This paper is a report on the status of the archives in KEK（the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization）and at other inter-university institutions, and a discussion of common challenges facing such archives.

This article examines the possibilities of oral history resources taking a place among university archives. This would be achieved by means of introducing a program for the collection and use of oral histories gathered from graduates of Tokyo Womenʼs Higher Normal School, the precursor of Ochanomizu University. The article first introduces collection methods, archival processing, access, utilization methods and characteristics as archives of oral history. Secondly, it argues the mutually complementary nature of oral histories of such graduates and university administrative records, and introduces an example of the use of oral histories in lectures on the history of Ochanomizu University. As a result, it is argued that oral history is one of the key components of university archives.

ʻOutreachʼin archives institutions means those activities which are directed toward bodies beyond such institutions, and aims at seeking recognition of archives as a means of benefiting members of the community and society at large. It further means the introduction, promotion and use of valuable archival information. This article is structured as follows. First, I examine the types of outreach activity of university archives in the United States. Next, I establish the minimum-essence of outreach activities. Thereafter, I examine the current situation of and problems related to outreach activities conducted by university archives in Japan. Finally, I suggest that the cumulative unifying of theory and practice of outreach activities is essential.