Public Records Division - Serving Government, Archival Institutions, and the Commonwealth

Under the terms of KRS 171.410-740, the Public Records Division works with agencies to ensure creation and preservation of adequate and proper documentation of the agency's organizational functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential transactions, as well as information which protects the legal and financial rights of the government and of individuals directly affected by an agency's activities. It does this by establishing standards, procedures, and administrative regulations for recording, managing, preserving and reproducing government records, whatever their medium, and by working with the heads of state and local government agencies and their designated representatives to create and maintain active, continuing programs for the efficient management of their records. Division staff collaborate with agencies on the inventory, analysis, and scheduling for retention of their records and electronic records systems and serve as consultants to agencies on a variety of archival and records management issues. The division operates the State Archives to house and make available for research permanently valuable state and local government records. To provide agencies with secure, economical storage for their non-current records, the division manages the State Records Center. While serving distinct needs, these are the state's statutorily mandated central records depositories. To ensure continued preservation of and access to records, the division also furnishes centralized micrographics and document preservation services. The division provides citizens and government with access to records by arranging and describing them, by creating finding aids and access tools to them, and by making them readily available through on site research facilities and by answering telephone and mail reference requests.

Dr. Thomas Dionysius Clark, July 14, 1903 – June 28, 2005

Kentucky lost its most determined and eloquent advocate for archives and history with the passing of Thomas D. Clark, just short of his 102nd birthday. Dr. Clark had a profound impact on the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, one of the many civic and historical organizations with which he was involved. Dr. Clark’s life began in Louisville, Mississippi, on July 14, 1903, on a cotton farm. He graduated from the University of Mississippi (1928) and received an M.A. in history from the University of Kentucky (1929), and a Ph.D. from Duke University (1932). In 1931, Dr. Clark accepted a position in the history department at the University of Kentucky, which he chaired for 23 of his 37 years at UK.

Dr. Clark worked throughout his life to protect and preserve historical resources and to encourage the creation and continuing support of archives and records programs. He lent his voice and his remarkable energy to a number of worthy causes, including library development and formation of the Department of Special Collections at the University of Kentucky, creation of the new Kentucky History Center, development of the University Press of Kentucky, and formation of the Lexington History Museum. He also wrote or edited over thirty books, including the seminal A History of Kentucky in 1937. But perhaps no individual organization benefited more from Dr. Clark’s vision, tenacity, and drive than the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives.

From the time of his work with the Works Progress Administration’s Historical Records Survey in Kentucky during the 1930s, Dr. Clark became interested in preserving Kentucky public records, from state, local and judicial agencies. Kentucky had no central state archival facility, no records management laws, no guidelines for preserving government records, and no provision for research access. One of his first actions was a dramatic rescue, when he saved some of the state’s most important records from destruction in 1936, during government reorganization. He spent the next seventy years as a volunteer working on behalf of the state’s public records.

With the help of many others that he enlisted in the lobbying effort, he achieved initial success with the 1950 passage of legislation creating the Records Control Board. In 1958, he succeeded in securing enactment of the State Archives and Records Act, a comprehensive public records law which also created the State Archives and Records Commission. This new law made no provision for a State Archives facility, however, and Dr. Clark continued to press for a permanent, state-owned home for the state’s records. He saw his efforts rewarded in 1979, with the groundbreaking for the current Department for Libraries and Archives building in Frankfort, which was formally dedicated in 1982. The building was renamed the Clark-Cooper building in 1995, in honor of Dr. Clark and library advocate C. Vernon Cooper, Jr.

Over the years, when public records issues were at stake, Dr. Clark was always there, playing a pivotal role. He had a profound impact on the work of the State Archives and Records Commission, serving as its one time chair and as a member for 42 of its 47-year existence. He was a key supporter of bringing together state library and state archival functions into a single agency in 1973; he helped develop the agreement which created the partnership arrangement between KDLA and the Administrative Office of the Courts on public records issues; and he was a founding member and inspiration for the Friends of Kentucky Public Archives, Inc. He was instrumental in the creation of the state’s Local Records Program in 1984, and was quick to recognize the impact that electronic records would have on the state’s public records management programs. In his final years, he worked tirelessly to secure the badly needed archival facility expansion for KDLA on its Coffee Tree Road site, testifying before legislative committees, and visiting with the Governor on behalf of the building addition. Dr. Clark was also a tireless researcher, a frequent user of archival materials, and the KDLA staff’s favorite and most beloved customer.

Dr. Clark received the Society of American Archivists’ J. Franklin Jameson Award for Archival Advocacy in 1993, the highest honor bestowed on a non-member by the Society. In recognition of his devotion to the archives of his adopted state, he was named the first fellow of the Kentucky Council on Archives, the state’s professional archival membership association, in 1985. He was the first recipient of the State Historical Records Advisory Board’s inaugural Thomas D. Clark Kentucky Archives Week Award in 2002, in recognition of his singular contribution to the archives of his adopted state. The Kentucky General Assembly named Dr. Clark Kentucky Historian Laureate for Life in 1990. On the occasion of his 100th birthday in 2003, KDLA named its newly created imaging section the Thomas D. Clark Center for Digital Imaging, a fitting dedication to a visionary who always had a vision of building our future while he preserved and explained our past.

Whether Dr. Clark was speaking before both houses of the General Assembly, importuning every Kentucky governor over a seventy year period, or meeting with a local historical society, he was always working to build understanding of the importance of our historical records and of the institutions and people who preserve them. He was our most indefatigable champion, and he told our story with eloquence and warmth, in a remarkably accessible way. We mourn his passing, along with others in the Commonwealth who were honored to be part of his life or to be acquainted with him through one of his many important causes. His legacy is present everywhere, and it was a privilege for us at the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives to have known him, worked with him, and learned from him.

Public Records - Customer Service

State Archives and Records Commission

The State Archives and Records Commission meets quarterly to oversee the management of records created by government agencies in Kentucky. With assistance from KDLA staff, the Commission reviews records retention and disposition schedules and makes decisions on recordkeeping standards and practices for Kentucky state and local government. Every day, new records of permanent value are created in government agencies. Government records:

• protect the legal, financial, and other rights of the government and its citizens,
• ensure continuity and consistency in administration,
• assist agency officials and their successors in making informed policy and program judgments,
• provide information required by the General Assembly and others to oversee the agency's activities, and
• document the agency's organization, structure, and achievements.

The Commission recommended grants to local agencies as well, as the Local Records Grant program started its twentieth year of providing grant funds to local governments for the preservation, care, and use of their records. Forty-three grant awards for this fiscal year, totaling $505,500, bring the total funding for grants over the past twenty years to $13,299,455. Most grants are used for microfilming to ensure long term preservation of vital government records. Many local governments also received money for electronic records projects to create indexes to improve access to records.

Local Records Program

The Public Records Division’s Local Records Branch offered twenty-six workshops for local agency officials in all areas of the state. A total of 1,469 staff members from schools, county governments, municipal governments, universities, and public libraries participated in workshops. Workshop topics included: records management, electronic records, records retention schedules, disaster planning, e-mail management, digital imaging, open records, and archival preservation. These workshops increased awareness of the value of records management and of the services available to local agencies from the Public Records Division.

Local records staff worked closely with various agencies and associations such as the Kentucky League of Cities, County Clerk’s Association, Jailer’s Association, Kentucky Association of Counties, Area Development Districts, Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky School Boards Association and others in order to provide training. The workshops were certified by the Kentucky Department of Education and the Governor’s Office of Local Development for continuing education credits for those who attended.

Staff answer questions about archival and records management issues from local officials on a daily basis. Local records regional administrators also visit local government agencies to offer records management assistance, providing local government administrators all across the state with necessary information on the government records in their care.

State Publications Program Changes

Since the early 1960s, KDLA has maintained archival control of publications issued by state government agencies. With the advent of electronic publications and staff shortages, KDLA began streamlining the process of acquiring, cataloging, and providing access to these important resources.

Increasingly, state agencies are issuing publications through their websites, rather than in paper format. Agencies are directed by Administrative Regulation to forward publications on their date of issue to KDLA, where they are retained permanently and are available for research use. During 2005, the department revised Kentucky Administrative Regulation 725 KAR 1:040, Collection and distribution of reports and publications (http://www.lrc.ky.gov/kar/725/001/040.htm) to provide specific guidance to agency Records Officers on procedures for sending copies of electronic publications to KDLA.

KDLA also began to improve the process through which state publications are added to the agency’s catalog. The State Library Services Division began cataloging state agency publications in the KDLA online catalog. Although it will take several years for all publications holdings, both traditional paper publications and electronic publications, to be added to the catalog, all state publications will be accessible through the catalog. In the intervening time, KDLA’s listing of state publications titles in its holdings is available for searching on the web. More than 20,000 state publications, including annual reports, newsletters, and minutes, issued by government agencies from 1792 to the present, are listed in the database. The database is searchable by agency, title, date or subject and is available on the KDLA web site at: http://www.kdla.ky.gov/collections/stategov/database.htm. Some publications are also accessible through the newly created E-archives at http://e-archives.ky.gov/.

Cooperation with Friends of Kentucky Public Archives

The Friends, a private membership organization, continues to work with the Public Records Division to support the management, preservation and use of records at the Kentucky State Archives. In addition to publishing a quarterly newsletter about the Kentucky State Archives, For the Record, this membership organization co-sponsors two public programming events per year. Participants at the 21st annual Kentucky Archives Institute in July, sponsored by the Kentucky State Archives and the Friends of Kentucky Public Archives Inc., learned about several collections of public records that are available for research in presentations that centered on the theme “The Past in Public Records.” KDLA staff members and others presented information about early medical professionals in Kentucky, scandalous behavior as reflected in court records, and land records.

The Friends and KDLA co-hosted the Friends annual meeting and Sixteenth Annual Public Archives Symposium. At the annual business meeting, State Archivist Richard Belding, on behalf of the Friends, recognized Harold Barker, records manager for the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG), and presented him with the Friends’ Award of Merit for outstanding archival management. During his thirty years of service, Barker worked to create Lexington’s first urban archives center, helped develop a comprehensive records retention schedule for the LFUCG, and successfully sought and received funding for the archives.

The annual Symposium features research and historical scholarship by focusing on a recently published historical work. Dr. Harold Tallant of Georgetown College spoke on slavery and political culture in pre-Civil War Kentucky and the research on his book, Evil Necessity: Slavery and Political Culture in Antebellum Kentucky.

Microfilm Donation Received

Microfilmed copies of Kentucky’s World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards were purchased and donated to the Kentucky State Archives by the Friends of Kentucky Public Archives, the Kentucky Genealogical Society, and several generous individuals. This wonderful donation will aid researchers in gathering information about their World War I forbearers. About 23% of the Kentucky population at the time registered for the draft, so this is a great resource for historical and genealogical information.

The Kentucky Genealogical Society also made a donation to the Friends of Kentucky Public Archives to support microfilming of the Kentucky Council of Defense Record Books. Organized in 1918, the Kentucky Council of Defense collected information in each county on local soldiers, sailors, marines, and nurses who saw active duty. Information was also collected on civilians who supported the war effort, including members of the County Council of Defense, the local Draft Board, Red Cross, Liberty Loan Committees, and other organizations.

State Records Center

The State Records Center continues to grow in order to meet the records storage needs of Kentucky state government agencies. Although many more records are computerized, paper records are still an important component of an agency’s documentation requirements. The Records Center serves as an off-site storage facility for all government agencies that are required to maintain specific records for a certain length of time, but do not have space in their offices to do so. This centralized storage facility saves millions of dollars annually in cost avoidance for state government. For years, State Records Center services were provided for $.33 per month per cubic foot, but this year the price increased to $.38 per month per cubic foot, in order to cover costs of the service. The Records Center had three vacant positions for several months, affecting the staff’s ability to provide efficient services, with only one of these positions filled during the fiscal year. The Records Center’s holdings have grown dramatically in recent years, from about 58,000 cubic feet of records in 1987, to around 170,000 cubic feet of records today. New units of shelving to hold 5,640 cubic feet of material were installed this year, to handle a portion of the growth. The Records Center has two leased warehouse facilities in Frankfort and is not part of KDLA’s Clark-Cooper building.

State Archives Serves Customers

During the past year, staff of the Archival Services Branch continued to answer customer reference questions using the records at the State Archives. Over 4,000 individuals came personally to the State Archives to conduct research, in microfilmed public records or in original paper records. Another 8,600 customers were assisted with research questions by phone or mail in answering research or reference questions about information in government records. The Document Preservation Lab continued to provide important services in caring for paper records, including cleaning, repairing, deacidifying, and encapsulating documents for government agencies throughout the state, in addition to providing care for records stored at the State Archives.

State Archives at Capacity

KDLA’s State Archives facilities are currently at capacity and no longer meet the continuing records storage needs of state and local agencies. During the last ten years, KDLA has requested construction of additional storage space for public records of permanent value in every biennial budget, but no funds have been appropriated to date.

KDLA staff maximized use of space within the Clark-Cooper building, including reappraising records, accessioning records on a limited basis, and reprocessing records. At the end of this fiscal year, KDLA even had to declare a moratorium on new shipments of records into the State Archives. The Kentucky Talking Book Library (KTBL) undertook a major shift of its collections to make more room for archival storage shelving on the third floor of the Clark-Cooper building. This involved the addition of library shelving in KDLA’s lobby, with the intention of shifting Braille books to the lobby, and shifting taped books within the KTBL storage areas. This major commitment of time and effort of the KTBL staff will enable the State Archives to begin accessioning materials again, at least until the newly created space becomes full as well.

Building Addition Sought

In the past five years, external consultants have assessed KDLA’s archival storage situation, verified projected growth in its storage requirements, and validated KDLA’s need for additional archival storage capacity.

During the state’s 2005 Capital Planning cycle, KDLA is again seeking support for a building expansion. The projected design features high elevation shelving and high storage capacity, within a limited footprint. It is a necessary complement to the Archives’ digital initiatives and its developing electronic records archives program.

If an expanded facility is not built, government operations and the rights of citizens are placed at risk. Continuity in government operations relies on information, in the form of records, showing what business agencies have done (accountability) and how they have carried out their responsibilities (transparency), both of which are key factors in establishing and maintaining the confidence and trust of those who have a stake in government. These records must be protected and accessible, and an expanded facility can ensure that the needs of state and local government agencies continue to be met.

Clark Center for Digital Imaging

KDLA’s new digital services facility, the Thomas D. Clark Center for Digital Imaging, is an integral part of the department’s plan for managing archival records in the 21st century. The services offered by the Clark Center complement the continuing need to store some records in original paper form. In the past year, KDLA has greatly expanded its capacity to convert government records through its Document Management Digitization System (DMDS). KDLA’s new range of services (converting paper records to a digital file, digital files to microfilm, or microfilm to a digital file) provide economical options for state and local government agencies to more efficiently manage and preserve their records.

Thanks to a capital appropriation from the 2000 General Assembly, KDLA worked with consultants to develop the DMDS design and subsequently purchase equipment and software to provide this service. Since 1958, KDLA has been explicitly directed by Kentucky statute to serve as the state’s centralized services facility for micrographics services. The expanded imaging services recognize and build directly on KDLA’s lengthy experience with creating a product which accurately reproduces the original and is easily accessible. KDLA conducts quality assurance so that the copy is correct, while still providing services at an economical rate.

The service has shown that by increasing low cost, quality conversion services available to state and local agencies on a fee-for-service basis, KDLA is improving management of records and recovering the cost of maintaining the conversion operation. The service has increased paper scanning from 30,000 images per month to over 200,000 per month over the past year. In addition, DMDS can scan from microfilm (all formats) and produce 16mm and 35mm microfilm from scanned images.

Among the dozen or more active conversion projects that use the service, examples from the Department of Insurance’s Property and Casualty Division, the Transportation Cabinet’s Division of Bridge Design, and the Office of the County Clerk in Kenton County provide an interesting perspective on possible approaches.

In an effort to improve access capabilities for Insurance, KDLA is now providing both electronic and microfilm copies of records produced each month. The microfilm satisfies preservation requirements, and the scanned documents, which are converted into Acrobat PDF readable files, provide Insurance with a low cost and simple means of retrieving records by filing number.

The Transportation Cabinet requested that KDLA create electronic image copies of plans that KDLA has been microfilming for over ten years. Using a newly acquired film scanner, KDLA is creating high quality images that are imported and indexed directly into Transportation’s own system. This process provides an efficient way to create, index, and transfer images that Transportation can distribute more widely than it could with paper and microfilm images.

The Kenton County Clerk, among several other agencies, transfers images to KDLA for creation of microfilm as a backup for local records imaging projects. This procedure insures preservation of an eye-readable copy of the archival record at a cost that is comparable to creation of microfilm from paper.