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Donate materials

Are you in possession of materials that may serve as the foundation of future research? KvinnSam acquires both association archives and personal archives. We accept archival material as donations free of charge. We offer assistance along the way – please contact us if you have questions about how to proceed with a donation.

KvinnSam is tasked to collect archival material relevant to women's and gender history, and to make these materials available. Without such material, our shared historiography would be incomplete.

KvinnSam is particularly responsible for archive materials from organisations and individuals with ties to Gothenburg and western Sweden. Our work rests on past practice and the endeavour to build on our existing collections, increase their scope, and give room to new voices.

What kind of donations do we accept?

We are especially interested in materials concerning the following areas:

Women's movements, feminism and other examples of women's activism and gender activism, particularly regarding the suffrage movement
Women's associations, organisations and networks, especially for minority groups
LGBTQIA+ and norm-critical groups
Pioneers and prominent individuals active within areas relating to women's issues and gender issues and/or the challenging of societal gender norms.
Research of interest to women's history and/or gender studies.
Women's, feminist and/or queer culture, including authorship and artistry.
Individual manuscripts and photographs of historical, literary or biographical interest.

We generally do not acquire the following:

We decide on a case-by-case basis whether a donation aligns with the KvinnSam acquisition profile. Even if your material is not included in our collections, we can help you find the right institution to turn to instead. KvinnSam cooperates with various other cultural heritage institutions (libraries, archives, museums) to ensure that national and local acquisitions are as consistent as possible, and to prevent unnecessary competition in acquisition.

Donation document, terms and copyright

In connection with the acquisition (gift), a donation document is drawn up and signed by the head librarian and the donor. The document is registered and kept in the official archive of the University of Gothenburg.
The donor retains the copyright to the donated material. The archive will be registered in an archive database for research purposes. The database is open and accessible to the public. KvinnSam reserves the right to publish copyright-free archival documents online, and to use documents from the archives in our exhibitions.

The materials in our archives are available for research. Any reservations and clauses that apply are outlined in the donation document.

Delivery of a donation

There are several possible options for transport depending on the amount of material and their location. KvinnSam will assist you with this and cover any costs. Once the material has been delivered and assessed, a receipt will be issued to the donor.