Mission, vision and values

Mission

We manage and preserve recorded information for use by university staff, faculty, students, visiting researchers, and members of the general public. Our work supports an understanding of the past, present, and future while balancing the roles, rights, and responsibilities of all those affected by the recorded information in our care.

Vision

We strive to be SFU's central hub for expert advice and guidance on the management and preservation of the University's recorded information by being known for:

• Innovating successful strategies and solutions that balance user needs with the rights and obligations of the University;
• Promoting access to information while protecting the privacy of record subjects;
• Facilitating effective university governance, research, teaching and community outreach; and
• Successfully stewarding the University's analogue and digital assets into the future for discovery and re-use.

Values

Stewardship

We preserve the University's corporate memory by keeping accessible authentic, trusted and reliable recorded information needed for planning, reporting, decision-making, accountability, identity, research and celebration.

We promote access to information while safeguarding privacy and intellectual property rights by adhering to legal rights and responsibilities, implementing university policy, and exercising reasoned ethical judgement.

We manage and preserve recorded information according to professional standards and best practices, implementing strategies to ensure it remains accessible for future generations, regardless of the medium or format in which it was created.

Innovation

We embrace, support and pursue new ways of managing all recorded information in all forms and to facilitate access to it.

We aspire to be recognized as information leaders within the SFU community and in our professional communities, taking pride in promoting innovation and adaption to change.

Engagement

We engage with the SFU community to broaden an understanding of the institution's past, our collective responsibility for managing the University's corporate information assets, and promoting openness and access to information while protecting the privacy of record subjects.

We engage with researchers, including students, faculty, staff and alumni who want to access our archives for teaching, learning, research and community building.

We engage with prospective donors of archives to acquire and make available for public use unique and unpublished recorded information.

We engage with stakeholders to promote an understanding of recorded information as a valuable university asset that should be widely recognized and managed as such.

Collaboration

We work respectfully with colleagues in our department to seamlessly integrate archival stewardship, records management, and the administration of access to information and protection of privacy.

We promote a holistic understanding of the management of the University's recorded information to members of the SFU community to ensure its responsible creation, maintenance, use, and disposition.

We collaborate across professions and disciplines with those who also have responsibilities for the University's recorded information.