Minutes of the Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board Meeting
11 August 1995
Case Western Reserve University

Board Members Present: George Parkinson, George Bain, Roland Baumann, Alice Cornell, Jonathan Dembo, Barbara Floyd, Dennis Harrison, Mike Lucas, Carol Tomer

Board Members Absent: Gary Ness, James Oda

Staff Present: Elizabeth Nelson

Also present: Mona Chapin

George Parkinson called the meeting to order at 11:04 a.m., welcomed the board, and reviewed the agenda. Parkinson shared with the board a press release from Roxanne Qualls, Mayor of Cincinnati, announcing the transfer of more than 88 volumes of local government records to the University of Cincinnati Libraries Archives and Rare Books Department. The notice specifically mentions the board, The Ohio 2003 Plan, and To Outwit Time. On a related note, the Cincinnati Historical Society announced the receipt of grants from the Robert H. Reakirt Foundation and the Josephine Schell Russell Charitable Trust to support library automation.

George Bain moved to adopt the minutes of the board's 19 May 1995 meeting. Roland Baumann seconded the motion, which passed by unanimous vote.

Elizabeth Nelson presented a summary of the board's expenditures and the amount of grant funds remaining.

Barbara Floyd commented on the Ohio Historical Society's grant proposal, "Establishing the Ohio Electronic Records Archives." Since George Parkinson could not review the proposal, Floyd gathered the board members' evaluations and compiled the summary recommendation. The board recommended that the proposal be fully funded.

Floyd also reported on the progress of the Ohio State University's electronic records project. The conference for college and university archivists, records managers, and information officers funded by NHPRC was a success. Plans now call for the creation of a data dictionary and standards to help colleges and universities manage electronic records.

Elizabeth Nelson distributed the final report for the preservation planning grant funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as a list of the individuals and groups that received The Ohio 2003 Plan, and To Outwit Time publication. More than 2,000 copies of the booklet have been mailed to project participants, archives, libraries, historical and genealogical societies, museums, lawmakers, beneficiary groups, State Historical Records Coordinators, and the membership of the Society of Ohio Archivists. George Bain suggested the plan be sent to The Public Historian, the journal of the National Council on Public History.

George Bain moved to invite the chair of the Bicentennial Commission to a board meeting for the purpose of joint planning. Jonathan Dembo seconded, and the motion carried.

At the 1 December 1995 meeting, the board will review its strategic plan. The following committees will each evaluate one goal. Each committee chair will report to the Deputy Coordinator by 10 November 1995. (Committee chairs are designated by an asterisk.)

Goal A: Alice Cornell and Dennis Harrison*
Goal B: George Bain* and Barbara Floyd
Goal C: Roland Baumann*, Jim Oda, and Carol Tomer
Goal D: Michael Lucas* and Jonathan Dembo

Committee reports will include methods by which the board has achieved the goal to date, suggestions for revision, and new ideas for implementation.

The board received a draft of the regrant proposal, "Homefront and Battlefront." A brief discussion followed. Board members will comment on the draft and send descriptions of other collections to be included in the narrative by 25 August 1995.

After a break for lunch, the board reconvened. George Bain moved to submit the "Homefront and Battlefront" grant application, revised to include suggested changes, to NHPRC against the 1 October 1995 deadline. Jonathan Dembo seconded the motion, which passed by unanimous vote.

Although called for on the agenda, the board could not discuss the Toledo Museum of Art's grant proposal to establish an archives and records management program because the proposal was not received. It will be submitted to NHPRC against the 1 October 1995 deadline.

George Parkinson reported on the recent meeting of NAGARA and the Council of State Historical Records Coordinators. Parkinson also reported on Senate Bill 36, the open records bill sponsored by Senator Oelslager. The bill, as written, would have serious consequences for archives and public records repositories. On 9 August 1995, Parkinson testified before the Senate Judiciary Open Records Subcommittee to express concern over the provision which prohibits patron registration.

Mona Chapin, Head Librarian for the Cincinnati Art Museum, spoke to the board about the museum's grant proposal to organize its archives and process some of its collections. The board asked questions and offered suggestions for improvements. The museum intends to submit the proposal to NHPRC against the October deadline.

The board briefly discussed the draft of its annual report. George Bain suggested that it be distributed on the listservs of the Society of Ohio Archivists and the Ohio Council of Library and Information Services.

Michael Lucas explained the goals of the proposed Interim Preservation Office (proposal follows text of minutes). George Bain moved to endorse the concept of the Interim Preservation Office as presented, to recommend that it be endorsed, and to invite the participation of the Ohio Preservation Council. Carol Tomer seconded the motion, which the board adopted by a unanimous vote.

George Bain moved to adopt the following meeting schedule, with the understanding that additional meeting dates for 1996 will be scheduled as necessary: Friday, 8 December 1995, Friday, 21 June 1996, Friday, 9 August 1996, and Friday, 5 December 1996.

Barbara Floyd seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous vote.

The board expressed its thanks to Dennis Harrison, Sue Yellen, Nora Blackman, and Case Western Reserve University for organizing and hosting the board's meeting and picnic with the Cleveland Archival Roundtable, and also to Carol Tomer for her hospitality.

Roland Baumann moved to adjourn the meeting at 3:30 pm. George Bain seconded the motion, and the board adjourned.

Respectfully submitted by:

George Parkinson
Deputy Coordinator

Proposal to Establish an
Interim Preservation Office

One of OHRAB's highest priorities is to implement To Outwit Time: Preserving Materials in Ohio's Libraries and Archives. The action agenda entails nine actions, the most important of which are to establish a source of funds to address preservation needs and to create a statewide preservation office. In the coming months, the board must develop strategies for securing funding. In the meantime, however, the board can take the first step toward establishing the preservation office by endorsing this proposal to organize an Interim Preservation Office (IPO) to perform certain tasks specified in the action agenda or suggested by OHRAB.

The IPO's first task will be to implement action number four of To Outwit Time, which is to "create and maintain a directory of technical skills, services, personnel resources, physical structures, and technologies available to ensure proper care of collections in Ohio..." The IPO will create such a directory on the World Wide Web. This directory will list Ohio institutions that engage in preservation activities and detail information about their facilities, staff, equipment, technical skills, and services offered. It will also feature a "Yellow Pages" section that lists preservation consultants, commercial services, and vendors, such as bookbinding services, disaster recovery services, vacuum freeze drying and cold storage facilities, and storage material suppliers.

The World Wide Web offers other possibilities as well. Preservation manuals, a bibliography of preservation literature, the Ohio Preservation Council's newsletter, and information about education and training opportunities in Ohio might be made available. An email help line might be instituted to answer preservation questions. Online surveys might be designated to determine the current interests of the preservation community. Because other Web sites, such as Stanford University Libraries' Conservation OnLine (CoOL, address: http://palimpsest.stanford.edu), provide general preservation information, the IPO's home page will focus mainly on information and publications with state and regional relevance.

Administrative responsibility and costs for the IPO will be shared by the State Library of Ohio (SLO) and the Ohio Historical Society (OHS) until additional funding can be secured. SLO has agreed to contribute a portion of the time of Michael Lucas and Clara Ireland to this endeavor, and OHS will contribute a portion of the time of George Parkinson, Vernon Will, and Elizabeth Nelson. Maintaining the core staff of the NEH preservation project will ensure continuity with the goals of the action agenda. Through George Parkinson and Michael Lucas, the IPO will maintain close ties with OHRAB. SLO and OHS would also divide the costs for travel, services, and supplies.

The IPO staff will also travel to libraries, archives, and other repositories throughout the state to educate and provide on-site assistance. During the planning process, interview subjects and town meeting participants expressed a strong desire for a statewide preservation office that would provide information about how to preserve historical documents. The IPO can reach out to Ohio organizations, especially those without professional conservators, to help them care for their collections and use available equipment and technologies effectively. Outreach efforts by the IPO will also demonstrate to Ohio organizations the benefits they will gain through the implementation of To Outwit Time, thereby building support for the preservation office that will be valuable as OHRAB works to secure additional funding.

With OHRAB's approval, the Ohio Preservation Council (OPC) will be invited to serve in an advisory capacity for the IPO. The OPC's members represent institutions across the state, which will widen the perspective of the Columbus-based IPO. Moreover, the OPC has significant experience providing workshops, seminars, and general preservation knowledge that will prove useful to the IPO. Together, the IPO and the OPC might expand the OPC's education program and develop new initiatives to survey and address Ohio's preservation needs.

If the board endorses this proposal, the Interim Preservation Office will carry forward To Outwit Time and also The Ohio 2003 Plan. The same staff that produced the action agenda will work to implement its actions with the help of OHRAB and the OPC. Through its first proposed project, the creation of an online directory of preservation resources, the IPO will gain significant attention. The office will also undertake other tasks specified in the action agenda or suggested by the board to further the objectives of its strategic plan. A strong foundation will be laid for a statewide program that reaches out to Ohio institutions, responds to their needs, and develops cooperative preservation projects. By approving the creation of the IPO, OHRAB will take the first step toward realizing its objective to establish a permanent preservation office in Ohio.