Background

Archivists and records managers establish the institutional memory of government by identifying and ensuring the preservation of records that document its work and impact.  In Wyoming, the State Archives, a program within the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, Division of Cultural Resources, performs this function.

Two sets of statutes affect the WSA.  One is the state’s Public Records Act (W.S. 16-4-201 through 16-4-205), which defines public records and stipulates how government records custodians must make them available to the public.  This act also specifies those government records that are not available for public use.  The second group (W.S. 9-2-401 through 9-2-419,) assigns WSA a wide range of records management responsibilities.  Among those are securing state records in a central archives, setting record retention periods, and operating a state records center.  WSA has traditionally extended its services to all political subdivisions in the state as well as to state agencies and courts.

WSA Operates Through Three Sections.  The state archivist, a statutory position, directs WSA work through three sections:  Records Management, Technical Services, and Archives and Historical Research.

The Records Management section develops records retention schedules for state and local government records.  Records schedules identify records as either permanent or non-permanent, and if non-permanent, specify for how long records must be retained before being legally destroyed.  This is called a record’s “retention period.”  Records Management staff, working in consultation with the agency of records origin, determine records retention periods.  The State Records Committee, a statutorily authorized body, makes final and legally binding decisions on records retention schedules.

In addition, as authorized by statute, this WSA section operates the Records Center which is used by state agencies to store non-permanent records until they can be legally destroyed.  This allows state agencies to use office space more efficiently.  Currently, the Records Center holds approximately 30,000 cubic feet of state agency records.

Archives and Historical Research (Archives) is the section that manages and preserves permanent government records that document and interpret the state’s history.  In addition to storing these records, Archives prepares the records and provides reference services so that they are accessible to the public for scholarly and personal research.  Archives’ permanent holdings of 30,600 cubic feet include state and local government records, and a collection of non-governmental historical materials.  More than half of the permanent records Archives maintains in its primary storage facility, Archives South, are local government and court records.

Most resources in the third WSA section, Technical Services, are dedicated to the micrographics unit, which microfilms records for some state agencies, creates duplicate microfilm, processes microfilm for state agencies doing their own microfilming, and establishes standards for all microfilming done by governmental agencies.  Statute requires WSA too operate a central microfilming division.  In addition, this section provides WSA photograph and paper conservation capabilities. 

Current Storage Space and Capacity.  Most of WSA’s current storage capacity of 74,000 cubic feet is in a warehouse facility in south Cheyenne that houses both the Records Center and Archives South.  WSA also has limited storage capacity in the newly remodeled Barrett Building in two climate-controlled vaults.  Between transfers to WSA storage facilities and destruction rates, the facilities jointly increase the amount of paper records they store by approximately 2,000 cubic feet each year.  Based on this rate, we estimate that the available paper records storage space may be adequate for approximately four more years.

WSA Budget is Small.  With a biennial budget of approximately $1.8 million for the 1999-2000 biennium, WSA operated on about one-half of one percent of the state’s budget during that biennium.  WSA is funded entirely from the General Fund, but the state recovers some of those funds through federal cost allocation.  A few large federally funded agencies generate cost allocations to the General Fund based upon the WSA services they use.

Most WSA costs (90 percent) are for personnel services.  Its 25 FTEs include the state archivist, 3 section supervisors, 10 non-supervisory professional positions, and 11 administrative specialists.  WSA does not budget to maintain its storage space:  those expenses are included in the Department of Administration and Information’s budget.  The exception is the cost of shelving, for which WSA must request funds in addition to its standard budget.

Program Has Been Studied Before:  Records Management Issues Still Not Addressed.  Aspects of this program were studied in the mid-1990s, resulting in a 1995 report created by the State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB).  Little has been done with the recommendations from this report.  In addition, the 1999 Joint Legislative and Executive Revenue and Expenditure study touched upon records management.  Despite concerns with records management issues, WSA has maintained its focus upon the traditional paper record environment.  We suggest ways that WSA might change its program to better prepare it to meet the challenges of the electronic records environment.

Finding 1

WSA Has Not Developed an Electronic Records Program

WSA does not have significant influence in the state’s information resource policy arena.  Having such representation is important because the use of electronic information entails high levels of expenditures, and that information needs to be managed so that it can best serve both government and the public.  Without the archives and records management perspective in technology decisions, the state may acquire systems that do not address records needs.  To ensure the preservation of electronic records of long-term value, agencies must address records retention requirements in the planning and design stages of new information systems.

It is also important that archives and records management programs adapt their practices to accommodate electronic formats.  However, WSA has not progressed far in developing an electronic records program.  Its current program consists of one electronic records analyst to assist both state and local government agencies with electronic records issues.  Moreover, WSA has no overall guidance instructing state agencies on maintaining records electronically.  WSA staff view the electronic format as a processing medium only, with paper copies serving as the records.

Still, WSA officials acknowledge that government employees are increasingly creating records electronically, and those records are likely going unscheduled and unpreserved.  WSA’s limited program for assisting agencies in managing electronic records puts those records at risk, and potentially creates an unnecessary reliance by state government on paper records.  WSA estimates that more than 9,000 cubic feet of records is currently being stored in the Records Center for periods of between one and five years.  Some of these records could potentially be maintained in the electronic format if WSA had a viable approach to training agency personnel to manage them in that medium.

Recommendation:  WSA should focus on developing its electronic records program.

Electronic records present a complex issue to state government, and one that is potentially costly.  Addressing the issue requires a joint effort on the part of government managers and technology staff, as well as the staff members creating the records.  However, WSA must do more to assert electronic records preservation issues to ensure they are addressed.  Further, it needs to shift its focus from maintaining the traditional paper records system to developing more of an electronics presence. 

Finding 2

Archives-Provided Training Is Limited in Amount and Scope

W.S. 9-2-406 (a)(vi) charges WSA with “gathering and disseminating to interested agencies information on all phases of records management and current practices, methods, and procedures for efficient and economical management of records.”  WSA provides some formal training to state employees in the area of records management.  However, its outreach and training program is limited in amount and the focus does not extend to local government agencies.  In its 1995 report, SHRAB recognized the importance of training and recommended that a training program be developed.  In spite of this, little has been done since then to address the issue.

WSA has not made training a priority.  This is a concern because WSA has a potential audience of all government records creators in the State of Wyoming, a group of approximately 51,500 people.  Considering its statutory charge, WSA’s current plan to provide two trainings per year is inadequate.  WSA needs to be more proactive in providing training to records creators.

Improperly managing records can potentially cost the state both time and money.  Mismanagement of records includes misfiling, losing, improperly destroying, saving unnecessarily, or otherwise mishandling records.  It is likely that without proper training, agencies and local entities will mismanage their records.  The consequences of such mismanagement could include a state agency experiencing adverse results in litigation, paying more for office space than is necessary, and having to provide additional funding for paper records storage.  We believe that an effective training program could reduce mismanagement of records within Wyoming, and has the potential to decrease state expenditures.

Recommendation:  WSA should seek temporary funding to develop and implement a comprehensive training program.

Developing and implementing a comprehensive training program for state agencies and local entities should be a priority for WSA.  Through a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), SHRAB will soon be reconstituted, giving WSA a unique opportunity.  Through SHRAB, WSA may be able to obtain funding for a temporary position to create such a training program.  An effective training program should eventually free up WSA resources that could be focused on other projects.

Finding 3

WSA Can Make More Full Use of Its Micrographics Resources

Micrographics is a valuable but expensive records and archives management tool.  Calculated use of this technology improves management of and access to records, provides a means to preserve and protect valuable and fragile records, and reduces storage space requirements.  Microfilm provides a reliable permanent alternative to paper storage and is recognized as the legal original.

WSA is not using its micrographics resources strategically.  Once projects are taken on, WSA does not re-evaluate them in terms of the resources they require or competing needs for its microfilming services.  WSA appears to make decisions about allocating micrographics services based on tradition, and many microfilming projects have been done for state agencies for years.  However, WSA denies new microfilming requests without comparing existing projects to proposed projects in terms of paper records storage savings.

Micrographics is not contributing as much to space savings as could be expected, given its staff and equipment.  Currently, WSA is storing about 5,000 cubic feet of permanent records waiting to be microfilmed.  In addition, Archives estimates that as much as 95 percent of its collection could be microfilmed without the need to retain the paper original.  If the section were operating at full capacity, microfilming could extend the life of current paper storage facilities by 7 to 39 years.  However, WSA’s microfilming equipment is often in need of repair, and it has difficulty retaining camera operators.

WSA has not determined the level of microfilming that makes the most cost effective contribution to records and archives management.  For example, WSA does not have specifications determining when a proposed microfilming project is cost effective.  Nor has it calculated whether it would be more cost effective to invest in its microfilming resources rather in additional shelving. The program has not actively pursued financial support for micrographics equipment replacement and maintenance.  Maintaining this equipment is essential to ensure that the micrographics unit makes its due contribution to archives and records management.

Recommendation:  WSA should develop a plan to strategically use its microfilming resources and the special revenue funds they generate.

This plan should balance the technical costs associated with micrographics with its space savings, records preservation, and other management contributions.  The plan might also include a request to change statutes so that funds generated by microfilming can be used to support its equipment needs. 

Finding 4

WSA’s Implementation of Statute Creates Open-Ended Obligation

Although the statutes directing WSA’s specific responsibilities do not clearly indicate that they extend to all state political subdivisions, WSA has interpreted its legal authority for these records from W.S. 9-2-410.  This statute states that all records are the property of the state and must be managed according to the statutes authorizing WSA.  In practice, WSA provides non-state government political subdivisions and courts with two services:  developing records retention schedules and storing permanent records.

Records retention scheduling is a manageable undertaking for WSA and provides local governments with the legal authority to dispose of records when they have reached their retention limits.  Storing the permanent records of the state’s political subdivisions and courts is potentially more problematic for WSA, however.  Already, most (66 percent) of the permanent records stored in Archives South come from governmental entities other than state agencies.

Records from county and district courts make up nearly half of the non-state agency permanent records in Archives South.  County clerks, municipalities, school districts, and publicly funded hospitals are other major record contri-butors.  In many cases, WSA allows local governments to choose whether they will retain their own permanent records, or send them to the state.

In addition to the storage space they occupy, non-state agency records can absorb other WSA resources, particularly if the records are not properly prepared.  Further, by assuming responsibility for the records created by all of the state’s governmental bodies, WSA sets a precedent for maintaining that responsibility when those records are moved to an electronic format.  Maintaining permanent records electronically requires costly technology to “migrate” records to formats compatible with subsequent systems. WSA will likely face revising its interpretation of its statutory responsibilities to accept only paper records from local governments and courts, or accept the migration responsibilities that go along with them.

Recommendation:  The Legislature should consider reviewing WSA’s statutory responsibility for local government records.

Currently, the WSA interpretation results in open-ended costs to state government without the means to control them.  The Legislature might consider reviewing whether it wants to maintain current services to local governments, or to reduce them.  If it wants to continue the existing WSA services to local governments, WSA needs resources for records management training to affect the quality of the records it stores.

Finding 5

WSA Records Management Services Are Geared to the Paper Environment

Even though information technology is rapidly changing the ways records are created, WSA continues to focus its configuration of records management services on the paper-based environment.  Perceiving its resources as inadequate, WSA officials have elected to focus upon what it has traditionally done best:  schedule and store paper records.  WSA schedules few records for electronic storage, even though that medium would accommodate some short-term records (three to five years retention).

Most records scheduling is done with state agencies, with which WSA records analysts work to develop an understanding of the records they are scheduling.  Although statutes require agencies to have records officers to provide significant assistance in this process, WSA analysts do the bulk of the work scheduling work, which can be labor-intensive.  This leaves records analysts little time to provide training or to address electronic records issues.  Furthermore, the scheduling process is subjective, with WSA negotiating with agencies over retention periods.

The program’s seemingly chronic need for additional records storage, coupled with its service-oriented approach to meeting agency desires, prompted us to question whether WSA may be scheduling records for lengthy retention periods.  This would create pressure on WSA storage facilities.  However, WSA schedules most state records for retention periods of five years or less. 

Recommendation:  WSA should reassess its approach to providing records services to free resources for other needs.

The current WSA approach to managing records is resource intensive, leaving the program unable to address other vital aspects of the state’s records management program.  In view of the challenges posed by electronic records, WSA should reassess the manner in which it provides records scheduling services.  The kind of services required by 21^st century records systems are qualitatively different than those that fit paper records needs.  WSA officials should consider shifting more records management responsibility to the agencies, and instead act more in a consulting or training capacity.

Finding 6

Archives Can Take Steps to Better Utilize Certain Staff Resources

WSA productivity data for Archives staff suggests that Archives could better utilize several positions primarily dedicated to providing reference assistance.  Currently, four reference archivists are available in the Archives reading room to assist patrons and agencies with research and requests.  While they also perform additional duties, all staff in the reading room are not needed to assist patrons on a full-time basis.  We believe WSA could devise a more efficient staffing pattern, one which would assign a limited number of staff to providing direct patron assistance.

WSA ascribes to a traditional gatekeeper approach to reference service that makes the presence of the reference archivists necessary.  Under this approach, expert intermediaries place themselves between the user and both the primary access tools and the historical record.  This approach limits patrons’ ability to access research material without the help of a reference archivist.  In contrast, the American Heritage Center, a University of Wyoming archives, ascribes to a more user-centered approach.  In this approach, the reference archivist acts as a pointer to finding aides that patrons use, with minimal help, to obtain the type of information they seek.  This user-centered approach enables AHC to staff the reference room with only one reference archivist at a time. 

WSA has yet to develop either a comprehensive array of modern and readily searchable finding aides or thorough guides to finding aides that would facilitate the user-centered approach to reference.  We believe WSA may be dedicating more staff resources to providing reference than is necessary, leaving other needs unattended.

Recommendation:  The WSA should evaluate current staff assignments.

The WSA should evaluate the utilization of reading room staff, and consider both the allocation of staff and procedures and practices used when providing reference services.  Attention should be given to developing a more complete and modern set of finding aides, as well as guides to finding aides, that would make them easy to utilize without the assistance of a reference staff member.  While not immediate, the eventual impact would be to lessen the burden on existing reference staff, freeing up time to focus on other projects.

Finding 7

Two State-Funded Entities Perform the Same Function

The American Heritage Center (AHC) at the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming State Archives are both receiving state funds to collect non-governmental historical records.  AHC’s budget is supplemented by private donations used to process its collections, and it can seek additional donations when necessary.  The historical collection at WSA is small and requires a disproportionate amount of resources to maintain it.  WSA must also be judicious in deciding what additional material to acquire because of the significant costs incurred when cataloging, storing, and preserving historical materials. 

Statutes are unclear about WSA’s role in continuing to collect historical records.  Two statutory references give WSA mixed direction regarding historical records.  The uncertainty and expectation set out by statute gives WSA little incentive to expand current efforts in support of the collection.  The same uncertainty may also have inhibited cooperative efforts with other Wyoming repositories, as envisioned by the 1995 SHRAB report.

Recommendation:  WSA should evaluate maintaining its historical records collection.

WSA should evaluate its policy with regard to whether and how it will continue to collect and manage historical records.  Within the State, WSA performs a general government support function.  Its small historical collection is more culturally directed than the rest of its materials, and also requires WSA to divert resources from its primary general government function.  WSA may wish to propose a statutory amendment to clarify its responsibilities regarding the historical collection.  Also, collaborative agreements with AHC could free up valuable space and resources for WSA.

Conclusion

WSA officials will likely agree that changes could be made in its existing program, but maintain that they lack the resources to do more than maintain the existing program.  However, the magnitude of the electronic records impact is such that we believe WSA must re-evaluate its current practices.  Therefore, WSA officials must rethink how the program will provide records management services in the future, and take the steps necessary to move forward.