AGENCY RESPONSE         R-A-1 through R-A-7

Wyoming State Archives

Response to Legislative Service Office Report

to the

Management Audit Committee

May 2000

The Wyoming State Archives appreciates the efforts of the Legislative Service Office to conduct a thorough evaluation of WSA programs in a relatively short period of time.  Overall, the final report is quite good in identifying areas related to WSA responsibilities which require additional resources and attention.   The following responds to observations and recommendations made by the LSO team.   An attachment responds to additional specific points in the report.

Space Needs

Estimates in the report regarding existing open storage space for records includes space not suitable for the storage of boxes, such as library shelving and file cabinets for non‑government historical collections and photographs.  Further, the climate controlled storage space in the Barrett Building should not be included in these estimates.  Space in that facility should be reserved for significant records and collections, not the bulk records series such as case files which take up most of the storage space for permanent records at Archives South.  Therefore, the estimate on page 10 of the report for existing available storage space should be reduced by about 3,000 cubic feet.  Also, LSO’s estimate that new shelving in WSA’s existing facility would provide storage space for an additional eleven years is high.  WSA estimates seven to eight years of additional box storage space if shelving is received.  It should be noted that the influx of boxes can vary significantly year to year.  When agencies or county offices have to move and want to transfer their records, WSA space is rapidly filled.

Other points emphasizing the need for additional shelving include the desirability to have certain types of records series located together.  For example, when law enforcement officials need to inspect several files from a particular court, it is more efficient to have those records stored in the same area, rather than requiring staff to retrieve files from several different locations.  Obviously, such an arrangement is not always possible, but the more we can do to keep records from the same office together, the more we save retrieval time.  Only a few groups of seven or more shelves are currently available at Archives South.  Also, as more agencies and local government offices learn of WSA’s services through training, chances are good that large transfers will follow.  Finally, it is important for installers of shelving to have a large amount of floor space for staging parts and for work space.  If the acquisition of shelving is delayed and records must be stored on pallets the installation of new shelving units will be impeded.

Electronic Records Management

WSA supports the use of properly managed electronic record systems.   However, there is no sign that the production of paper records is decreasing in Wyoming state and local government.  Indeed, the creation of paper based records may be increasing.  WSA staff must continue to provide services for dealing with these records.  Electronic records must be brought fully into the sphere of records management processes through cooperation between WSA and the creators of government records. 

As the LSO report indicates, training is a key ingredient if this need is going to be recognized and addressed.   WSA has no authority to intervene in the development of electronic records systems, nor any mechanism for finding out when such systems are being developed. Adding to this problem is that vendors are seriously remiss in addressing information management considerations when selling digital products.  Their interest is in record making, not record keeping.  Nationally recognized scholars continually stress that new technological ways to create records have out‑paced our technical abilities to manage them.  And digital information management solutions that are available are currently unaffordable.  Dealing with these issues, and providing for adequate training, will require the cooperation of decision makers in every agency and in the state’s IT management groups.

WSA does caution agencies on the vulnerability of electronic storage media, and the constantly changing information management technology which threatens to make records irretrievable after only a few years.   Costs for migrating this information to upgraded systems is prohibitive.  Expenses for creating, maintaining, and migrating electronic information need to be investigated and summarized as a complement to the LSO report.

Training and Records Management Assistance

The LSO report stresses the need for WSA to become more pro‑active in providing training.  WSA offers a quarterly workshop on records management, which includes segments on retention scheduling, file management, records center services, e‑mail management, permanent records, microfilming, and preservation.  This workshop is advertised through the Human Resources Division of the Department of Administration and Information.  WSA has accepted the responsibility of doing the training mandated by the Governor’s Executive Order 1999‑4, which relates to the Executive Branch E‑Mail Policy. Much time and effort has been devoted to this activity since January 1, 2000.  Additionally, a workshop on conservation techniques is conducted for local historical records caretakers when they express a need.  Lack of staff time, limited travel funds, and lack of enforcement authority restrict WSA staff efforts to be more pro‑active in the area of training and consultation. 

Various management aids are located on WSA’s website to assist government records managers.  Also, from time to time, bulk mailings of guidelines and technical papers, such as APreservation

and Management of Paper Records,@ are made to local government offices.  However, because of reduced budgets and the increasing expense of printing and postage, this activity is limited.  WSA tries to make its constituents aware of the services it provides, and the necessity for information management.  Staff then respond to the expressed needs of state and local government agencies.

WSA looks forward to receiving direction from any source regarding how it can assist agencies with better management of their records and information.  Implementing processes and procedures that will help government employees manage their electronic records must be a team effort involving top management, IT staff, the WSA, and the employees who create the records.  If statutory changes will help provide more emphasis on records management, WSA will support them.  Below are some suggestions for responding to concerns identified in the report:

!         A legislative rule requiring each piece of legislation to contain a paperwork impact statement may help define the ongoing costs of new programs and legislative mandates.

!         Funding and approval of any new IT programs should include an impact statement relating the cost to maintain the data for its life cycle, and funding for the WSA to properly analyze the data and establish a retention period, and to preserve any permanent information for future generations.

!         A records and information management audit team could be established to ensure compliance with retention schedules.  This would require additional resources, support from management, and, possibly, legislation. 

!         Cost Allocation funds for paper based records go into the General Fund.  Investigate methods  to extend the Cost Allocation program to pay for the maintenance of electronic records?

Services to Political Subdivisions

Addressing the report’s evaluation of WSA’s services for local governments, the statutes clearly place an obligation to maintain records of the political subdivisions on WSA.  W.S. 9‑2‑401 includes political subdivisions in its definition of public records.  W.S. 9‑2‑410 states that all public records are the property of the state.  W.S. 9‑2‑408 states that all public records, including those of political subdivisions,  Anot required in the current operation of the office where they are made or kept@ should be transferred to the State Archives or to Aa recognized supplementary depository agency.@  The intent is clearly to centralize the archives of the state.  This provision

provides for a central location for public and governmental access, preservation, and low cost storage of public records.  Without such a facility available to local governments valuable records would be at great risk.  Archives staff have found records scheduled for permanent retention in cellars, attics, garages, sheds, and basements, places hardly conducive to the long term preservation of paper, or any other information storage medium.  Permanent records have been destroyed by local government offices.  These facts were behind the preparation and distribution of WSA’s technical paper APreservation and Management of Paper Records.@  These occurrences also emphasize the need to continually educate local government records keepers, especially with new officials elected every four years, and the need for a central agency authorized to acquire, maintain, and provide access to local government records.   Since local governments produce similar records, it also makes sense to have a central agency creating legally established retention schedules applicable to these records. 

Reference Services

 WSA staff have developed and continue to develop public finding aids that include the published guide to the Archives, widely distributed to schools and libraries; descriptions of all county record series (up to 1990) held by the Archives available on the WSA website; the growing number of descriptions of stage agency records on the website including all governors and the Secretary of State’s office (work on the Department of Agriculture is proceeding); the large number of state government record series and historical collections cataloged on national databases and available through the Library of Congress website and the Wyoming Library Database;  the inventories of non‑government historical resources listed on the website; and the comprehensive card catalog which is completely accessible to the public at the front center of the reference room.  This manual database provides access to the historical collections, oral history collections, and books in the western history library. 

All collections listed on the website and cataloged on the Wyoming Library Database are accessible through the public terminal located in the reference room, and, of course, from any location with Internet access.  These resources are being used heavily by researchers and use continues to grow at a great rate.  Because many of the users of these resources cannot come to the Archives, staff must conduct research for them.  Most of the time spent on researches is for people, private citizens and representatives of government offices, who cannot come to the Archives’ reference room.

Staff and patrons rely heavily on finding aids that are constantly being developed, revised, and updated to insure the accurate representation of WSA collections.

Databases are fine for locating information on subjects, authors, titles, and such discrete information.  However, if someone is looking for information in government records on a family

member, for example, and knows little about that person, or of how government records are kept and what types of information are available in them, a database is of little use without the assistance of someone who can point them in the right direction.  WSA can’t enter even a small fraction of all the names, places, and subjects included in state and local government records in an automated database.  We can and do provide bibliographic information about our government holdings, but if a patron does not even know what government functions belong to which office, they need direct assistance.

WSA and the American Heritage Center (AHC) both offer resources designed to provide information to the public. Because of the nature of their holdings, AHC generally attracts different types of researchers than does WSA.  AHC patrons are primarily students and scholarly researchers who are acquainted and experienced with reference sources and research into historical collections.  They are researching individuals, topics, and events and will spend more time in unassisted research evaluating information in collections.  Only a small percentage of WSA’s patrons are of a similar vein. 

It is true that researchers who come to the Archives and cull information from large collections do not need as much assistance from reference staff.  However, a high percentage of WSA patrons are not scholarly researchers.  They are people often quite unfamiliar with research techniques and sources.  They don’t know government functions or where the information they need might be located.  They may in need a record to document high school graduation, building plans for renovations, documentation of the payment of a fine, land records to clear title to property, medical information, and numerous other documents for personal or official reasons..  Law enforcement officers need a court case files.  Government agencies need to retrieve files or have records copied.  These people need a particular record, not a collection to sift through, and they expect staff to be able to locate the record for them.  They don’t need to sit down at a computer to find out where the record they need is located.  Most of them have already been told by a government office, or found out using the WSA website, that the record they need is at the Archives.  They want to get the information and get out, not sit for long periods of time in study.  Some people are just beginning genealogical research and want to know how to go about it.  WSA deals more with people needing personal or official documentation, people who have had very little training and experience in researching records. AHC does not deal with this constant flow of requests for personal and official documentation from private citizens and government agencies, patrons who need more direct and frequent assistance than AHC visitors.  Therefore, WSA staff see themselves as Agate makers,@ not Agate keepers.@  The frequent high praise from WSA customers supports this belief.

There are additional differences between WSA and AHC.  AHC staff do not have to be concerned with restricted records, and making sure files given to researchers do not contain confidential information.  WSA staff deal with a high volume of researches for people who cannot come to the Archives’ reference room.  Therefore, WSA staff conduct all the research for those individuals or government agencies. .

The report suggests that WSA reference staff would have more time to devote to collections management and finding aid development if more automated databases are created.  Each reference staff member now averages about 15 hours each week cataloging accessions, developing finding aids and databases, processing collections, performing conservation measures, managing WSA paperwork, and supervising volunteers, interns, and summer temporaries.  In addition to those duties, staff are also busy responding to research requests received via e‑mail, regular mail, telephone and from people who come to the reference room.  We have created multiple work stations in the reference room so that staff can respond to research requests as well as work on non‑reference activities. 

In summary, assigning additional non‑reference tasks to existing reference staff positions could negatively impact service to customers and require innovations such as appointments for in‑house researchers and/or fewer hours open to the public, slower turn‑around time to citizens and government offices, and, possibly, automated phone answering and messaging services.  Reduced services could affect an agency’s or local government office’s decision to transfer records to WSA, creating storage and preservation problems for those offices.

Non‑Government Collections

LSO’s report suggests a re‑evaluation of WSA’s statutory authority for acquiring non‑government historical records.  This activity has a long history, dating from laws established in 1895.   Other state archives programs maintain both government and privately donated collections, though in some states the non‑government records are managed by a publicly funded state historical society. WSA’s responsibility for collecting privately donated historical materials related to the history of Wyoming and the region, correlates with its obligation to maintain the permanently valuable public records of the state.   The American Heritage Center, the example used in the report, has different collecting goals than does WSA.  The State Archives focuses on Wyoming state and local history.  Privately donated collections complement in many ways the government records maintained by WSA.  For example, private papers of political families (such as Barrett, Richards, and Wilkins) supplement government records associated with family members’ years in office or in the state legislature; records of women’s organizations supplement government commissions on women’s issues and suffrage records; records on businesses can be found in government records and donated collections; county and family histories and manuscripts supplement the many local government sources useful for researching family and community history.  Therefore, WSA offers many related resources for the study and research of regional history at a single location, making it easier for researchers to find useful sources.

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A major reason for the higher percentage of resources used for historical collections is that many were either not arranged and described, or inadequately described prior to the transfer of the collections to the Archives from the State Museum.  This is one reason the transfer was made.  This work needed to be done, no matter who maintained the collections.

Also, to expound on the information in the report, over the nearly 100 years of collecting activity, many materials not dealing with Wyoming or having little research value were accepted by the State Museum and its antecedents.  These are gradually being weeded from the collections, but the process is time consuming, partly because State Museum staff are required to review each deaccession and they have little time for such review.  Once all the collections are properly arranged and described, and the deaccessioning activity is completed, the percentage of resources devoted to historical collections should decline.  But again, whoever maintains these collections will have to deal with these issues.   Even collections needing work are at least referenced in the card catalog.

WSA does occasionally seek collections appropriate to the agency’s mission.  However, there are no budgeted funds for purchasing items offered by private citizens or professional dealers.  Therefore, when staff learn of items for sale that would be valuable additions to WSA collections, they are unable to acquire them.  Many items and collections are donated.  WSA’s Acquisitions Review Committee meets monthly to evaluate offered records.

Conclusion

LSO’s evaluation of Wyoming State Archives responsibilities and programs adequately highlights the issues facing the Archives and information management functions in Wyoming state and local government.  Overall, WSA agrees with the identified needs.  Modification of current management emphases and staff responsibilities could provide a limited amount of additional focus on the problems outlined in the report.   During this biennium, WSA had two positions removed by the division management in place at the time.  Statutory authorities as well as additional and consistent fiscal support are required to fully respond to all the identified information management issues.