While the definition of University records generally excludes books, periodicals, and other printed material, certain types of publications are collected by the UW Archives as official records of the University. The UW Archives divides publications roughly into five categories:

A. Official University Publications.
These include budget "red books," catalogs or bulletins, faculty, staff, and student directories, timetables, etc. This type of publication describes official admission procedures and requirements, degree requirements, course lists, and so on. ARMS routinely receives these publications and retains them permanently. It is not necessary for department offices to retain copies of these publications except as needed for reference; collections of these publications should not be transferred to the UW Archives.

EXCEPTION: Since many departments produce their own course catalogs and periodically update them, arrangements should be made to transfer a copy of these items to the UW Archives for permanent preservation.

B. Publications Produced as a Result of University Operations.
These publications are largely administrative and include such items as annual financial reports, annual budgets, enrollment reports, and various other statistical and planning reports and documents. These publications are also considered archival. Some are sent to the UW Archives routinely, while others come to the UW Archives from the originating department when it transfers its administrative subject files. University departments that receive copies of these publications may dispose of them after reference use has been completed, provided the department is not in any way responsible for significant annotations in the report or document. Because this category is not as clearly defined as the first one, it is advised that the department contact the UW Archives with questions about whether or not a report should be saved or destroyed.

C. Publications of Research Centers and Institutes.
This category includes publications such as the report series prepared by the Social Systems Research Institute and the various reports by the Sea Grant program. The UW Archives routinely receives many of these publications, but because of limited space, is not actively recruiting additional collections of publications from centers and institutes. Departments are advised to check with the UW Archives to ascertain which publications it receives, while centers and institutes should check with appropriate college or department libraries that may wish to collect their publications.

D. Publications Authored or Produced Outside the University.
This category contains a variety of publications from supply catalogs to professional journals and magazines. The UW Archives does not collect these printed materials; they should be removed from records collections prior to their transfer to the UW Archives.