As part of the 1939 vote establishing the university archives, the Yale Corporation included "files of any matter printed for official use" and "undergraduate and graduate publications," as two types of materials to be placed in the university archives. "For official use" includes all publications that are created in the course of conducting university business and made available to the general Yale community, its alumni, prospective students, the general public, sold through subscriptions to other institutions, or sold at museum or art gallery shops. Like administrative records, which are considered archival and historically valuable, publications serve as a permanent record of the activity of the university. Publications are not limited to printed materials, but also may include film, audio, or video recordings.

In order to guarantee that future students and scholars have access to the rich publication tradition of the university and its history, the university archives acquires and preserves permanent record copies of Yale publications. As with current practices for other archival records, all publications are non-circulating and must be used during the normal reading room hours in Manuscripts and Archives.

Please consult Depositing Official Yale Publications, Depositing Student Publications, and Publications Appropriate for Deposit for more information regarding the preservation of publications in the university archives.