Deputy State Coordinator George Parkinson called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m. and welcomed the board and the day's guests.

Dave Roepke, Archivist for Ashland University and the day's host, introduced himself and welcomed the board to Ashland University and the John M. Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs. The Center preserves the historical records of Ashland University and historical materials related to 20^th Century American, Republican politics. In addition to the papers of Ashbrook (1928-1982, Congressman 17^th District of Ohio, 196-1982), the Center houses the papers of John W. Brown, who was governor of Ohio in 1957.

Members of the board then reported on current events and projects from their institutions and regions. Roland Baumann updated the board on the compact shelving project for the Oberlin College Archives. He has submitted a final report to the college, asking for shelving that will yield 10-12 years worth of space. Michael Lucas described the State Library of Ohio’s Statewide Resource Sharing Project, relocation plans, and "Libraries Connect," a program that promotes cooperative database purchasing and sharing among school system and the public libraries. Jonathan Dembo reported on the search to fill the President's position at the Cincinnati Museum Center.

A discussion of the Ashbrook Center with its director, Peter Schramm, who joined the meeting, ensued. He described the undergraduate program, "Ashbrook Scholars," as well as the role of the Ashbrook Center at the University. He explained that the Ashbrook Center differs from many other academic archival programs in that its collection policy is narrowly focused on one area of research, namely the papers and materials of John Ashbrook and related American conservative political materials of the late 20^th century. Schramm clarified that the Center does not actively seek out a wide variety of materials, and he does not feel obligated to expand the collection beyond its initial scope. Roland Baumann asked if the Ashbrook Center would be willing to take materials of organizations of the far-right, materials that might be of controversial but historical in nature. Schramm indicated that this would be unlikely, as he considers it outside the policy that the Ashbrook Center follows. He acknowledged that this approach differs from that of other archival institutions, which strive to collect a wide range of materials, but Schramm felt that such a policy fit the Ashbrook Center.

The board then adopted as written the minutes from the 4 December 1998 meeting.

Funding of the Dayton Art Institute grant proposal by the NHPRC was discussed. It was noted that the Commission’s assessment of the proposal was in harmony with the board reviews, and the board acknowledged that the NHPRC's partial funding was a reasonable course. The possibility of a board meeting at the Dayton Art Institute upon the conclusion of the grant period was endorsed.

There was discussion of the "Ohio Memory" project. It calls for a statewide cooperative effort that will have public libraries, historical societies and museums work together to identify significant historical documents in their collections, have them effectively organized, and made available on the World Wide Web as Ohio celebrates its Bicentennial. There are four main components for the project, a Web site, Database Acquisitions, Bicentennial Bytes, and the Ohio Memory Scrapbook.

The board turned its attention to the HRRS Survey. Officially titled Where History Begins: A Report on Historical Records Repositories in the United States, the final version was issued nation-wide. The board discussed a proposal to bring Project Coordinator Victoria Irons Walch to attend a board meeting to discuss the survey and the national archival scene. It was suggested that perhaps this be done in conjunction with a Society of Ohio Archivists meeting. Parkinson reported that Charles Arp, Assistant State Archivist, will represent Ohio Archivists at an Archival Education Conference in April 1999.

A proposal to change the December meeting date to November 12^th was approved. It will occur in Columbus, at the Ohio Historical Center.

Arp then updated the board on the standing of the Electronic Records Program. Following the adoption of an official policy by the Electronic Records Committee, four sub-committees were set up to continue discussions on various matters, such as imaging procedures, e-mail retention, technology and standards. They will report to the full committee on May 5^th.

Concerning the Local Government Records Legislation, Arp reported that Representative Randy Gardner has offered to sponsor this act. He is asking for letters of support from interested parties, such as local government associations, county clerks, recorders, and clerks of court.

Laurie Gemmill then presented an on-line demonstration of the Library of Congress/Ameritech grant project, The African American Experience in Ohio, 1850-1920. The project went online on February 28^th. Gemmill also reported on lessons learned from the project, which was the first of its kind for OHS. Roland Baumann suggested that Gemmill and Arp might consider writing a teaching and resource article on their experiences with this project.

Finally, Parkinson reported that a new OHS web server is ready, and that the Online Collections Catalog will be available to the general public by April.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:35 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

George Parkinson
Deputy Coordinator