Note: This document was retrieved from the New York State Archives and Records
Administration's World-Wide Web server http://www.sara.nysed.gov . While every
effort has been made to retain the format and content of the printed version
of this document, there may be some minor differences between this electronic
version and the previously released printed version.
February 16, 1996
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
This publication suggests
ways local government historians may use their specialized knowledge and interests
to encourage and support records management and archival programs adequate to
the needs of local governments. Local historians can be powerful and articulate
advocates for greater and broader use of archival records in a context of preserving
the local character of a community, addressing community needs, and planning
for the community's future. While no local government historian may have the
time or resources to be involved with all the areas suggested in this publication,
it may be possible to work on relevant projects selected from each of the major
areas it describes.
New York's officially appointed
local government historians play important roles in preserving and interpreting
the history of their communities. Historians' responsibilities were defined
under laws passed in 1919 and 1933 which are now, in part, outdated. Their prerogatives
and responsibilities relating to both local government and nongovernment historical
records have been unclear. The Local Government Records Law (Ch. 737, Laws of
1987, Section 1), effective August 5, 1988, updated the "Historians' Law"
and clarified their records-related responsibilities. Section 1 reads as follows:
Each local government
historian shall promote the establishment and improvement of programs for the
management and preservation of local government records with enduring value
for historical or other research; encourage the coordinated collection and preservation
of nongovernmental historical records by libraries, historical societies, and
other repositories; and carry out and actively encourage research in such records
in order to add to the knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the community's
history.
The Law was developed in
consultation with many local government associations, including the Association
of Municipal Historians and the County Historians Association. The Law also
established a Local Government Records Advisory Council of 25 members to advise
on implementation of the law and on related state oversight and services. Local
government historians are included in the Council's membership. Under the Local
Government Records Law, local government historians have three areas of responsibility.
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PROGRAMS
I. Each local government
historian shall promote the establishment and improvement of programs for the
management and preservation of local government records with enduring value
for historical or other research...
The term archival records,
as used in this publication, means those records created, filed or used by
local governments in the course of their business which are worthy of preservation
and special care because of the continuing importance of the information they
contain for administrative purposes or for historical or other research. Archival
records may include, but are not limited to: land records, minutes of governing
bodies, tax records, subdivision maps, photographs, building permits and records
of capital construction, regardless of whether those records are on paper,
film, magnetic tape or other media.
The Local Government Records
Law not only modified historians' duties; it also included provisions relating
to records management in local governments and the responsibility of the Commissioner
of Education to provide records management advice and assistance to local governments,
exclusive of the municipal agencies of the City of New York. The Law requires
local governing bodies and chief executives to "promote and support a program
for the orderly and efficient management of records, including the identification
and appropriate administration of records with enduring value for historical
or other research."
In general, each local government
must have a Records Management Officer (RMO) to "coordinate the development
of and oversee" this records management program. The Law specifies that
town clerks and village clerks shall be the RMOs in those municipalities and
that the fire district secretaries shall be RMOs in fire districts. Other local
governments - counties, school districts, fire districts, public benefit corporations,
special authorities, BOCES, and miscellaneous units of local government - must
appoint an RMO, but the designation is a local choice, subject to the usual
process for official appointments.
The State Archives and Records
Administration (SARA) strongly recommends that each local government pass an
ordinance or other enactment establishing the program. SARA also encourages
the creation of a records advisory board, including the local government historian,
that works with the RMO to produce records management plans, policies, and procedures,
including those related to archival records.
A local government records
management program is an ongoing administrative necessity, comparable to highway
maintenance, central purchasing, civil service, or taxation. Records management
usually includes the surveying and inventory of records, development of filing
systems, coordination of micrographics, establishment of appropriate inactive
records storage, systematic destruction of obsolete records, analysis and planning
for information systems, development of automated systems, and adoption and
use of modern information technology, as well as the identification, maintenance,
and reference use of records.
It is sometimes hard to
remember, when faced with the archival riches of a local government, that these
documents were not created for eventual use by the historian. These records
were created in the most prosaic way for the most mundane reasons. Local government
archival records _ those with enduring legal, fiscal, administrative, or historical
research value _ grow from the routine of government and have as their main
reason for permanent retention their ongoing utility. Local government archival
records should always be an integral part of a comprehensive records management
program, serving the overall informational needs of its government and citizens.
The local government's archival records hold long-term information needed to
document property rights, maintain infrastructure, establish precedents and
serve as a basis for comprehensive planning. They define the responsibilities
and the prerogatives of government and protect the rights and property of citizens.
They help the local government defend itself in court or bring suit, prepare
environmental impact statements or qualify for federal community development
money. Use of archival records for historical research is important, but it
is generally secondary in a local government setting.
Historians can support the
development and operation of the local government's records management program,
including its archival component, in several ways:
- Consult with the local
government's RMO, chief elected official, and other appropriate officers to
ensure the development and adoption of a local law or ordinance establishing
a records management program and assuring that such legislation includes an
archival component.
- Serve on the records
advisory board established as part of that program. Give particular attention
to issues concerning the identification and management of local government
archival records.
- Attend SARA Local Government
Records Services workshops and other relevant training to enhance knowledge
of records management and archival administration.
- Assist RMOs with the
identification and appraisal of local government records with enduring value.
Provide the local historical perspective in reviews of requests to dispose
of records. Local governments may dispose of records by adopting and following
the applicable records retention and disposition schedules published by SARA's
Local Government Records Services or, as appropriate, the schedules issued
by the Office of Court Administration. However, through consulting the historian's
specialized knowledge, the records management officer and the local records
advisory board may determine that some otherwise nonpermanent records series
have ongoing local research value and should be kept permanently.
- Support the development
and maintenance of the archival element of local government records management
programs adequate to local needs, giving particular attention to: (A) advocating
for sufficient resources for it to function effectively; (B) ensuring that
archival records are identified and made accessible on a regular basis; (C)
encouraging development of guides to facilitate access to the records and
encouraging distribution of these guides to local repositories, libraries,
other historians, and researchers; (D) encouraging use of the records by local
government officials, schools, and others; (E) helping new users become acquainted
with the archival records for public policy, planning, legal, and other research
(see discussion below); (F) supporting a proper environment for the storage
and use of records; (G) advocating the physical security of archival records;
and (H) ensuring that the records of defunct local government departments
or agencies pass to the local government's archives (when a program ends,
a department is merged with another, or a local government is dissolved or
annexed, the records of those former entities must be protected and assessed
for their ongoing legal, historical, or other research value).
- Stress the importance
of archival records to local government officials, news media, the historical
community, and the public.
- In the case of special
purpose local governments such as school or fire districts where no local
government historian is required by statute, serve on records advisory boards;
provide advice and historical perspective during the development of their
records management programs and the identification and treatment of their
archival records.
- Help the RMO prepare
grant applications under the archival records category of the Local Government
Records Management Improvement Fund (LGRMIF). Work with RMOs and teachers
to prepare grant applications under the LGRMIF "Educational Uses of Local
Government Archival Records" category.
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RECORDS
II. (Each local government
historian shall)...encourage the coordinated collection and preservation of
nongovernmental historical records by libraries, historical societies, and other
repositories...
Historical records,
for the purposes of this publication, are nongovernmental records that contain
significant information about the past and are therefore worthy of longterm
preservation and systematic management for historical and other research.
They may have been produced by private individuals, groups or institutions
and can include diaries, journals, ledgers, minutes, photographs, maps, drawing,
blueprints, deeds, contracts, memoranda, and other material and they may exist
in paper, parchment, magnetic tape, film or any other medium.
Every community has historically
valuable nongovernmental records which include information on the development
of the community, its institutions and its people. Too often in the past, such
records have been lost because there were no organized programs to identify,
collect, preserve and make them available for research. Even where such programs
exist, they often operate in isolation from each other and are undersupported
and underdeveloped. Small municipalities may not have local historical repositories
or their local historical societies may be dormant. In such situations, the
local government historian often becomes a de facto collector of historical
records, but may lack essential collections policies and procedures governing
the acquisition, accession, protection, storage and use of those records. Local
repositories may not have space to store securely and preserve them, or facilities
to make them available. Local government historians considering the collection
of such historical records will be interested in the Documentary Heritage Program
(DHP).
The New York State Legislature
established the Documentary Heritage Program in 1988 to help strengthen the
state's historical records programs. The law establishing the Documentary Heritage
Program authorizes aid to the nine Reference and Research Library Resources
Systems to hire archivists to advise and assist historical records programs
in their regions, and to provide grant funds for historical records projects.
The DHP is supported by the Local Government Records Management Improvement
Fund and administered through SARA. Archival advisory services are available
in all regions of the state and the DHP discretionary grants program funds historical
records projects in nongovernmental repositories.
Historians can and should
play important roles in supporting strong historical records programs for nongovernmental
records. Some suggested ways of doing so include:
- Review county-level guides
produced by the Historical Documents Inventory and available from SARA. The
guides provide an overview of holdings in regional repositories and holdings
on regional topics in repositories elsewhere in the state. They can be used
to determine how well particular places, events, persons, topics, processes,
or periods are documented.
- Promote development of
the Documentary Heritage Program, including cooperating with and supporting
the work of its regional archivists.
- Support and attend meetings
of representatives from area repositories and institutions and meet with individuals
interested in particular topics, to encourage coordinated collecting and documentation
of previously underdocumented subjects. Ensuring a more comprehensive and
"even" record of New York's communities is a major focus of the
Documentary Heritage Program. Follow up as appropriate to encourage, coordinate,
or lead the development of such efforts.
- Advocate historical records
programs in the community. Encourage the news media, community organizations,
educators, governmental leaders, and other citizens to take an interest in,
and become active supporters of, historical records programs.
- Encourage individuals
in local historical records repositories to prepare grant applications under
the Documentary Heritage Program, the Discretionary Grant Program of the New
York State Library's Division of Library Development and the federal government's
National Historical Publications and Records Commission's grants program.
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RESEARCH
III. (Each local government
historian shall)...carry out and actively encourage research in such records
in order to add to the knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the community's
history.
Historically valuable records,
including those of government and private organizations, contain information
necessary to understand the community's past, cope with the present, and plan
for the future. These records need to be actively used by researchers interested
in pressing concerns such as health and the environment; by genealogists and
family historians; by teachers and students to enrich social studies and history
courses; by people interested in community history; and by scholars exploring
how events in the community relate to or differ from regional, statewide, and
national developments.
Local government historians
should, perhaps, be among the chief researchers of these records. However, there
are several roles for historians in promoting _ and conducting _ research:
- Drawing on the local
government's archival records and related sources, write a history of the
local government, stressing how its programs and services evolved to meet
changing community needs.
- Carry out research in
local government archival records and community historical records to prepare
historical accounts of various aspects of the community's history.
- Encourage broader and
more innovative use of these records by introducing others to documentary
resources and the repositories in which they are kept.
- Work with local schools
to use historical records in appropriate curricula and to teach students the
importance and use of historical records. Acquaint local teachers and curriculum
developers with local government archival records and integrate student use
of those records into lesson plans. Working with the local government's RMO,
archivist, and other appropriate officials such as teachers and school administrators,
prepare copies of local government archival records or document packets, for
use in the schools.
- Visit school history
and social studies classes to discuss community history, drawing on and showing
copies of archival records to supplement the presentation, and stressing the
importance of archival records in uncovering and understanding history.
- Encourage, organize,
and participate in annual Archives Week events, using them to draw attention
to the importance and research value of the local government and private archival
records of the community.
- Encourage community historical
records repositories to reach out to researchers, schools, and other groups,
through effective finding aids, audiovisual productions, and other public
and educational programs.
- In cooperation with the
local government's RMO and representatives from other local historical records
repositories, use records to prepare audiovisual productions on the community's
history. <back to top>
OTHER RESOURCES
Background information on
the conditions and needs of New York's historical records programs is found
in the State Historical Records Advisory Board's report on statewide issues
and problems, Toward a Usable Past: Historical Records in the Empire State (1984);
in the Local Government Records Advisory Council's report on local government
records issues, The Quiet Revolution: Managing New York's Local Government Records
in the Information Age (1987) and its annual updates; and in the New York Document
Conservation Advisory Council's report on preservation needs, Our Memory at
Risk: Preserving New York's Unique Research Resources (1988); and in the annual
reports of the Documentary Heritage Program. "Ensuring a Usable Past for
Your Community: The New York Citizens' Guide to Evaluating and Improving Historical
Records Programs" (1987) describes what community groups and individual
citizens can do to improve historical records programs. Strengthening New York's
Historical Records Programs: A Self-Study Guide (1989) describes the core elements
of a historical records program and includes self-study questions that repositories
can use to assess their own programs. SARA also makes available two videos;
Let the Record Show deals with the practical uses of nongovernment records,
while Public Records/Public Trust deals with the benefits of having a local
government records management program. Both are available on loan or for purchase.
Copies of these and other SARA publications and videos are available upon request
from Local Government Records Services at the address listed on the following
page. <back
to top>
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE:
The State Archives and Records
Administration provides records management services including technical advice
and assistance, publications, training and presentations, and consultations
with local officials concerning records and information management issues. SARA
has regional offices throughout the State; each office has an experienced records
specialist who can visit local governments and provide on-the-spot advice. These
services are supported by the Local Government Records Management Improvement
Fund. For further information, including a list of publications available in
SARA's Local Government Records Technical Information Series, contact your regional
office or the following:
Local Government Records
Services
New York State Archives and Records Administration
State Education Department
10A63 Cultural Education Center
Albany, NY 12230
518-474-6926
Information on the Documentary
Heritage Program is available from:
Documentary Heritage Program
New York State Archives and Records Administration
State Education Department
9B38 Cultural Education Center
Albany, New York 12230
518-474-4372
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