Eighth Circuit court staff with the permission of
the Circuit Librarian, Deputy Circuit Librarian, or Archives Librarian. The item must
be checked out using an archives circulation form. Fragile, rare, or restricted items will
not circulate.
November 2004
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