Newsletter

It’s been a busy year, and what better place to find out what everybody has been doing than in the Newsletter. But before we get to the news, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people who have worked very hard, and continue to do so on behalf of the section. I’d like to thank Virginia Fritzsch, Deborah Kennedy and Randy Jones, all of whom have just finished their terms on the steering committee. Thanks also go to Jim Cassedy, who has just finished a two year stint as Newsletter Editor, and to Paul Bergeron, who has agreed to take over from Jim, and is going to be great. Finally, thanks to John Slate and Terry Baxter, who are in their second year on the Steering Committee, for all of their good advice and input. I would also like to welcome Lucy Barber, Susan Cummings and Geoff Huth to the Steering Committee.

The coming year looks like it’s going to be a busy one. If you have any ideas, questions, concerns, thoughts about what SAA can do for government records archivists, let me know.

Congress has passed, and the President has approved, a budget for NARA for Fiscal Year 2005 of $321,291,000, according to John W. Carlin, Archivist of the United States. The legislation boosted the President's request of $3,000,000 for the NHPRC, the grant-making arm of NARA, to $5,000,000. In FY 2004, the NHPRC received $10,000,000. Also included in the total of $321,291,000 are $266,945,000 for operating expenses, $35,914,000 for the Electronic Records Archives (ERA), and $13,432,000 for repairs and restorations.

A number of the Presidential Libraries received support for several items not in the President's request: $2,000,000 for continuing repairs to the plaza at the Johnson Library in Austin, TX; $1,000,000 for design work for expansion at the Kennedy Library in Boston; $750,000 for design of a renovation to the Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, NY, to upgrade the mechanical and electrical systems and to prepare space for a new privately-funded exhibit; and $500,000 for technical assistance for the private Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, CA. Last year's appropriations bill cleared the way for the Nixon Library to become part of the system of Presidential libraries.

Last year, NARA received an appropriation of $316,322,000, with an across-the-board reduction of approximately $1,866,000.

The 2006 SAA Annual Meeting, to be held July 31 – August 6 at the Washington DC Hilton and Towers, will be a joint annual meeting with the National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators (NAGARA) and the Council of State Historical Records Coordinators (COSHRC). According to SAA Council minutes, then-incoming NAGARA President Tim Slavin (Director, Delaware Public Archives), stated that “the goal of the joint meeting would be to unite the archival profession for one week in a way that benefits both organizations.” Council adopted the recommendation this past February.

The Social Security Administration has posted new information to the SSA State and Local Government Employers (SLGE) home page (http://www.ssa.gov/slge/index.htm) regarding changes made in the Social Security Protection Act of 2004 that impact State and Local Government Employers.

Effective January 1, 2005, under Section 419(c) of Public Law 108-203, the Social Security Protection Act of 2004 all state and local government employers [and instrumentalities or subdivisions thereof as defined in Section 218 (b)2] who hire new employees not covered by Social Security will be required to:

The title, “Government Records Section Newsletter,” is sooooo boring! Come up with a catchy name! If the steering committee adopts your suggestion, you will WIN this terrific, New Hampshire “Brake for Moose” sweatshirt. Go styling in the “North Country” way! Email your newsletter-naming suggestions to bergeronp@ci.nashua.nh.us or fax them to Paul Bergeron’s attention at 603-589-3029.

Government Archivists Well-Represented in A*Census

Preliminary data from the A*Census, released earlier this year, show that government agencies employ almost one-third of the census respondents. Of the 5300 professionals who responded to the survey, 1486 (or 31.4%) described their current employer as a “government agency.” The largest employment group was “academic institutions” with 1725 respondents (or 36.5%).

A*CENSUS, the first truly comprehensive nationwide survey of the archival profession, was fielded in early May 2004. SAA expects to have the final A*CENSUS report available in the Summer of 2005. Survey background and general information is currently available on the SAA website at http://www.archivists.org/a-census/index.asp

Preliminary results were presented to attendees at NAGARA’s annual conference in July, and at SAA’s annual meeting in August. A number of session attendees were overheard expressing surprise at the strong census showing of government archivists.

In years past, a number of archival professional associations have targeted conference programming and membership solicitations primarily toward the “academics,” who do make up the largest block of archival professionals. The final results of A*Census, however, should generate increased interest toward the archival community employed by government agencies.

Following are the preliminary results in response to Q21, Which of the following best describes your current employer?:

The former head of Special Collections and Archives at Georgia State University will become the director of the Archives and Library division of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History on Jan. 1.

Julia Marks Young will succeed outgoing division head H.T. Holmes, who will become department director.

Young earned a bachelor's degree in history from Emory University in 1972, a master's in history from Auburn University in 1978, and a master's degree in library science from the University of Michigan in 1981.

She worked at the University of Southern Mississippi from 1983 to 1990, first in the School of Library Service and later as senior manuscripts processor at the McCain Library and Archives.

Young has worked as assistant archivist at the University of Michigan; head of special collections for the Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory, Dallas; head of Special Collections and Archives, Pullen Library, Georgia State University; and director of development and external affairs, University Libraries and Information Technology Division, Emory University.

The Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) has posted a new resource, Assessing Preservation Needs: A Self-Survey Guide, to help small to medium-sized institutions with limited preservation experience and budgets to design a program ensuring that their collections survive in usable condition as long as possible. 96 pages in length, it provides step-by-step directions and worksheets on how to go about surveying a collection’s preservation needs, as well as guidance for setting preservation priorities once the needs have been identified. Because different kinds of collections have different preservation needs, individualized worksheets are provided. See: http://user823621.sf1000.registeredsite.com/selfsurvey/survman.htm

Primary Source is the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ free e-mail newsletter. It alerts readers to grant availability and provides tools to help applicants, showcases best practices, and highlights IMLS conferences, research, and publications. Past issues of the newsletter and subscription information are available at: http://www.imls.gov/utility/subscribe.htm

Editor’s Note: We would like to continue this feature in future issues of the Section newsletter. If you know of any free, online resources, which may be of interest to your colleagues, please forward a brief description of that resource and the internet address to me at bergeronp@ci.nashua.nh.us. _______________________________

Season’s Greetings and best wishes for the New Year to members of the Government Records Section and the Local Government Records Round Table! As your new chair for Local Government Records, I would like to take this opportunity to review some of the accomplishments of this group and make some suggestions for future activities that might reinvigorate this Round Table.

In recent years, LGRT’s business meeting has included programs on documenting September 11^th in New York; alienated documents; acquisition policies; and county records preservation standards. While there have been many good descriptive programs, I ask the membership if they would like to have more ‘nuts and bolts’ forums on such topics as outside fundraising or coordinating your local government archives with formal records management programs. Call me green, but for the few years I have attended LGRT, I have been surprised by the low turnout at our annual business meeting and program. LGRT has had historically low membership and meeting attendance due to a number of factors, not limited to but including lack of institutional support, scheduling conflicts at the Annual Meeting, and alliances with other government archives organizations. What would make this Round Table more valuable to you? Your input is welcome and needed. My suggestions:

SHRABS. If you haven’t yet, get to know your state historical records advisory board (SHRAB). They are more active in some states than others, but I urge you to call on them to account for the work they do, and to ask what they are doing to help local archives programs in your state. Have they performed any studies or surveys on municipal and county records? When you apply for NHPRC funds, are you getting valuable feedback from your SHRAB? If you aren’t familiar with your state’s SHRAB, a list is provided at the Council of State Historical Records Coordinators’ website: http://www.coshrc.org./shrabs.htm. In the near future, pay attention to the survey results issued from COSHRC’s assessment of state archives and records programs and their SHRABs. This survey may well tell us what we can and can’t expect from state archives and records programs.

BEAT THE BUSHES FOR FUNDS. Local government records and archives programs cannot afford to waste time hand-wringing over lack of funding. Even in these challenged times of declining philanthropic sources, there are still local private foundations that exist to aid communities and regions. Review those entities that fund historical preservation outright, as well as those that fund “quality of life” projects. Use bodies of records touching on substantial issues as water, land management, or transportation as a lever for preservation funds. Other funders can be enticed if you can tie in an educational component to your project.

What is “Archives Week”? According to George W. Bain (Head of Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries), “It is a…form of public programming which, at its best, creates a bridge between the archival profession and society at large in an interactive and collaborative fashion. It is, unlike most other archival public programming, a large-scale one that is being conducted most characteristically at the statewide and multistate level.” (Source: George W. Bain. "Archives Week and the Power of Intersecting Ripples." Archival Issues 23:1 (1998): 5-16.)

“While most Archives Week activities occur in October, there is no fixed, nationally recognized date for the events. Instead, each association or state selects its own dates, often timing them to coincide with other events of local significance such as statehood days. This year, some celebrations began in late September while others (didn’t) occur until mid-November. Utah is unique in designating the entire month of October as Archives Month.” Source: http://www.coshrc.org/arc/archweek.htm

Bain concluded his 1998 article (referenced above) by stating that “Archives Week, where it is being carried out in the United States and Canada, is proving to be an effective instrument for advocacy…and for raising general public awareness for archivists. It is a programmatic bargain that must not be allowed to go begging.

According to COSHRC, “the number of archival associations and repositories sponsoring Archives Week activities each fall continues to grow. In 2003, Archives Week events were held in some 32 states, up from 23 in 2002. That number was expected to increase again in 2004.” Over the next year, COSHRC will be working with the State Coordinators and SHRABs to encourage all states to participate in Archives Week programs during 2005.

It’s not too early to begin planning an Archives Week program in your community. COSHRC links to “Planning/Action Guides” from New York, Georgia, Tennessee and Wisconsin are provided at http://www.coshrc.org/arc/archweek.htmIn addition, COSHRC maintains a “Poster Gallery” which features images of promotional posters published by various states to celebrate Archives Week and promote public awareness of the events.

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From the Editor:

The Editor welcomes information, articles, reviews, photos, and any submission that might be of interest to federal, state and government records managers and archivists.

Upcoming publication dates: March 2005 and June 2005 (pre-conference newsletter). Email your content to bergeronp@ci.nashua.nh.us or fax it to my attention at 603-589-3029.

Paul Bergeron, Newsletter Editor

A month-long open house attracted over 400 people to the newly constructed Utah State Archives Building during October as the Division of Archives and Records Service observed Archives Month. The building houses the division's administration, patron services, records analysis, and micrographics sections and is located at 346 South Rio Grande Street (450 West), immediately south of the historic Rio Grande Depot

The two-story structure houses the division's administration, patron services, records analysis, and micrographics sections and houses the permanent records collection. In January 2005, the State Archives and State History will share a common reading room adjacent to the new facility.

The 25,200-foot, $7 million facility is the first archival repository in the United States to use a state of the art automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) to manage the state's permanent collection, including the original Constitution of the State of Utah. The ASRS, an immense, single room over 50 feet high, has a controlled interior environment to maintain the temperature at a constant 60 degrees Fahrenheit and the relative humidity at 40 percent, to greatly increase the longevity of the collection. The ASRS combines dense storage capability with rapid access using robotic machines on tracks.

The annual statewide observance of Archives Month was designated in a declaration by Utah Governor Olene S. Walker issued October 1 in conjunction with ribbon cutting and dedication festivities for the new facility. Visitors could watch the entire building construction process beginning with the ground breaking by viewing a five-minute video produced especially for the open house.

Patrica Smith-Mansfield, Utah State Archivist, speaks during the dedication ceremony for the newly-constructed Utah State Archives Building during October, as the Division of Archives and Records Service observed Archives Month.

Photo: Governor Walker places the original Utah State Constitution in the Archives' holdings to be preserved in the building's automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS).

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(left to right: Susan Cummings, Nancy Melley, Geoffrey Huth, Lucy Barber, and Terry Baxter. Not present at time photo was taken: John Slate. Photo taken at GRS Section meeting in Boston)