Donations of rare books, manuscripts, archival materials and other items significantly contribute to teaching, learning, and research excellence of ODU. Many collections were established as gifts from generous alumni, faculty members and donors. A determination of whether a prospective gift enhances the value of our holdings for research, teaching and creative expression requires careful review. Staff members consider a variety of factors including, collection history, condition and existing collections strength and priorities. As the institutional memory of the university, we also actively collect materials and university records that document the history of ODU.
In order to document and preserve meaningful information about present and past, we encourage the active gathering, preservation, and access of digital materials and oral history interviews. Given the costs associated with digital preservation and access, donors should contact our staff and discuss the materials in advance.