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Deposit Agreements

Generate a deposit, gift, loan, or transfer agreement against an accession, send it to the depositor to sign on their phone, and keep the signed copy with the record. No printing, no filing cabinet.

Deposit paperwork is switched on per workspace. If you don't see the panel, it isn't enabled for yours yet — contact support.

Generating an agreement​

Open the accession and find the Deposit agreement panel, under the depositor's details.

  1. Click Generate agreement.
  2. Pick the agreement type — deposit, gift, loan, or transfer. Each starts from standard wording for that kind of deed.
  3. Check the terms at a glance — copyright, access condition, and, for a loan, the loan period. Terms can be renamed, changed, or removed before you generate.
  4. Generate. The draft is created against the accession.

The wording is a starting point, not legal advice. The panel says so above every draft: adapt it to your own institution's terms before you send it to anybody. Validity is yours to establish.

Sending it and tracking it​

Every agreement carries a timeline: Drafted → Sent → Viewed → Signed, each with its date.

  • Send emails the depositor a signing link. Copy link takes the link without emailing anyone — useful when you'd rather send it yourself.
  • Send reminder emails again and issues a fresh signing link.
  • Copy signing link is offered once it has been sent, so you can hand the link over in person or by another channel.
  • Void invalidates the signing link and stops any reminders. It can't be undone, but you can issue a fresh draft afterwards.
  • Once signed, Download signed PDF gives you the signed copy.

Signing links expire; the card shows the expiry date while one is live.

What the depositor sees​

The signing link opens a public page — no account, no sign-in. It shows the agreement in full, then asks for:

  • Full name — typed. The page notes who the archive expects the signer to be.
  • A tick confirming I have read and agree to the terms of this agreement, and I am typing my name above as my electronic signature.

Then Sign agreement. A signed copy is emailed to them.

They can also decline, with an optional short reason, which comes back to you on the agreement card.

A link that has expired, been voided, been replaced by a newer version, or hasn't been sent yet says so plainly rather than failing.

Anonymising and agreements​

When a depositor is anonymised, the signing details recorded against their agreements are cleared, but the signed documents themselves are kept exactly as they were signed. See GDPR export and anonymising a depositor.

See also​