Designing a Framework for Creating Persian Gulf University Archives

Purpose: The main purpose of the present research was to provide a pattern for creating university archives at the Persian Gulf University. Materials and Methods: The methodology of the current applied research was survey, descriptive and analytical. The research population consisted of 20 librarians and 185 faculty members of the Persian Gulf University as the stakeholders of the university archives at the Persian Gulf University. Out of a total of 205 people, a sample of 132 was selected according to the Cochran formula. The data gathering tool was a researcher-made questionnaire based on theoretical foundations and research literature in the field of university archives. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, median, and mean), and analytical statistics (single sample t-test and exploratory factor analysis). Findings: The findings of the research were categorized in several main sections in the archival requirements (resources and documents, formats and document types, general knowledge and archives staff skills, ethical standards, staff technical skills, equipment and facilities, and building requirements). Conclusion: The components of university archives addressed in the current study were divided to the following groups: resources and documents in 4 groups (faculty members and university staffs, students, financial documents and the press); formats and document types in 13 groups (photographs, films, posters, maps, microfilms, video tapes, audio tapes, compact discs (CDs, DVDs, etc.), books, publications, paper documents, newspapers, manuscripts); general and specialized knowledge of archives staff in 4 groups (familiarity with specialized archives and other resources related to archives, familiarity with international archival resources and programs related to archives, and the provision of related training courses, general knowledge of archival science and associations and archival associations); ethical codes in four groups (ethical codes of the institution of university libraries of the Iranian country, archival laws and intellectual property laws, maintaining the authenticity and integrity of resources against harm and deliberate manipulation and censorship); technical skills of archives staff (maintenance and preservation of archival resources, resource collection from various methods, evaluation and selection of archival resources, cataloging and classification of resources, and user access to resources); equipment and facilities in 7 groups (safety equipment, temperature and humidity equipment and shelves, equipment for shooting the resources and recording resources, equipment for studying by users, equipments for resource preservation and protection, computer equipment, reader and reading devices of audiovisual materials, printer and display devices); and building requirements in the 2 groups (insulation materials related to weather and other construction equipment protection).