I. Introduction
- Mission Statement
The mission of the Pacific Northwest Railroad Archive (PNRA) is to be a service organization
providing affordable space and services for the benefit of nonprofit Railroad Heritage
Organizations (RHOs) and thereby the public at large. These benefits are intended
to strengthen the RHOs by making their railroad history collections much more accessible
to the general public, promoting their collections’ public use, preserving the collections
physically and digitally, encouraging new RHO memberships, and ultimately enabling RHOs
to continue their missions to preserve and interpret railroad history for current and
future generations.Each RHO owns the material in their collection held at the Archive. PNRA has a
responsibility for safeguarding each RHO’s material and this collection management
policy delineates how materials will be managed, accessioned and deaccessioned. The
role of the PNRA Services Committee in these actions is to assure that the policy steps
are approved and completed by the designated RHO and PNRA officers. This policy is
intended to lessen the chance of misunderstandings or disputes arising from PNRA’s
collection management. - Authority for the Policy
The Board of Directors for the PNRA approved this policy, its procedures and
responsibilities for the management of the collection on August 8, 2012.
This Policy replaces all previous policies and is binding to all volunteer staff and
representatives. This document and related procedures will be reviewed and be revised,
as necessary, to reflect changes in PNRA programs and policies. - Responsibility for Implementation
The PNRA Services Committee will be responsible for implementing and monitoring of
the processes identified in this document. The PNRA Executive Director is responsible
for ensuring that this Policy is implemented and adhered to by all members. The Services
Committee and the Board are responsible for overseeing the development of the
collections management policies.