Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives 2003-2004 Annual Report

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.

The Friends of Kentucky Public Archives, Inc. continue to work with the Public Records division to heighten awareness of the state’s rich archival heritage. The Friends publish a quarterly newsletter, For the Record; provide speakers to local heritage groups; and co-sponsor two public programming events each year.

The annual Public Archives Symposium, jointly sponsored by the Friends of Kentucky Public Archives, Inc., and KDLA, brings the products of recent historical scholarship to a wider audience and underscores the valuable role of archives and archivists in supporting research in primary sources. Dr. J. Blaine Hudson, chair of the Department of Pan African Studies and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Louisville, was the featured speaker at the fifteenth annual Symposium in November at Georgetown College. A crowd of more than 80 enjoyed Professor Hudson’s discussion of the research for his recent book, Fugitive Slaves and the Underground Railway in the Kentucky Borderland.

The twentieth annual Kentucky Archives Institute, held in July, allowed participants to learn about several collections of public records that researchers seldom use. Entitled “Those Less Fortunate: Early Kentucky Social Welfare Sources,” the Institute focused on unusual public records from state and local governments, including those from mental health institutions and institutions for the education of people with disabilities. An additional highlight of the day was Dr. Randolph Hollingsworth’s presentation “A Silent Cry: Mary Todd Lincoln’s Last Days.”

Former State Auditor Edward B. Hatchett, Jr., who served two four-year terms as Kentucky’s Auditor of Public Accounts (1995-2003), was among those receiving the Award of Merit of the Friends of Kentucky Public Archives, Inc. at the organization’s 2003 annual meeting in November at Georgetown College. Hatchett was recognized for implementing a broad range of audit measures to improve the security and accessibility of government records, including initiating many performance audits that suggested improvements in recordkeeping and records management. In addition, the award noted his many important contributions to the work of the State Archives and Records Commission through his personal participation in its quarterly meetings and his understanding of the value of documenting government actions and policies. The Friends organization annually recognizes public officials for outstanding contributions to government records management in Kentucky.

In June and August of 2003, prior to the departure of outgoing Kentucky Governor Paul E. Patton, KDLA personnel addressed staff of the Governor’s Office, Executive Branch cabinet secretaries, and members of the state’s Information Technology Advisory Council, the CIO’s of each cabinet and constitutional officer, about records management considerations to keep in mind during the transition. They were asked to pay special attention to the requirement to transfer records of continuing value from their offices, including electronic records and e-mail. As a result of these conversations, staff was able to ensure that a substantial volume of records was transferred to the State Archives. In addition to a quantity of records series in paper formats, KDLA received a variety of records in electronic form, including comprehensive runs of official correspondence, photographs, press releases, speech files, and other records from the Governor’s website (1995-2003) and from the Office of the Governor.

The State Historical Records Advisory Board, the Kentucky Council on Archives, and the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives coordinated Kentucky’s second annual Kentucky Archives Week activities. Numerous events were scheduled for October 5-11, 2003, centered on the theme “Our Past Deserves a Future.” In one highlight of the week, Dr. Lowell H. Harrison, a retired history professor from Western Kentucky University, received the Thomas D. Clark Archives Week Award in recognition for his years as an advocate for archival repositories in Kentucky and his commitment to teaching with primary source materials. For more information, see the Kentucky Archives Week website at: http://archivesweek.ky.gov/.

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. In fact, for the low cost of $.33 per month per cubic foot, this centralized storage facility saves millions of dollars annually in cost avoidance for state government. The Records Center’s holdings have grown dramatically in recent years, from about 58,000 cubic feet of records in 1987, to almost 163,000 cubic feet of records today. The Records Center is comprised of two leased warehouse facilities in Frankfort and is not part of KDLA’s Clark-Cooper facility.

The Local Records Program, in addition to administering a grant program which provides much needed funding for records management projects, also provides direct service to all local governments in the Commonwealth through four regional administrators. Over the past year the program has given over twenty-four records management workshops for local governments and school districts. This was made possible through affiliations with the training components of Kentucky Association of Counties, the Kentucky League of Cities, and Governor’s Office for Local Development (GOLD). Public Records staff continued the progress toward surveying all of the county clerk’s offices. These surveys provide an accurate inventory of the permanent records maintained in the offices, their condition, and actions to preserve the records. With the proliferation of new technologies such as digital imaging and GIS, local governments have come to rely on the Local Records Branch staff for guidance, not only for what to purchase but how records are maintained in these systems. Public Records staff continues to create new records retention schedules and provide assistance to the local governments in their use. One significant retention schedule completed this year was for Lexington/Fayette Urban County Government.

The Kentucky State Archives and Records Commission held its four quarterly meetings this fiscal year, making decisions about records retention and disposition, awarding grants to local governments for their records, and endorsing various guidelines for recordkeeping in public agencies.

KDLA staff worked with the Commission to undertake a major revision of the records retention schedule for Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. Other agencies undergoing schedule revision included Public School Districts, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, the Department of Workers Claims, the Department of Parks, and Louisville Metro, among others. The Commission also approved several changes for the General Schedule for State Agencies, in both the Fiscal and the Personnel and Payroll sections, necessitated by changing recordkeeping needs for the Management Administrative Reporting Systems (MARS).

KDLA received approximately 49 applications for local records grant funding, at a cost of $659,282. Of the 49 applications, 40 were recommended to the Commission by local records program staff for full or partial funding, at a cost of $476,752. Because of reduced funds for local records grants this year, it was necessary for staff to prioritize the requests, based on the local agency’s need and fair distribution of the funds throughout the state. Most of the grant money is awarded for microfilming, to ensure long-term preservation of vital, historical government records. This grant cycle was no exception, with approximately 50% of funds recommended for microfilming projects. With the proliferation of technologies and the push to have as much information as possible available electronically, approximately $135,000 was earmarked for electronic projects.

The Commission also oversaw the work of its Electronic Records Working Group, which issued several sets of guidelines during this year, including Guidelines for Responding to Open Records Requests for Public Records in a Database and Guidelines for Managing Email in Kentucky Government.

As is customary during years when the General Assembly meets, KDLA staff monitored all legislation introduced during the 2004 session to identify bills which might have an archival or records management impact. Staff advised commission members of relevant bills and the issues they addressed, and of action taken or planned by the Department, if any.

The Kentucky State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB) received a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to further the work of the board in Kentucky, especially providing leadership and coordination for historical records repositories in the state. With the grant money, the SHRAB, in coordination with KDLA, the Kentucky Council on Archives, and the Society of American Archivists, sponsored two continuing education workshops for archivists and manuscript curators.

KDLA's Document Management Digitization System (DMDS) continues to provide a full range of document conversion services to state and local government, converting records from paper and microfilm to digital format and from digital format to microfilm. In FY 2003-2004, the Thomas D. Clark Center for Digital Imaging digitally scanned and indexed more than 1.7 million records. In addition, it created microfilm from digital images for more than 996,000 imaged records. Records with long-term retention are regularly converted both to electronic and microfilm formats to meet both access and long-term storage needs. The Department spent the remaining capital funds allocated for DMDS and the development of the electronic archives on application development, network storage space, and additional digital to microfilm conversion equipment. The Department is also accessioning selective records in electronic format, such as those from the Governor's Office.

Thanks to a two-year grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) to the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), the Public Records division and several other archival institutions from across the country will collaborate with SDSC to conduct case studies that test the long term archival storage of electronic records. (http://www.npaci.edu/DICE/SRB). For this Persistent Archives Testbed (PAT) project, staff of the Public Records division will conduct case studies to test the persistent archives’ ability to perform all archival functions from appraisal to access using data grid technology.

The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives (KDLA) and the Friends of Kentucky Public Archives, Inc., celebrated the 100th birthday of Dr. Thomas Dionysius Clark on Friday, July 11, 2003, with a short program and reception, featuring Dr. Clark’s favorite coconut cake, in the lobby of KDLA's Clark-Cooper Building.

This celebration honored not only the centenary of Dr. Clark's birth, but also his 70 years of involvement with archives in Kentucky, and his 40 years as a member of the State Archives and Records Commission.

The event also marked the renaming of KDLA’s document management digital services facility as the “Thomas D. Clark Center for Digital Imaging.”

An exhibit, "A Celebration of Dr. Thomas D. Clark's Service to Kentucky," was also on display in July. Showcasing many highlights of Dr. Clark’s distinguished career, the exhibit focused on his 70 years of interest in the Kentucky State Archives: from his advocacy for a state archival program in the 1930's, to his work in securing a building for KDLA in the 1970's, to his continuing activity today in archival and research issues.