The approximately 6000 linear feet of records and manuscript collections in the Archives represent a continuous chronicle of health care, scientific research, and medical education dating back to 1771. Archivists, if considered at all, are ancient men who drag forth the records for use by equally ancient researchers with arcane topics of investigation. Actually, although archives do house older materials, archives also include recent materials. These records are specific to a place or person and, therefore, are unique. For an institution they consist of the non-current records of value.
Records can be in any format.
Archives are meant to be readily accessible and easy to use for research purposes The Archives of the New York Weill Cornell Medical Center is the repository for the official records of the institutions and associations listed below. The approximately 6,000 linear feet of records and manuscript collections in the Archives represent a continuous chronicle of health care, scientific research, and education dating back to 1771. Records are defined as any paper, photograph, book, chart, drawing, magnetic tape or disk, film or any other documentary material, regardless of physical format, that has been generated or received by an organization in the pursuance of its business. In addition to the institutional records, the Archives has, in its Manuscript Collections, over 80 collections of the personal records and papers of people of note who are connected to the Medical Center. The Archives is a rich resource for women's history.