Collecting Policy

Mission Statement And Objectives

The EAC’s mission is to collect and preserve the life stories of expatriates worldwide for future research.

The EAC aspires to become a sustainable archive centre of excellence where a collection of primary source material of all types creates a historical record of expatriate life.

Migration in one form or another has been a feature of human society since its early emergence. Nevertheless, one factor related to migration that has changed over the centuries is the motivation for moving from one place to another. Ethnologists, historians and psychologists focused on migration studies are dedicated to conceiving and defining the multiple reasons, circumstances and effects these movements have on all involved.

A specific feature of global migration developments is the continuously growing community of people ‘on voluntary temporary move’: the expatriates. Expatriation as a sub-field of migration studies has not historically received as much academic attention as other forms of migration.

Expatriates as a group tend to ‘fall through the cracks’ when it comes to being represented in official government archives and global migration studies. The EAC was created to fill the need for source material to facilitate research about expatriates.

The EAC objectives are:
• To curate and preserve unique source material documenting the experiences of expatriates of all nationalities and backgrounds;
• To establish a centre of excellence for expatriation research;
• To give the life stories of expatriates their rightful place in global migration history.

The EAC is keen to celebrate and reward talents who produce outstanding master’s theses that help to further understand the impact of expatriation on people’s lives. For this reason, in 2019, the EAC initiated an annual Master’s Thesis Award.

The EAC also actively seeks collaboration opportunities with other academic institutions to further facilitate research on subjects related to expatriate life.

Definition of an Expatriate

The EAC defines an expatriate as anyone who lives temporarily in a country other than their home country.

The EAC gathers material that reflects the lived experiences of people with any nationality or socio- economic background who live temporarily in a country other than (what they understand is) their home country. The following list is not exhaustive, but it gives an idea of the different types of expatriates from which the EAC collects material:

• Business: entrepreneurs, self-employed, and employees of international or local businesses;
• Economic: workers in search of temporary work;
• Academic: researchers or lecturers on an exchange programme or research assignment or international students;
• Non-profit/NGO: people working in non-governmental, non-profit and charitable organisations;
• Intergovernmental: employees of the UN and other international organisations;
• Diplomatic: embassy and consular staff;
• Religious: missionaries and workers in religious associations;
• Sport: athletes assigned to clubs and/or teaching/coaching;
• Cultural: artists, musicians, etc.;
• Military: on missions or stationed;
• Expatriate spouses, partners and children accompanying any of the above;
• Repatriates and returnees.

The EAC gathers material from expatriates worldwide, their accompanying partners and their children, including TCKs (Third Culture Kids). The material should originate from their time living abroad, the repatriation period or the period preceding a move abroad. The EAC also collects material from organisations that were created by and/or for expatriates.

Scope And Subject Areas Collected

The EAC collects documents of individuals (expatriates, repatriates and TCKs) and related organisations that illustrate a cross-section of expatriate life. Materials are preserved at the archive
because they are of social-historical value and enduring public interest, with the intention that they are used in academic research.

During its relatively short history, the EAC has acquired a significant number of interrelated collections in various fields. The holdings of the EAC include material in many different languages and from dozens of different nationalities and countries, dating back to the late 19th century. The EAC’s main focus is on unpublished individuals’ documents, with other material considered supplementary. The collections described below are representative of the EAC’s previous and ongoing collection development efforts.

Individual and family papers
The individual and family collections held at the EAC form the core of its holdings and cover a wide range of subjects related to expatriate life, including but not limited to: moving and finding housing, dealing with foreign bureaucracies, travelling and language barriers, social life and integration, on- site living conditions, adjustments to new cultures, reflections on political situations and environments, expatriate careers, expatriate partner/spouse experiences, emotional impacts on identity and personality, running a family and raising children abroad. The majority of the source material is in English, with many materials in Dutch. The collection includes additional documents in around 20 other languages from 18 nationalities and more than 120 countries.
Current Focus: The EAC continues to acquire material from individuals and families to broaden the collection to include as many different types of expatriate experiences as possible and provide more data to researchers in areas already covered by existing collections. Besides steadily increasing the amount of material created in traditional formats such as letters and diaries, the EAC is working on collecting and preserving the digital material (e.g. blogs, social media, etc.) that 21st-century expats are creating.

Archives of organisations
In addition to the individual and family collections that form its core, the EAC has a number of supplementary collections that give context and additional insight into expatriate life. Among these supplementary collections are archives from several different organisations that are related to expatriates in some way, whether because they are comprised of expatriates or provide services to them. Some representative collections include:

• GOS (Global Outpost Services) – GOS provides support to Shell employees and their families who face the challenges of global mobility. Because the EAC shares GOS’s roots in Shell, it holds parts of the GOS archives and parts of the archives of local Outpost offices around the world. The holdings date back to the times of the Outpost foundation in 1995 and continue until the beginning of the 21st century. The documents include reports and minutes about Outpost activities worldwide, newsletters and informational brochures related to expatriate life.
• RNW (Radio Nederland Wereldomroep¹) – The EAC holds some archives of the RNW website, which was set up in 1947 to connect Dutch people living abroad with their home country. The material was held on a series of interconnected websites, which were discontinued in 2012. The holdings at the EAC include the ‘Wereldkids’ ² website and expat-related articles from the www.rnw.nl news website.
• FAWCO (Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas) – FAWCO is an international network of independent organisations for American women abroad, focusing on education,
  the natural and human environment, multicultural understanding and international goodwill. The FAWCO archive is the first collection held on loan to the EAC. The holdings include scrapbooks, conference reports, financial documents and audio-visual material, and publications and material about FAWCO events and activities.

Current Focus: The EAC aims to continue to connect with expatriate-related organisations with suitable material to contribute and will continue to append new documents to the existing GOS, FAWCO and American women’s clubs’ archives.

Curated Material
While the EAC focuses mainly on sources we would consider ‘original’ (i.e. material created spontaneously at or near the time when the events depicted occurred), it also houses some materials that have been curated or ‘artificially’ compiled by the EAC. For example, materials solicited from expatriates as part of a specific project such as a book or exhibition.

• Shell Ladies Project. The original precursor of the EAC was the ‘Shell Ladies Project’, a few partners of Shell employees who wanted to give voice to the stories of Shell wives and
  families posted on expatriate assignments. They published two books, Life on the move (1993) and Life now (1996). The EAC houses the books and the materials collected for their publication. Both those that were published and those that were not.
• The Source Book. In 2003, Outpost Family Archive Centre (OFAC) was created to archive the materials collected for the books mentioned above. In 2008, as a ‘follow up’ to those two
  publications, OFAC released The Source Book. This publication included both original documents from the Shell Ladies Project and newly solicited submissions describing life abroad as a ‘Shell wife’ from 1927 to 2007.
• Expat Impressions of The Hague. In 2015, the EAC partnered with several local archives and organisations, and solicited material from individuals to create an exhibition called Expat Impressions of The Hague. The exhibition was curated by a local expat artist and featured large display boards showcasing quotations from expatriate sources such as diaries, letters, and other original writings, along with photographs, as well as impressions written on the spot on postcards by viewers of the exhibition. The materials (including not used) are held by the EAC. The exhibition was built to travel and was displayed in multiple locations.
• Saudade: An Intersection of Archives and Art. In 2018, the EAC celebrated its 10th anniversary as an independent foundation with an art exhibition. Ten artists from around the world
  chose something from the collection as inspiration for an art piece. All of the resulting art fits together into an antique suitcase. This suitcase, owned by EAC’s co-founder Judy Moody- Stuart, symbolises the many journeys taken by the materials in the EAC archive, as well as their expatriate creators. It is a reminder of the precious things - both tangible and intangible - that expats take with them when they move to a new place. The EAC also published the Saudade book. It is a companion to the Saudade project. It contains beautiful images of the art and archival pieces, conversations with the artists, essays from artistic and historical perspectives, and the story of the celebrated suitcase. The exhibition is built to travel and has been displayed in multiple locations.
• EAC Thesis Award. In 2019, the EAC launched a Master’s Thesis Award to encourage scholarship in expatriate studies. The EAC endeavours to shift and expand understandings of what an ‘expatriate’ is. The EAC invites master’s students worldwide to submit their thesis for award consideration.

Current Focus: The EAC remains open to future projects, collaborations and other compilations and welcomes proposals from researchers, organisations or other parties interested in creating or donating such projects.

EAC Library

Apart from the archive, the EAC houses a small but growing library of print, audio-visual, and electronic resources. The primary focus is on providing volunteers and researchers on-site access to complementary material about the various aspects of expatriate life. The library comprises books and other materials donated to the EAC and items purchased by the EAC. The EAC library includes:

• Reference books (atlases, dictionaries, etc.);
• Academic books on topics related to expatriation;
• Books related to:
  • Expatriate social studies, including TCKs;
  • The historical background;
  • Collections held in the archive;
• Books published by researchers who used the EAC collections;
• Expatriate memoirs (often part of a collection);
• Expatriate fiction.

Of particular interest in the library is the EAC’s growing collection of theses, dissertations and academic articles on topics related to expatriation and/or that were written by researchers who used the EAC collections.
Current Focus: The EAC sees its library as a valuable addition to its core holdings. It will grow organically, focusing on print material documenting aspects of expatriate life.

Types of Materials

The EAC accepts various formats and material types, both printed and digital and in any language available. The focus is on unpublished unique personal writings (ego documents) such as letters and diaries, which can be supplemented by other relevant material like photos and films. Listed below are examples of what the EAC typically collects. The list is not complete but rather suggestive. However, it is ranked according to what the EAC considers most valuable for its collection.

For individual and family collections:

• Correspondence, including paper letters, emails, notes, postcards, or any other form of digital and traditional written communication;
• Diaries and journals of any kind, whether handwritten or typed, detailed or sparsely recorded, commercially printed or as plain notebooks;
• Websites and blogs, whether sparsely recorded or continuously;
• Articles, manuscripts and essays, whether handwritten or typed, as a fragment or complete, commercially printed or as a plain draft;
• Scrapbooks, photo albums or any other kind of individually designed visual documents, as long as considerable annotations and identifying information about subjects, locations and persons are available (i.e. the EAC does not accept photographs or videos without accompanying explanatory text);
• Personal or legal documents, such as certificates, awards, programmes, invitations, membership cards, inventory lists or any other kind of related traditional or digital material;
• Pictures and any other kind of digital and traditional visual material such as loose photos and photographic prints, drawings, paintings, posters, maps, etc., if considerable annotations and identifying information about subjects, locations and persons are available;
• Additional documentary material, such as newsletters, newspapers, journals, magazines, clippings, tickets, invitations, school reports, yearbooks, annuals or any other kind of commercially or privately published related material;
• Audio-visual documents, both analogue and digital, such as films, videos, recorded interviews or any other kind of related material if considerable annotations and identifying information about subjects, locations and persons are available.

For organisational collections:

• Annual reports and meetings minutes of organisations serving the expatriate community and composed (or not) of expats;
• Organisational publications such as monthly newsletters, magazines or e-zines;
• Correspondence, including paper letters, emails, notes, postcards or any other form of digital and traditional written communication;
• Websites and blogs, whether sparsely recorded or continuous.

In general, the EAC prefers a coherent body of material rather than individual items. The main focus is on written material and pictures; audio-visual and/or other additional material is considered supplementary. Original documents are preferable to copies. Copies and transcripts are only acquired when the originals are unavailable, and the material is of sufficient importance to the EAC’s collections. The EAC focuses on collecting rare and unique materials rather than publications available elsewhere, such as popular books or magazines.

Methods of Acquisition

Whatever the source, EAC records are generally acquired by gift/donation. Ownership, custody, an publication rights are transferred to the EAC upon accession. Gifts/donations (as opposed to loans) are preferred because they ensure that a collection will be permanently preserved and available for research. In consultation with donors, the EAC evaluates and selects only material worthy of permanent preservation. Duplicate or ephemeral material identified in the initial processing of an archive is returned to the donor or destroyed in a secure manner according to the EAC policy and the donor’s instructions.

The EAC accepts material in accordance with the relevant European and Dutch legal rules and regulations regarding privacy and personal data protection, as well as storage conditions of archives. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Copyright Act (Auteurswet). The EAC is committed to making personal and organisational records as open and accessible as possible to researchers while respecting the privacy requirements described in depository agreements and other legal obligations. Donors’ wishes on the confidentiality and copyright status of material are established in advance. The EAC will respect any limitations that have been made with regard to identification and non-disclosure over a certain period of time and according to European and Dutch law.³

The EAC aims to assist donors in finding the most appropriate home for their records and, at times, may direct records to another repository if the material does not fit within the scope of the EAC.

The EAC does not usually purchase any material unless in exceptional circumstances.

Loans can be considered only for the organisational archives of still functioning institutions. Each loan agreement is discussed and agreed upon on a case-by-case basis.

Guidelines for Donating

The EAC treats each collection individually and makes decisions regarding which materials are appropriate on a case-by-case basis. However, here are some general guidelines on what may
influence whether the EAC accepts a particular item or collection.

Ownership of intellectual property
All intellectual property rights associated with the materials to be donated must belong to the donating party. If the rights to the material to be donated belong to another party, that party must give permission, and the donation agreement must be executed with the owner of the material.

Physical condition of acquisitions
Because the EAC has limited preservation and conservation resources, it is vital that the EAC only acquire materials in the best possible physical condition. Exceptions may be made in instances where the scarcity of an item in any condition warrants accepting a less-than-perfect specimen. In general, the costs involved in repairing and storing damaged documents are beyond the limited means of the EAC budget. Therefore, the EAC may decline imperfect material.

Digital file formats
The range and the number of digital formats available worldwide are vast and continually evolving. The EAC may be unable to preserve some of these formats or present them in their original form. Therefore it is vital that the EAC only acquires digital records within the technical and budgetary capacity to receive, maintain and make available. All documents will be digitised or transformed into specific file formats following the EAC guidelines and compatible with the archival registration
system.

Records not accepted
Records that do not fall within the EAC’s scope or serve enduring research interests will not be collected by the EAC. If records do not meet the selection criteria described above, they are returned or disposed of according to the EAC policy or donor’s instructions.

In general, the EAC cannot accept duplicate copies of records already held in other archives or related institutions. Exceptions may be made when a second copy has unique features, but the general rule is against adding redundant copies of published works.

The EAC cannot accept non-digital materials such as 8mm reels, videotapes or any other kind of audio-visual documents that may require a particular preservation environment. This is because the EAC may be unable to keep them in good condition and provide equipment to present them for public viewing in their original form. However, the EAC will accept digital copies of those materials. The EAC can facilitate the digitisation of those materials, although the cost of digitisation is the donor’s responsibility in these cases. Exceptions to these constraints may be made when the scarcity of an item in any condition warrants acceptance regardless.⁴

EAC Services to Donors

The EAC stores, preserves and makes accessible the archives in its custody in accordance with current professional standards. All records received are accessioned immediately. The sorting,
cataloguing, and indexing are undertaken as soon as possible but may take some time, depending on the size of the collection, the EAC’s workload, and the volunteer resources available. Materials are arranged, described, digitised and entered into an archival registration system respecting international archiving standards (ISAD, ISAAR). Copies of digitised documents are supplied to donors when specifically requested by the donor and after the EAC processes the collection.

As a private archive, the EAC is governed by privacy laws established by the European Union and the Netherlands. Individuals who have performed research at the EAC may publish data or quotations derived from EAC materials only under the following conditions:

Conditions of Access

1. Users must complete and sign a Research Agreement that has been approved and signed by the EAC Director before gaining access to the archival material.
2. Archival material may be researched only on-site (with supervision).
3. Some records may be restricted by law, EAC policy, or the donor’s request.
4. Whether printed or digital copies/scans (including cell phone photographs), no copies are to leave the EAC.
5. Handwritten notes regarding archival material can be taken but must not include names, addresses, or other personal identifying information.
6. Any archival material is never to be altered or defaced by any markings whatsoever.
7. Users are asked to keep records in the same order in which they are found
8. Before publishing ⁵ any data or quotations from the EAC, researchers must request and receive written permission from the EAC Director (see ‘Conditions of Release/Publishing of Material’ below).
9. The rules mentioned above are general; all research requests are treated on a case-by-case basis.

Conditions of Release/Publishing of EAC Material

The researcher:

1. Shall submit a Final Material Request detailing the exact EAC materials they wish to use. The EAC Director should co-sign it;
2. Shall only use the collected data for the purpose described in the Final Material Request. For any other further use, new permission must be requested;
3. Shall use the data anonymously, redacting last names and any information that might directly or indirectly identify the related persons (for example, dates, addresses, religion, etc.), and shall not publish or release publicly any information that could infringe upon the right to privacy of individuals or be used to the advantage or disadvantage of other involved individuals or legal entities or third parties;
4. Shall follow any additional restrictions on an individual material, as outlined in the Final Material Request;
5. Shall credit the EAC on all used documents and photographs in accordance with the EAC citation guidelines (see ‘Citing EAC Material’ below);
6. Shall indemnify the EAC against any claim made by any third party in view of damages caused by the consultation of the collection;
7. Decides on whether to make a copy of their work available to the EAC for inclusion in the EAC’s library;
8. When no consent for release and/or publication of the EAC material has been given, the researcher shall only use the data for private study and not share it with other persons.

Citing EAC Material

Traceability of work
Precise and consistent citation helps to demonstrate that research work is based on documentary evidence. It is also crucial to allow other researchers to identify the source, verify information or take any initial research forward.

Overview
References to archival records differ from references to books or other types of published material. A book is a separate entity in its own right, with its own author and title. An archival record is usually unpublished and is just one item in a series of items created or maintained by an agency or person.

As far as possible, archival material is kept in the same sequence and filing system in which it was created and maintained. Correct citations provide a guide to the origin and the location of the records.

Citation protocol
On the first citation within the text, write the full name of the archive followed by a colon, followed by the archive’s abbreviation and the rest of the information:

Example: Expatriate Archive Centre: EAC 1.002.3.04.5, pp 3-5

Expatriate Archive Centre:	EAC 1.002.3.04.5,	pp 3, 5, 12
(full reference number, followed by a comma)	(full name of EAC, followed by a colon)	(page number[s], separated by a comma, if applicable)

 

All subsequent references within the text may be the abbreviation only:
Example EAC 1.005.4.05, pp 9-14

When writing the list of references in a bibliography, use the full name of the archive followed by a colon, followed by the cited reference numbers separated by a comma:
Example Expatriate Archive Centre: 1.002.3.04.5, 1.005.4.05

Description of the EAC (for summaries, abstracts, publications, etc.)
The Expatriate Archive Centre (EAC) collects and preserves the life stories of expatriates worldwide for future research. The EAC is a unique, non-profit, independent archive based in the Netherlands, with a global outreach.

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References

1. Radio Netherlands Worldwide. ↩
2. World Kids. ↩
3. For more detailed information about personal data protection and privacy regulations see the EAC Depository Privacy Statement. ↩
4. For more information about the EAC donation conditions see the EAC Depository Agreement. ↩
5. For purposes of the EAC, ‘publishing’ means making the content available to the general public, whether in print or online. Each research agreement explicitly mentions the reasons for using EAC materials (for example, a master’s or PhD thesis). Each additional usage of EAC materials (i.e. different from identified intentions in the signed researcher agreement) requires a separate agreement, co-signed by the researcher and the EAC Director. See ‘Conditions of Release/Publishing of EAC Material’ for further information. ↩