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Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies

Collections Policy

Our guidelines for collection appraisal, development, and management.

Introduction

The Hoda Z. Nassour and Herbert R. Nassour, M.D. Archive of Lebanese Diaspora supports the mission of the Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies to preserve and provide access to knowledge of Lebanese immigrants in the United States and throughout the world. The Nassour Archive began in 2012 as a repository for digitized reproductions of material provided to the Center by members of the North Carolina Lebanese-American community for the documentary Cedars in the Pines. Following the formal endowment of the Center in 2015, the Nassour Archive expanded to include material that reflects the diversity of the Lebanese diaspora. In 2017, the Nassour Archive started collecting physical materials, thereby offering a space for the perpetual preservation of the memories and histories of immigrants and their descendants.

The Nassour Archive provides a space for the voices and lives of Lebanese immigrants as reflected in the materials created and owned by immigrant individuals, families, and communities. We view immigration as an ongoing experience that transcends borders, resists simple stories, and echoes through generations rather than as a one-time event. We believe that understanding the history of immigration provides insight into the complexities of the present, and that hearing the experiences of immigration increases empathy towards people who leave their place of birth to settle in another. Above all, we seek to work with heritage communities to collaboratively build a repository of memory, history, and culture that respects and reflects their multifaceted experiences.

The purpose of the Collections Policy is to guide the management and development of the Nassour Archive’s collections. It outlines what types of materials the Archive collects, the procedures for acquisition and deacquisition, and the methods for providing access to the materials.

Acquisition Policy

The Nassour Archive seeks to acquire materials that capture the historical and contemporary experiences of immigrants from present-day Lebanon and the historical Levant, including Greater Syria and Palestine. The Nassour Archive prefers to acquire items in their original analog format when originals are available and have not already been digitized by the donor. Original materials provide important information about the physical history, provenance, and context of the collection. The archive will also accept digital objects when original materials cannot be obtained. In such cases, the Archive staff will encourage the donor to consider donating the original materials to the Archive in the future. 

Due to limited space availability and the Nassour Archive’s collection scope, material culture objects will only be accepted at the archivist’s discretion. Approved materials accompanied by a completed deed of gift can be mailed to the Center, brought into our office by the donor, or brought in by staff who have received them from a donor. Items mailed to the Center should be worked out beforehand and mailing labels sent to the donor. Creation of mailing labels should always be done through the business manager for the Center. Donors should not send unsolicited materials to us. When it does happen (because we cannot control every eventuality), a deed of gift should be procured before the collection will be processed. For digital donations, they can be shared via Google Drive, emailed, or an external drive can be sent to us in the mail.

The geographical focus of the Nassour Archive is primarily North and South America, with a chronological period ranging from the 1880s to the 2010s (and continuing into the present where appropriate). When considering a potential collection, Archive staff must survey and ask whether the materials will add to the history of the community, further understanding of the community’s experiences, or provide meaningful documentation of Lebanese diaspora life. 

Major Subject Areas and Categories

Listed below are types and examples of items that the Nassour Archive collects. Please note that this list is not exhaustive.

Family Papers

Examples include personal or professional letters and correspondence, photographs, and clearly identified audiovisual materials, among others. Also of interest are files relating to an individual’s civic, business, religious, political, and social activities. Please note that family papers accepted by the Nassour Archive must have direct relevance to the experience of immigrants and their families.

The Nassour Archive is not a genealogy center and therefore does not seek family trees or genealogical materials whose primary purpose is to document family lineage. This information can be difficult to verify and may be altered or expanded over time. However, genealogical materials may be accepted when they form part of a larger collection that has significant historical value and adds to the Archive’s mission. Prior to obtaining materials such as immigrant records (see examples below) are checked through platforms such as Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org to determine its potential value to the archive’s collection.

Arabic Newspapers

In 2016, the Nassour Archive founded its Historic Arabic Newspaper Digitization Project, an effort to locate and digitize the over 140 newspapers, journals, and magazines published by Arabic-speaking immigrants in North and South America between 1880 and the 2010s. The Archive collects both original physical copies of these newspapers and digital scans, most of which are accessible via arabicsearch.org.

Immigrant Records

Examples include historical immigration records, naturalization documents, visa records, and other ethnic heritage documents that are not accessible online on genealogical platforms such as Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org.

Lebanese Organization and Club Records

The Nassour Archive is interested in records that illustrate the purpose, activities, and policies of an organization. Examples include, but are not limited to, constitutions and bylaws, meeting minutes, convention programs, press releases, and photographs.

Lebanese Church Records and Materials

Examples include religious societies, photographs, relevant newsletters, or other holdings related to immigration or the diaspora and from the historical Levant.

A note on languages:

The Nassour Archive acquires materials in all languages common to the diaspora. Most acquisitions are in English or Arabic, but French, Spanish, and Portuguese are also represented, along with other languages including Turkish, Greek, Syriac, Russian, and Italian.

Restrictions

The following categories are those materials which are generally not accepted by the Nassour Archive. If any of the following materials are present in an existing accession, the Nassour Archive will respect the donor or depositor’s wishes regarding the disposition of the materials as outlined in the deed of gift or agreement.

Personal or Organizational Financial Records and Medical Records

For legal and security reasons, the Nassour Archive will not accept or retain personal financial information such as general receipts, bank documents, checks, or tax returns. This includes anything related to payroll or confidential information. The Archive will also not accept general personal medical records or information. Birth and death certificates may be accepted under certain circumstances, but will be restricted until the records become public according to the law.

General Readership Books, Periodicals, or other easily accessible items

The Archive reserves the right to refuse print materials that are easily available elsewhere, or are determined not to be historically significant and/or useful for research purposes at the Nassour Archive.

Copies and Facsimiles

The Nassour Archive does not usually accept materials that are predominantly copies of their originals due to preservation standards. One exception to this is the acceptance of digital copies in place of fragile or lost originals.

Where copies are accepted, the Archive will determine whether or not the materials can be considered to adhere to minimal professional standards for the digital preservation of archival materials. For example, this could include digital copies of newspapers used as substitutes for the original newspaper.

Materials with Extensive Restrictions

Records that will require a long period of restriction due to personal or legal reasons will not usually be accepted by the Nassour Archive. Collections where small portions may need restrictions may be accepted.

Reference Materials

The Archive maintains a collection of secondary-source material, including scholarly monographs and dissertations related to the study of the Lebanese diaspora. These materials are used for in-house research, and selected materials are accessible to researchers who visit the Khayrallah Center. However, the Nassour Archive does not seek to add additional reference materials except under unique circumstances.

Duplicates

Duplicates of materials already held in the Archive will not be accepted.

Collections with Unclear/Contested Provenance/Origins

Materials Presenting Risks to Health and Safety

Acquisition

The Nassour Archive may acquire physical and digital material by gift, transfer, bequest, loan, exchange, or purchase. Donations and purchases are preferred to deposits on loan, and any purchases will be made only of documents of outstanding importance to Lebanese diaspora studies. The Nassour Archive can only invest resources into the preservation of items that it owns. Therefore, the Archive will accept donations of materials, but generally will not accept such material on loan. The deed of gift formally signifies that the materials become the property of the Nassour Archive and transfers certain legal rights to NC State University and the Nassour Archive. The lead archivist reserves the right to accept or decline those gifts not appropriate for the Nassour Archive.

Potential donors should initially contact the Nassour Archive through the Archive email. Alternatively, collections may also be referred to the Archive through other staff or existing relationships with community members. Before obtaining the donation, Archive staff will gather information about the potential collection to determine its relevance and suitability to the Archive. 

When photographs are offered to the Archive, donors will be asked to provide as much information as possible. Photographs without information such as people, places, events, and dates have limited research value. If possible, photographs should be accompanied by names, dates, locations, and descriptions. 

Multimedia or digital assets may be acquired as the result of in-house production or production by a vendor at the behest of the Nassour Archive.

Potential acquisitions will be evaluated and approved according to the following guidelines:
  • The materials represent an element within the Nassour Archive’s mission and purpose.
  • The materials fall within the Nassour Archive’s collection strengths.
  • The materials enhance the collections. It must be deemed appropriate to the research and educational mission of the NALD. The material has scholarly value and/or instructional utility.
  • The physical condition or digital facsimile of the material is appropriate for its intended use within the Archive.
  • The material’s degree of documentation as to provenance (origin, date of collection, context, history, etc.) is appropriate for its intended use.
  • The material is free of encumbrances except for mutually agreed-upon restrictions as detailed in the deed of gift. Restraints on intellectual property or title rights are considered and documented at the time of acquisition.
  • The material can be prepared, secured, stored, protected, and maintained by the Archive under conditions that ensure its access and availability for continued use.
To protect the integrity of the Nassour Archive collections, materials will only be accepted when the following conditions are met:
  • A deed of gift or agreement form that details the terms and conditions of the donation or deposit has been signed by both the depositor and a member of the Archive’s staff OR a purchase has been made in consultation with the lead archivist, and by permission of the Center’s director.
  • For ongoing relationships with donors or depositors involving multiple transfers of material, the manner and timing of these transfers will be defined in the agreement form signed at the time of the first deposit unless otherwise amended to the satisfaction of both parties for a specific transfer.
  • Materials purchased with the assistance of grant aid will be held subject to the terms and conditions of bodies from whom such aid has been received.
  • It is a condition of acceptance that documents will be available for public access either immediately or at the termination of a specified period. Materials requiring extensive or permanent restrictions will not be accepted.

The Nassour Archive reserves the right to restrict access to records that are not arranged, are being processed, or are exceptionally valuable or fragile. Records are only published when ALL items are processed. In some cases, copies may be substituted for original documents.

Deaccession Policy

The Nassour Archive staff will work with donors, according to the permissions outlined in the deed of gift, to either return to the donor or dispose of materials that fall outside of the Archive’s collecting scope, or are duplicates of materials already held in the collections. Once materials have been fully processed, the Archive does not have any intention of deaccessioning materials except under one of the following conditions:

  • Material is found to be outside the scope of the Archive’s mission or collections policy.
  • Material lacks physical integrity or has deteriorated or decomposed beyond use or repair.
  • Material has failed to retain its identity or authenticity, or has been lost or stolen and remains so for more than 10 years.
  • Material is a duplicate.
  • The Nassour Archive is unable to preserve, stabilize, or properly store the material. Accompanying data or provenance is so lacking that the material has little or no historical, cultural, or scientific value. 
  • Material must be deaccessioned to comply with state or federal law.
  • Original donors or copyright holders have requested the removal or return of material. This may occur where the collection is formally on loan, in which case the return will be governed by conditions laid out in the original agreement form. However, older material donated in the past without adequate agreement terms or lack of provenance may also find itself the subject of a legitimate claim by heirs to the original owner. 
  • Material poses a health or safety hazard.

If a material follows under the following conditions, the deaccessioning process on ArchivesSpace of this collection will begin. Archive staff will contact the donor through their original contact method about the deaccessioning of the material. Once this collection record is permanently deaccessioned, a physical copy of the deaccession record will also be retained at the Center.

Access to archival materials does not necessarily convey permission to reproduce, publish, distribute, or otherwise use those materials. Researchers are responsible for determining the copyright status of materials and obtaining any permissions required for reproduction or publication. The Nassour Archive will provide information about known rights, restrictions, and permissions when available. 

The Nassour Archive may authorize certain uses of materials with rights granted to the Archive in accordance with the terms stated on the deed of gift. If the copyright or other rights ownership is unclear, the Nassour Archive will make reasonable efforts to provide available information regarding rights ownership, but cannot guarantee that all rights holders have been identified. Users assume responsibility for obtaining any permissions necessary for their intended use.

For materials that are digital copies or reproductions of original materials held by another institution, the Nassour Archive may not have the right to grant permissions for reproduction or other uses. Researchers should contact the institution that holds the original materials to determine rights and permissions.

Usage of materials from the Nassour Archive must include citations and credit to the Archive: 

[Identification of item], [Collection Title], [Collection Number], Hoda Z. Nassour and Herbert R. Nassour Jr., MD, Archive of Lebanese Diaspora, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.

Specific rights and access information for individual collections and items will be documented in the appropriate archival description and digital repository records. ArchivesSpace records may include Conditions Governing Access and Conditions Governing Use notes, while Omeka records may include collection- and item-level Rights and Access Rights statements.

Access and Use Policy

The Nassour Archive is a research institution dedicated to producing, increasing, and diffusing knowledge about the historical and contemporary experiences of Lebanese immigration and diaspora. Access to the complex and varied experiences of immigration builds historical understanding, broadens societal inclusivity, and strengthens cultural and familial bonds. 

As part of the Nassour Archive’s collaboration with NCSU Libraries, our physical materials are stored at the Administrative Services Annex. The Nassour Archive makes every effort to provide users free and equal access to its online and on-site materials to further their education and research. To facilitate accessibility, the Archive strives to digitize as much of its material as possible. The Archive works with NCSU Special Collections to allow researchers to view our materials in their reading room. Where material is not digitized, access is provided on-site. However, there are restrictions to some materials both physically and digitally. Where stipulated by the donor, for legal reasons, or at the discretion of Nassour Archive staff for sensitive material, items may be restricted from public use.

Collections that have not been digitized without restrictions are available on-site for researchers. Researchers may request digitization of materials that have not already been digitized. All research requests are ONLY initiated upon submission of a research request form. These requests will be evaluated based on:

  • Quantity of material requested
  • Physical conditions of the materials
  • Copyright and legal considerations 
  • Available equipment and resources
  • Staff capacity

Collections that are restricted from digital access are usually available on-site for research access under the supervision of archival staff. A small percentage of material held by the Nassour Archive is closed to research use for legal reasons and will become available at a date designated by the donor of the material. When caring for the material, researchers are expected to follow all instructions provided by the lead archivist. If the material is in a condition that could risk damage, then a digital copy of the material may be provided in place of the original material.

The Nassour Archive gives notice of new acquisitions and any restrictions on its access or use after the collection has been processed and placed online via the finding aid. All materials that are open to the public for research will be described in electronically available finding aids.

Loan Policy

Loans are temporary physical transfers of objects or documents from one institution or individual to another in which there is no transfer of ownership. Lending or borrowing is undertaken only under the terms of a contractual loan agreement between the two parties. 

Loans given to the Nassour Archive are documented with a loan agreement form signed by both the depositor and a member of Archive staff.

Date of Policy

This collections policy was last updated in November 2026 and will be reviewed and revised by NALD staff periodically but no later than November 2027.