Alumni and outside donors – physical and digital materials

Please complete the Donation Offer form if you haven’t already done so and wait for a member of our curatorial team to contact you before sending any materials to the Department of Distinctive Collections.

Physical donations

Donations of papers, objects, and any other physical materials may be mailed to one of the addresses below or brought in person to the Distinctive Collections reading room in 14N-118 during business hours. Please contact ddc-offers@mit.edu to let us know when the materials have been shipped or when you wish to stop by to deliver the materials.

When preparing physical materials, pack the materials in boxes in the same order in which they were originally filed or grouped together. Remove any hanging/Pendaflex folders, as these will damage the boxes. Fill each box completely so that folders do not slump. If you pack a box that is only partially full, stuff the box with crumpled up paper or other material so that the folders stay upright. Number the front of each box in pencil.

Once the boxes are packed, complete an inventory form (.xls) and email the form to ddc-offers@mit.edu prior to mailing the boxes or delivering them in person. If you are not able to open or use the attached Excel spreadsheet, please contact Distinctive Collections for assistance.

Digital donations

The logistics of donating digital materials will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Please indicate the existence of digital materials in your prospective donation when completing the Donation Offer form so that Distinctive Collections staff can determine the best method for transferring the materials. If your donation includes digital content only located on older storage media formats (CDs, floppy disks, etc.), you may ship the storage media to Distinctive Collections along with any other physical materials.

Shipping

Materials sent to us without the completion of the Donation Offer form, approval and advance notice will not be accepted. For shipping purposes – please note the different street addresses depending on the carrier used.

If using the U.S. Postal Service:

Department of Distinctive Collections
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Bldg. 14N-118
Cambridge, MA 02139

If using FedEx or UPS:

Department of Distinctive Collections
160 Memorial Drive
Bldg. 14N-118
Cambridge, MA 02139

Additional help

Contact ddc-offers@mit.edu if you have any questions or need further assistance.