1 / 46

Caring For Historic Government Records

Caring For Historic Government Records. Agenda. Part 1: What Records Need to be Preserved Part 2 : Organizing Historic Records Part 3: Preserving Your Records Part 4: Providing Access to Historic Records Summary. PART 1 What Records Need to Be Preserved ?. The Life-span of Records.

irmap
Download Presentation

Caring For Historic Government Records

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Caring For Historic Government Records

  2. Agenda • Part 1: What Records Need to be Preserved • Part 2: Organizing Historic Records • Part 3: Preserving Your Records • Part 4: Providing Access to Historic Records • Summary

  3. PART 1What Records Need to Be Preserved ?

  4. The Life-span of Records • Temporary Records • Permanent Records • Records Retention

  5. Records Appraisal • Appraisal is analyzing the fiscal, administrative, legal, and historic value of a group of records and their relationship with other records.

  6. Records Appraisal Value • Fiscal • Administrative • Legal • Historical * • Intrinsic

  7. Records Appraisal Examples: • Department Annual Reports • City Council Minutes • Parking Tickets

  8. Two Fundamental Questions • Do the records have permanent value? • Do the records still have administrative value in the office? • Ownership of government records • State Archives is the end-of-the-line repository

  9. Records Appraisal Proper records appraisal tells you which records need to be preserved permanently

  10. Retention Schedules • General Retention Scheduleshttps://archives.utah.gov/recordsmanagement/retention-schedules.html • Unique Retention Schedules – Consult with the State Archives

  11. General Retention Schedules

  12. Comments and Questions?

  13. Part 2Organizing Historic Records

  14. Organizing Records • Physical Control • Intellectual Control

  15. Arrangement Fundamental Concepts: • Provenance • Original Order • Ease of Access

  16. Arrangement Examples: • Cemetery Burial Permits • Parks Department photos • Planning Commission minutes

  17. Intellectual Control • Know what records you have • Create inventory lists • Conduct periodic inventories

  18. Inventory List • Title of records • Dates • Arrangement • Basic description • Inventory list

  19. Comments and Questions?

  20. Part 3Preservation of Historic Records Threats to Records: • Water • Heat • Light • Dirt and Pollutants • Rodents and pests • Handling • Fire • Theft or Loss

  21. Preservation of Historic Records • Physical Housing • Storage Facilities • Reformatting

  22. Preservation of Historic Records Physical Housing – Archival Supplies • Acid free file folders • Archival storage boxes • Mylar enclosures

  23. Loose Paper

  24. Bound Volumes

  25. Bound Volumes

  26. Maps, Drawings and Oversize Materials

  27. Reformatting • Microfilm • Microfilm is an eye-readable format • Master copy is off-site back-up copy • Reproducible • Requires little storage space • Digital copies • Primarily for access • Reformat and Retire

  28. Records Storage Space Make an assessment of your building

  29. Preservation of Historic Records Threats to Records: • Water • Heat • Light • Dirt and Pollutants • Rodents and pests • Handling • Fire • Theft or Loss

  30. Preservation of Historic Records Storage Facility • Dry • Climate controlled • Dark (protected from UV light) • Clean • Locked and secure

  31. Preservation of Historic Records Storage Facility • Avoid storing historic records in the basement or the attic • If you must . . . • Store in archival quality boxes • 4-6 inches off the floor • Monitor for pests and rodents • Routinely check for water problems

  32. Record Storage Equipment • Shelving • Oversize cabinets

  33. Physical Security • Well constructed doors • Deadbolt locks for all storage areas • Secure windows • Alarms • Key tracking

  34. Preserving Your Records • Create a basic disaster plan • Have disaster response supplies on hand

  35. Comments and Questions?

  36. Part 4Providing Access to Historic Records

  37. Access to Historic Records Considerations • Public Right to Access • Protection of Restricted Information • Protecting the Records

  38. Access to Historic Records Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) • Public right to view and take a copy • Protection of private, controlled, and protected information

  39. Protecting Records • Maintain a sign-in log for records users • Don’t allow food, pens, or other items that could damage records • Don’t allow unsupervised access • Don’t check out records • Use reformatted copies for access to fragile materials

  40. Take Home Concepts

  41. What Records Should Be Preserved? • Understand appraisal principles • Rely on established retention schedules when available • Consult the State Archives for unusual cases

  42. Organizing Records Physical Control • Provenance • Original Order • Ease of Access Intellectual Control • Create a records inventory

  43. Storing Records • Water, light, heat, pests, theft, etc. can threaten records • Threats can be minimized with proper storage containers and proper storage space • A disaster preparedness plan can help minimize damage

  44. Public Access • Right to access must be balanced with legal restrictions • Access should be provided while still protecting records from damage or theft

  45. Contacts and Links Utah State Archives: www.archives.utah.gov State Archives Research Center: www.historyresearch.utah.gov National Archives: www.archives.gov Northeast Document Conservation Center: www.nedcc.org California Preservation Program: www.calpreservation.org Conference of Intermountain Archivists: http://www.lib.utah.edu/cima/ Gaylord Supplies: www.gaylord.com Metal Edge Supplies: www.metaledgeinc.com

  46. Utah State Archives Alan Barnett abarnett@utah.gov

More Related