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PORTLAND, OREGON ELECTRONIC ARCHIVES AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET City of Portland, OR Auditor Gary Blackmer is pleased to announce the release of Efiles - a web-based search tool that makes thousands of electronic images of important city records available to the public. Efiles houses over 30,000 electronic documents, including all City Council Ordinances from the mid-80's to the present, as well as photographic and documentary images from the City's archival collection. Besides the electronic images, Efiles also contains over one million catalog entries covering City operations and history dating back to 1851. The electronic documents can be immediately viewed or downloaded. The catalog entries represent hard copy records stored at the City's Stanley Parr Archives and Records Center (SPARC). Using Efiles, citizens can contact archives staff to arrange access to the records stored at SPARC. Efiles is a dynamic system with both electronic and catalog records being added daily. We hope that researchers, students and all Portlanders find Efiles a helpful tool to learn about and keep up with our city government's current activities and rich history. Efiles can be found at: http://www.portlandonline.com/efiles.
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SSA-SAA EMERGENCY DISASTER ASSISTANCE GRANT FUND The Society of Southwest Archivists and the Society of American Archivists announce the creation of the SSA-SAA Emergency Disaster Assistance Grant Fund--a fund established to address the stabilization and recovery needs of archival repositories that have been directly affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Any repository that holds archival records or special collections and that is located in those hurricanes’ affected areas of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, or Mississippi is eligible to apply for a grant. The repository need not be a member of SSA or SAA. Grant monies may be used for the direct recovery of damaged or at-risk archival materials; such services as freeze drying, storage, transportation of materials, and rental facilities; supplies, including acid-free boxes and folders, storage cartons, cleaning materials, plastic milk crates, and protective gear; and to defray the costs for volunteers or other laborers who assist with the recovery. If you are able to assist our colleagues by supporting the fund, please visit http://www.archivists.org/katrina/contribute.asp to make your donation. Or send your contribution by fax (using a credit card) to 312-347-1452 or via mail to: Society of American Archivists, Attn: EDA Grant Fund, 527 South Wells Street, Fifth Floor, Chicago, IL 60607. If you are in need of assistance: Initially grants of up to $2,000 will be awarded. Additional requests may be considered if funds remain available. Approved grant payments may be made directly to a service provider, upon the grantee's request, if an itemized invoice is presented. Recipients will be asked to provide a financial accounting of expenditures made using the award within 6 months of receiving the funding.
A short application form is available on the SAA website at http://www.archivists.org/katrina/apply.asp or applicants may submit a letter containing the information listed below. Ideally, the letter should come from the head of the organization, but it may come from a primary contact. Please include contact information for both the head of the organization and the primary contact if these are different individuals. Send the letter to: SSA President Brenda Gunn, Assistant Director for Research and Collections, Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station, D1100, Austin, TX 78712; 512-495-4385; 512-495-4542 (fax); bgunn@mail.utexas.edu. The letter of application should address the following:
A review panel comprising four SSA former presidents and the immediate past treasurer, along with one member of the SAA Council, will review applications and select the grant recipients. The committee will score proposals based on the application criteria. The Society of American Archivists is responsible for financial administration of the fund.
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VERMONT SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS SEAL ON DEAN’S DOCUMENTS The Vermont Supreme Court ruled, recently, that Howard Dean acted legally when, on leaving office as governor in 2003, he sealed thousands of pages of his papers. The 93 boxes of documents were deemed by Dean, now the Democratic national chairman, to be covered by executive privilege. They were sealed under an arrangement with the secretary of state and are not to be made public until January 2013. Other Vermont governors have had similar arrangements, if for shorter periods, but Dean's drew criticism during his run for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. In 2002, before leaving the governorship, Dean, who initially tried to seal the documents for 24 years, told Vermont Public Radio that he "didn't want anything embarrassing appearing in the papers at a critical time in any future endeavor." He later called that comment a "smarty remark" not meant to be taken seriously. Denied access to the documents, the conservative group Judicial Watch sued the state in 2004. A lower court ruled in favor of Judicial Watch, saying the state's archives act did not authorize the secretary of state to restrict that access. But on Friday, the Supreme Court's five justices, one of them appointed by Dean, unanimously disagreed. In an interview, Thomas J. Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said of the ruling: "It's a terrible position. It's frankly more political than legal. These judges are appointed by the governors, and they've bent over backwards to make life easier for the folks who appoint them." Attorney General William Sorrell, a Democrat whose office defended Dean's agreement with the secretary of state, also suggested that politics had been at play. "The court vindicated what has been the bipartisan practice of Democratic and Republican governors in Vermont for a number of years," Sorrell said. "This was a political thing. Some folks thought there would be embarrassing stuff in there to derail the Dean candidacy."
[Reproduced with permission of the Rutland Herald, “Vermont Supreme Court upholds seal on Dean’s documents.” Katie Zezima, New York Times 5 Nov. 2005]
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HERKERT APPOINTED OREGON STATE ARCHIVIST
 Mary Beth Herkert Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury recently announced the appointment of Mary Beth Herkert as the new State Archivist, effective immediately. "Mary Beth has worked at every level of our organization, she knows Archives inside and out, and she will make an excellent State Archivist," said Bradbury. Mary Beth was chosen after an extensive national search to replace Roy Turnbaugh, who retired in September 2005 after 20 years as State Archivist. During Turnbaugh's tenure, Mary Beth worked her way up through every level of the Archives, from processing archivist to manager of the records management unit. She earned a bachelor's degree in history and anthropology from Ball State University in 1982 and a master's degree in history from the State University of New York at Albany in 1984. She is a Certified Records Manager (CRM) and has been active in numerous professional organizations. She currently serves on the board of the National Association of Government Records Administrators (NAGARA). The Secretary of State's Archives Division provides public access to the permanently valuable records of Oregon government. Archives houses many of the state's oldest documents, publishes the biennial Blue Book, and provides comprehensive online historical research guides and learning exhibits.
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GROUND BROKEN FOR NH STATE ARCHIVES EXPANSION Ground was broken on May 2, 2005 for additions to the New Hampshire State Archives Building. The construction will take place in three phases. The first phase is new storage space for state agency records. The second phase will be construction of new work spaces for the Bureau of Vital Records and for Help America Vote Act staff, training rooms and the renovation of a current storage area into a new research room. The third phase will include a new entrance, which will incorporate architectural features similar to the original N.H. State House and the enlargement and renovation of the records and microfilm vaults.
 Architect’s rendition of NH State Archives entrance
 May 2005: Dr. Frank Mevers, NH State Archivist, overlooks early construction site
 Construction site: November 14, 2005
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Official Word: The Government Records Section Newsletter
Go to Part 4
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