The Collaborative Archive from the African Diaspora (CAAD) was developed in 2010 by an alliance of foremost institutions and agencies dedicated to the preservation of historical documentation of the Black experience in Florida and the Caribbean and the promotion of a greater visibility of its hidden cultural treasures.

The CAAD Alliance includes the African American Research Library and Cultural Center, The Black Archives History and Research Foundation of South Florida, Florida International University, Florida Memorial University, the Historic Hampton House Trust, HistoryMiami, University of Miami Libraries, and Virginia Beach Key Trust. CAAD partners retain exclusive ownership to materials contributed to the archive.

CAAD operations are supported in part through a grant from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Foundation, and administered according to the following goals:

• To develop and sustain a Collaborative Archive from the African Diaspora (CAAD) containing finding aids and other materials held and owned by CAAD partners, thus creating a fully searchable resource across partnering institutions and agencies for discovery, research, and information for partners and the broader community.
• To establish a sustainable alliance between partnering institutions and agencies to encourage opportunities for sharing and collaboration in training, expertise, programs, events, and resources related to the development, promotion, preservation, and accessibility of archival materials from the African Diaspora.
• To share best practices and expertise in collection development, processing, description, preservation, and digitization of materials from the African Diaspora.
• To promote regional materials and collections from the African Diaspora as well as partnering institutions and agencies.
• To build and promote community awareness and active participation in this and related endeavors as well as attract new professionals to the museum, archival, and library professions.
• To participate and contribute to the development of grants and proposals to acquire funding to support the goals of the partnership, and the continued enhancement of the CAAD.
• To develop service learning opportunities, research projects, internships, and fellowships for students and researchers working with CAAD materials in collaboration with CAAD partners.

The CAAD Collaboration Agreement:

1. CAAD partners may contribute finding aids or other materials to the CAAD portal for discovery. CAAD partners can contribute directly to the main CAAD portal (http://scholar.library.miami.edu/africanDiaspora/index.html) hosted by the University of Miami, or export records into the CAAD from their home version of the designated software.
2. The CAAD portal will be maintained and preserved by the University of Miami via a content management system for finding aids. CAAD content will be developed through the contributions of CAAD partners. All partners will be provided with updates regarding system maintenance, changes, or upgrades. Upgrades are encouraged to maintain capability with the CAAD portal, consistency of features, and the integrity of the software. If for some reason the portal cannot be maintained, partners will be given ample time to explore other systems and given assistance with exporting collections.
3. The CAAD portal will provide links, contact information, and collection descriptions to all CAAD partner locations and virtual sites to promote partnering institutions and agencies and to assist in discovery.
4. Partners should be aware of all copyright restrictions related to contributions to the CAAD. Partners will reveal any provenance, restrictions, or permissions information relevant to the access and use of contributed materials.
5. CAAD partners will maintain home site implementations of the finding aid content management system and implement upgrades when needed to facilitate effective compatibility with the CAAD portal and to maintain the integrity of the system.
6. Partners will encourage staff responsible for CAAD contributions to participate in training when needed and implement any necessary workflows.
7. CAAD partners will work to provide internship and fellowship opportunities for students when possible. Appropriate activities should be developed and monitored for all required reporting.
8. CAAD partners will attend all Steering Committee meetings or send a designate to maintain the alliance and to keep abreast of CAAD and Committee activities.
9. CAAD partners will investigate software development and implementation for future digital initiatives, but partners are under no obligation to contribute digital images to the portal.
10. CAAD partners will work collaboratively to secure external funding to maintain and enhance the goals and content of the CAAD to the benefit of all partners. Proposals will take into consideration the needs of all partnering institutions and agencies.
11. Partners are under no obligation to remain a part of the CAAD and may discontinue participation and withdraw any contributed materials allowing a 30-day notice to the CAAD.