The College Archives at Davidson College is composed of official records of Davidson College which are arranged according to record groups. Generally, a record group is a way to combine materials that are from the same department or office (provenance) and sometimes a way to combine materials that are the same format (photographs). The Record Groups are loosely based on the organizational chart of the College. The Archives collects records that reflect the purposes and changes in the administration of the College, individual departments and centers, plus organizations and personnel; however, there are occasionally circumstances that may interfere with a comprehensive collection of materials including the fragility and obsolescence of the records themselves.