Research Guides: RCC Archival Collections: Explore the Collections

Explore the Collections

The Randolph Community College Archives collects records of historical value dating from the school's founding in 1961 to the present.

Archives collections are available for research or personal interest to RCC faculty, staff, and students as well as community members. Descriptions of collections are being made available online to guide your search. Descriptions are not yet available for collections that are unprocessed; contact the archives to request more information about these materials. Access to some items may be restricted due to confidentiality of student, medical, and other records or due to the format or fragility of the material.

The Archives are currently housed in Building 13 and are closed to researchers. Archival material cannot be checked out but may be viewed in the RCC Library. Depending on the format and condition of materials, patrons may be required to wear gloves or to use a replica rather than the original item. Some items have been digitized and are available online, with plans to add additional material in the future. Digital or physical reproductions may be made for external use at the discretion of library staff.

List of Collections

As Archives collections are processed, finding aids with descriptive information will be linked below. If you are interested in material that has not yet been processed, please contact the Archives so that we can prioritize the processing of that collection.

Collection Number	Title	Notes
RC-01	Office of the President
RC-02	Department of Administrative Services
RC-03	Department of Instructional Services
RC-04	Department of Student Affairs	Includes Phi Theta Kappa and other student organization records
RC-05	Department of Workforce Development & Continuing Education	Includes the College and Career Readiness program. public safety programs, small business center, and Archdale center
RC-06	Department of Institutional Advancement	Includes marketing material, SACS Accreditation information, and records of the RCC Foundation
RC-07	Department of Human Resources
RC-08	Department of Safety and Emergency Preparedness
RC-09	Board of Trustees
RC-10	Events Collection	This collection contains materials from campus and community events related to RCC, especially graduation and pinning ceremonies. Programs are heavily represented along with some planning documents, copies of speeches, invite and attendee lists, advertising material, and payment information.
RC-11	Visiting Artist Collection	This collection is made up of materials produced by the Visiting Artist Program at Randolph Community College from 1972-1991. The collection primarily includes files on each of the visiting artists, as well as a number of applications for artists who weren’t accepted, grant requests and budgets, Visiting Artist Conference information, directories, program evaluations, handbooks, and a small amount of material related to the Randolph Jazz Band.
RC-12	Publications Collection	Includes campus newsletters, student publications, course catalogs, yearbooks, and other publications.

What is a Finding Aid?

A finding aid is a document written by archivists that describes a collection of archival records. They are tools to help patrons understand what is in the archives before making a visit for research or personal interest, and to provide context and background information on the material and its creators.

Each finding aid contains information on:

the title of the collection
who created the materials, if known
dates of the records
size of the collection
how the material came to the archives
access restrictions, if any

Some finding aids also include information on:

the history or biography of the creator of the records
how the materials are organized
inventories or contents lists of boxes or folders
selected topics covered by the records

For more information on finding aids, visit The Hows and Whys of Finding Aids by Dorothy Berry.