Municipal Professionals Academy

24 July 2014

You’re Worth It – Keeping Historical

Records and Available Funding

1

This session concerns preservation of historical records: 

value in preserving historical records

peculiar needs encountered in preserving records

resources for assuring preservation of historical records for ongoing use

Historical Records

Preservation

Why is this important?

Records’ Purpose and Value Records facilitate performance of

business.

Records are the “memory” of a city government.

Records document policies, actions,

communications, transactions, thus afford evidence of the performance of official city business.

Some records’ value diminishes to such extent that those records are no longer needed as evidence of city business.

Some records remain permanently valuable for the purposes for which they were created

Some records become valuable for purposes other than those for which the records were originally created.

Records’ value changes over time:

Records Life Cycle

National Archives and Records Administration, Disposition of Federal Records: A Records Management Handbook (http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/publications/disposition-of-federal-records/chapter-1.html)

Library and Archives Canada, Records and Information Life Cycle Management (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/services/government-information-resources/information-management/Pages/records-information-life-cycle/introduction.aspx)

Records Life Cycle1. Creation or receipt of records2. Active record use through completion of

matters documented by the records, with retention of inactive records for legal compliance, fiscal need or administrative reference

3. Records dispositiona) Records destruction once routine

legal, fiscal and administrative usefulness or need is past

b) Permanent preservation as ARCHIVES due to historical value

Historical Records Preservation

What is needed?

Some preservation considerations Historical value Uniqueness Accessibility Risk of loss

Format Condition Technology obsolescence

Preservation Resource Needs

Technical resources

Financial resources

Technical resources

Consultants/service providers IHRAB State Archivist Published sources

Some considerations for selecting preservation solutions Enhanced preservation and access Legality Technical ability to preserve Methods Long term sustainability of solution Affordability

Financial Resources

Local budget Donations/contributions Collaborations Grants

Selected Archives and Records Management Informational ResourcesArchives preservation grant assistance:

•State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI) - Historical Resource Development Program (HRDP) http://www.iowahistory.org/about/grants/hrdp/index.html

Local government records management resources:

•Iowa League of Cities records retention schedule https://www.iowaleague.org/Pages/Home.aspx•National Association of Government Archivists and Records Administrators (NAGARA) http://nagara.org/content.php?page=Local_Government_Records_Management_Technical_Bulletins (includes bulletins developed in collaboration with International Institute of Municipal Clerks)•International Records Management Trust (IRMT) http://www.irmt.org/

Some professional associations offering online technical resources:

•National Association of Government Archivists and Records Administrators (NAGARA) http://www.nagara.org/index.cfm•ARMA International http://www.arma.org/•Society of American Archivists http://www2.archivists.org/

Preservation/conservation service providers and informational resources:

•Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) http://www.nedcc.org/resources/leaflets.list.php•Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) http://www.cci-icc.gc.ca/publications/notes/index-eng.aspx•US National Park Service (NPS) http://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/conserveogram/cons_toc.html

Government archives and records agencies with online technical resources:

•National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) http://www.archives.gov/•National Archives of Australia http://naa.gov.au/records-management/index.aspx•Library and Archives Canada http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/

See also the archives services of numerous other jurisdictions http://www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Other.Repositories.html

For further information:Jeffrey L. Dawson, CADeputy State Archivist

Iowa Department of Cultural AffairsHistorical Division (State Historical Society

of Iowa)600 East Locust Street

Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0290

515-281-7801 jeffrey.dawson@iowa.gov