Background
The Harvard Depository is owned and managed by Harvard University under the directorship of the Harvard University Library. Facilities management and budgetary oversight are provided by Harvard Real Estate. The Depository, located in Southborough, Massachusetts, is designed to provide the best possible environment for the secure preservation of materials and has a mandate to be responsive to the needs its users.
Electronic Collection Control
The Depository's computerized inventory system is based on barcodes, which allow for continuous tracking of each item in the Depository. The barcode adhesive and paper were chosen after consultation with staff of the Library of Congress Preservation Program and were pilot-tested in the Baker Library of the Harvard Business School.
Security
The Harvard Depository is a secure facility. Records held at the Depository are the property of the creating office and are treated as such. Depository personnel do not examine the contents of boxes. In addition, the sheer number of records held at the Depository helps to ensure the security and anonymity of individual boxes. The only way to determine the location of a particular box is to look it up in the Depository's computerized inventory system, which is accessible only to authorized personnel at the Depository.
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