Deputy State Coordinator George Parkinson called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. and welcomed the board. The minutes from the 6 August meeting were reviewed and adopted.

Board Members related news from their institutions and regions. Carol Tomer, archivist for the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, spoke of the upcoming MAC/MIRMAC Conference to be held in Cleveland in the fall of 2000. Tomer is on the Local Arrangements Committee, with Michael McCormick serving as Chairperson. She also reported that the Cleveland Clinic is proceeding with their move, splitting the collections into two locations with new compact shelving space. The project also calls for the renovation of an older building.

David Larson, State Records Administrator, reported to the board on his department's on-going briefing of the new Taft administration, as well as personnel changes in the Department of Administrative Services. Barbara Floyd, Archivist for the University of Toledo, reported that she recently led the new Dean of the Library on a tour of the Archives and Special Collections. Also, the Toledo Blade ran an article as well as an editorial on e-mail retention plans of the state universities. The editorial condemned the records management policy of the University of Toledo in regards to e-mail records. Copies of the article and editorial were distributed to the board. Roland Baumann, Archivist for Oberlin College, spoke of an on-going records-retention discussion with the college administration, as well as the creation of a new digitalization project. Titled "Oberlin History as U.S. History, this project calls for the creation of student-developed web-sites that will be run through the Oberlin College site. Baumann also reported that the installment of new compact shelving for the archives continues.

James Oda, Director of the Piqua Historical Society, reported on the recent acquisition of a glass-plate negative collection, circa 1863-1865 that comes with a logbook of the various plates. The Piqua Historical Society will apply for a grant to process the collection. Jonathon Dembo informed the board that he is no longer employed by the Cincinnati Museum Center. Keith Corman, Hamilton County Court Bailiff, said that the Hamilton County Recorder had recently "unearthed" some county documents that will need preservation. George Parkinson, Division Chief of the Archives Library, Ohio Historical Society, reported on the Society's strategic planing and its implications for the Archives-Library Division and the recent purchase of Thomas Worthington family papers.

The Board turned its attention to Archives Week. George Bain, Archivist for Ohio University and Chair of the Society of Ohio Archivists "Archives Week" Committee, reviewed plans for upcoming Archives Week activity in Ohio 2000 and beyond. The theme for "Archives Week, 1999" was "Celebrating Education in Ohio," and 5000 posters and 6000 bookmarks were printed and distributed. This year also saw the creation of an "Archives Week" page on the SOA web-site. This page contains a full color downloadable copy of the 1999 poster, as well as an exhibit of past Archives Week posters. Bain reported that "Archives Week 2000" will have "Celebrating Museums in Ohio" as its theme, and the planning committee is already looking ahead to 2003, the year of Ohio's Bicentennial.

Next on the agenda was discussion of the possible revision of The Ohio 2003 Plan. The Revision Subcommittee (Baumann, Dembo, Floyd) presented a proposal calling for a two-day planning session, perhaps an overnight retreat, to begin steps to revise The 2003 Plan. The board agreed to this plan, and also decided that they should meet during the SOA Spring Meeting held in April of 2000. At this meeting, the board hopes to meet with Ann Newhall of the National Historical Publications & Records Commission (NHPRC). The meeting would begin with a presentation by Newhall of the NHPRC program, and then a review of The 2003 Plan would follow, in relation to:

-Revised NHPRC plan

-Strategic plans of other SHRAB boards

-Current issues/concerns of OHRAB and how issues have changed since last plan

-Need for successful re-grant

-Impact of Ohio Humanities Council Community History grants

-Need for more OHRAB visibility

-Need for more OHRAB grant activity

-Irons-Walch survey results

-Other issues?

It was also suggested that a person serving on another state's historical records board attend this meeting as well. Roy Tryon from South Carolina was suggested.

It was agreed that the retreat should follow the month after the Newhall/SOA meeting, and the board hopes to arrange for an outside felicitator to assist OHRAB in meeting their goals at this meeting. The board also agreed that the Revision Subcommittee would arrange the site for the retreat, dates in May to be determined later. The date for the Newhall meeting was tentatively set for April 14^th, 2000.

Assistant State Archivist Charlie Arp described the upcoming National Forum on Archival Continuing Education (NFACE). Supported by the Council of State Historical Records Coordinators and funded by the NHPRC, it will develop an agenda for archival continuing education in the next decade and improve the accessibility to information resources on best practices in the care of historical records. Arp has arranged four Ohio "focus groups" to meet and discuss NFACE: Special Collections, Local History, State and County records, and SOA. These groups will provide Arp with their concerns and hopes regarding archival education. From these results, Arp will compile a report to present when NFACE holds a national meeting in April of 2000.

The board discussed the Electronic Records Program. Arp reported that the Electronic Records Advisory group has set up "email policy" committees, as well committee membership rules. Arp told the board that membership to the committee would be determined through a nomination process finalized by committee vote. He also reported that he and Judy Cobb-Walker have been invited to Minnesota to make a presentation on the Ohio GILS project. Arp also brought the board up to date on developments concerning Email record storage issues. During discussion of these issues, the board decided that it should arrange for a tour of the Ohio State Super Computer Center located at the Ohio State University. The Super Computer Center is playing a vital role in the handling of electronic records, and is working with the Electronic Records Program to establish archival tools for use in handling these records.

The board looked at the meeting calendar for 2000, and set meetings for April 14, in Columbus, May (weekend retreat, date and location to be determined later), August 4 at the Dayton Art Institute, and October 13, again in Columbus.

Parkinson distributed copies of Digitizing Ohio’s Historical Records/ A Study to Determine the Feasibility and Advisability of Digitizing Ohio’s Historical Records for the Purpose of Providing Internet Access. The Ohio Historical Society produced this report in response to House Bill 283, Section 53, which directed the Society to undertake a "Study to Determine Digitizing Costs." It estimated the cost to be over $9,000,000 and concluded that

The meeting was adjourned at 2:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

George Parkinson
Deputy Coordinator