Society for the Preservation of Physician Assistant History Collection Development Policy

The Society for the Preservation of Physician Assistant History Special Collection contains materials that document the history and evolution of the physician assistant profession from its conception to the present time. The Special Collection serves as a resource for professional organizations, educational programs, faculty, students, researchers, and the general public by identifying, collecting, preserving, and making accessible materials related to the physician assistant profession, of significant scholarly and/or historic value. The Special Collection is also responsible for the safekeeping of any non-current administrative records of the Society for the Preservation of Physician Assistant History (SPPAHx) deemed to have permanent value by the Society or an agent of the Society. Although the SPPAHx owns this collection, it is housed as a specialized collection within the Duke University Medical Center Archives (DUMCA). Due to the relationship between DUMCA and the special collection, materials added to the collection must follow all DUMCA procedures and adhere to all DUMCA policies.

The Special Collection consists of two main parts: non-current SPPAHx administrative records of permanent value and a core collection of PA related materials. The major emphasis (focus) of the core collection is historical and scholarly information about the physician assistant profession. Subject areas include but are not limited to: development of the profession, professional organizations, educational programs/models, credentialing (i.e. accreditation, certification, and licensing), professional development, and people. For a more detailed breakdown of these subject areas, refer to the appendix themes for PA History Collection.

Acquisitions of materials will take into account the mandates and policies of other (archival) institutions, the resources required to gain intellectual and physical control over the materials in a reasonable period of time, the legal rights of the donor to gift the materials, the extent and terms of any restrictions, the materials' relationship to the strengths and weaknesses of the existing collection, the availability of suitable storage facilities, and the physical condition of the materials.

Due to the infeasibility of collecting all materials relating to the PA profession, as well as the undesirability of duplicating existing collections, administrative records of other PA programs would not be subject for inclusion in this collection unless the program's institution did not have an institutional archives.

Language is not a criterion for inclusion or exclusion in this collection. The majority of materials however are in English.

The collection currently dates from the 1960's to the present.

There are no geographical boundaries. While the majority of the collection is from within the United States, all areas will be considered for inclusion.

• Records (ex's minutes, reports, correspondence, and financial records)
• Personal Papers
• Books or other published materials (such as journals) - will generally not be collected unless they are an integral part of an accepted collection or there are special/compelling reasons for their acquisition
• Photographs
• Oral Histories
• Artifacts and memorabilia - will only acquire objects that bear directly on the history of physician assistants, are of significant historical and scholarly value, and are of dimensions and materials that can be housed permanently in the Special Collection's current allocated space.

Duplicates of materials contained in the Special Collection will not be accepted for inclusion, except under very special circumstances. Duplicates may, however, be accepted and designated for the Physician Assistant History Center (PAHx) reading room and/or library. Any materials offered for donation, but not accessioned into the Special Collection may be retained for use in the PAHx reading room and/or library with the donor’s permission.

The materials stated above may be in a variety of formats, such as paper, electronic, audio-visual, or digital media. When information exists in more than one format, preference is given to formats with known longevity.

The SPPAHx Board of Directors must approve all purchases. Donations will be accepted provided that (a) legal ownership of the item or collection is transferred through a signed Deed of Gift, (b) the item is appropriate (falls within the subject boundaries and is appropriate for the collection) (c) the item is in fair condition or can be repaired in-house except under very special circumstances.

The Archivist reserves the right to dispose of materials found to be inappropriate for the collection in accordance with the Deed of Transfer agreement entered into by SPPAHx and DUMCA regarding the collection. Options include returning materials to donors, offering materials to other institutions (when appropriate and feasible), and destroying materials.