Annual
Reports
1996
Annual Report
The
Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board
Annual Report
1 July 1995-30 June 1996
The Ohio
Historical Records Advisory Board (OHRAB) met four times in fiscal
year 1996, in August and December of 1995, and in April and June
of 1996. In accordance with the board's established policy of
holding at least one meeting each year in a location other than
Columbus, the August meeting was held at Case Western Reserve
University in Cleveland, and the June meeting was held at Edison
State College in Piqua. While at Piqua, the board conducted an
open house discussion of issues facing county and local historical
societies of Ohio. Among the participants were Ray Schuck from
the Allen County Historical Society, Melinda Gilpin from the Marion
County Historical Society, and Sarah Sessions and Katie Blatt
from the Montgomery County Historical Society.
In April,
the board heard from Deputy Coordinator George Parkinson that
the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC)
did not fund its regrant project "Homefront And Battlefront: Ohioans
Serve the Nation." The board agreed to revise and submit the proposal
in October 1996. The board also reviewed three grants submitted
to the NHPRC against the 1 October 1995 deadline. One was submitted
by the Toledo Museum of Art, one by the Ohio Historical Society,
and the third by the Cincinnati Art Museum. The Toledo Museum
of Art received a grant of $54,392, and the Ohio Historical Society
proposal, "Establishing the Ohio Electronic Records Archives"
received only $10,000 of the $206,400 originally requested. The
Cincinnati Art Museum grant was not funded.
At the December
meeting, the board learned that the Cincinnati Historical Society
finished its NHPRC grant to support a two-year processing project.
Proposed
revisions to The Ohio 2003 Plan
were discussed at the December meeting. In April, the board briefly
considered the revisions to the NHPRC strategic plan, upon which
The Ohio 2003 Plan is modeled. Following the NHRPC's
intention to create a plan that is clearer, more realistic, more
focused on the commission's priorities, and more reflective of
the importance of technology, the board decided that the proposed
revisions to The Ohio 2003 Plan should accomplish
these goals as well. The revised Ohio 2003 Plan is
to be printed and distributed in January of 1997.
Throughout
the year, the board continued to implement many of its objectives,
as outlined by The Ohio 2003 Plan. At the August
meeting, Barbara Floyd reported on the Ohio State University's
electronic records project "A Cooperative Approach to Electronic
Records and Information Management at Colleges and Universities
in Ohio."
Also at
its August meeting, the board endorsed the creation of the Interim
Preservation Office, in fulfillment of a recommendation in To
Outwit Time.
In June,
Mike Lucas informed the board about the Government Information
Locator Service Initiative (GILS). This initiative, a joint project
with the Ohio Historical Society, is a system designed to identify
public information resources of Ohio Government, to describe the
information available in those resources, and to provide assistance
in obtaining the information. Development of GILS will also result
in the formation of an information policy for the state. Lucas
also reported on the dedication of the Ohio
Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) held in Columbus
on 12 June 1996. At the dedication, Governor Voinovich promised
that all Ohio libraries will be connected to the state's communications
backbone by the end of the calendar year.
In April,
the board considered the Ohio Historical Society's proposal to
create the Ohio Local Government Information Locator System, which
will use modern technology to improve upon Local Government Records
Program. Emphasis will be placed on creating online resources
and services that provide information local government officials
need and that streamline procedures which are currently time-consuming
and paper-intensive. A Local Government Information Locator System
will be created, which will be a World Wide Web home page that
will identify, describe, and provide assistance in obtaining local
government information. The home page will include a schedule
of workshops, and detailed instructions on how to schedule, preserve,
and dispose of records. A functional records manual will be created
to replace manuals currently in use with one that is more comprehensive,
yet also more flexible and easier to update. In addition, the
home page will include brief county histories and a profile of
each local government office or unit. The Fact File will provide
context for the records, helping users understand the structure
of local governments, their responsibilities, and the records
they produce. The Ohio Historical Society will seek funding to
support this effort.
Also in
April, the board heard a report on the Ohio Historical Society's
NHPRC electronic records consultant grant. Through this grant,
the Society retained Margaret Hedstrom, Associate Professor at
the School of Information at the University of Michigan. Hedstrom
will submit a report of her recommendations for developing an
electronic records program in Ohio at the end of the grant period
in August.
At the June
meeting, Parkinson reported to the board that funding included
in the state capital bill will provide The Ohio Historical Society's
Archives/Library with
$1.5 million to establish an electronic records program and to
support ongoing automation projects. Furthermore, in conjunction
with the Cincinnati Historical Society and the Western Reserve
Historical Society, the Ohio Historical Society released a request
for proposal for an integrated library and information system.
Parkinson
also summarized the goals of the Society's Ohio Vital Information
for Libraries Center project (OVIL). Under this project, various
public records, documents, collections and informational resources
will be converted to electronic format and made available through
the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) and the World
Wide Web. The Society received $100,000 in LSCA grant funds through
the State Library of Ohio and $50,000 from OPLIN to support the
project. The OVIL will implement objective C1 of The Ohio
2003 Plan: "through OhioLink, or similar online networks,
improve access to historical records in Ohio."
This year
also saw the creation of an Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board
World Wide Web home page, designed to increase awareness of the
board, its activities, and the NHPRC grant program (URL http//www.ohiohistory.org/ohrab/).
The home page also includes hypertext links to NHPRC's new home
page.
With such
ongoing projects as the aforementioned, fiscal year 1996 was indeed
a year of action. The next year will see the continuation and
growth of many of these initiatives, as well as the revision and
resubmitting of "Homefront And Battlefront." The board also agreed
to do the national Historical Records Repository Survey (HRRS)
in the coming year, and board members will continue to meet with
interested parties across the state to publicize the board's activities
and encourage grant applications.
The
Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board
Annual Report
1 July 1994-30 June 1995
The Ohio
Historical Records Advisory Board met four times in fiscal year
1995, in September and December of 1994, and in February and May
of 1995. In accordance with the board's established policy of
holding one meeting each year in a location other than Columbus,
the September meeting was held at the Cincinnati Historical Society's
headquarters in conjunction with the fall meeting of the Society
of Ohio Archivists. The board gained three new members on 24 August
1994, when Governor George V. Voinovich appointed James Oda of
the Piqua Historical Society, Carol Tomer of the Cleveland Clinic
Foundation, and Michael Lucas of the State Library of Ohio to
the board. The new members replaced John Fleming, Diana Synadinos,
and William Crowley who left the board during the previous year.
Dennis Harrison was reappointed to a three-year term on the same
date. The terms of Jonathan Dembo, Barbara Floyd, and James Oda
expired on 31 March 1995. They were reappointed on 26 June 1995
to three-year terms expiring on 31 March 1998.
The board
reviewed two grants submitted to the National Historical Publications
and Records Commission (NHPRC) against the 1 October 1994 deadline.
One was submitted by the Grail, an international women's movement,
and the other by the Toledo Museum of Art. Neither received funding.
Two representatives of the Toledo Museum of Art attended the board's
May meeting to discuss improving the museum's proposal for resubmission
in October 1995. The Ohio Historical Society submitted an electronic
records proposal, "Establishing the Ohio Electronic Records Archives,"
to NHPRC against the 1 June 1995 deadline. Because Deputy Coordinator
George Parkinson is the project director and cannot review the
proposal, Barbara Floyd acted in his stead to collect and summarize
board members' reviews.
At its December
meeting, the board adopted a resolution in support of Archives
Week. Coordinator Gary Ness and Deputy Coordinator George Parkinson
carried the proposal to the February 1995 meeting of the Council
of State Historical Records Coordinators in Washington, D.C.,
where it was accepted by the council. Most of the board's efforts,
however, went toward refining its strategic plan, now called The
Ohio 2003 Plan, and achieving its objectives. The word
"draft" was dropped from its title in February when the board
officially adopted the plan. In November, George Parkinson and
Barbara Floyd presented a session on the plan at the annual meeting
of the Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums. This
session underlined the need to include smaller historical organizations
in the board's efforts. Also in November, Ohio Historical Society
staff member Elizabeth Nelson distributed the board's plan at
the annual conference of the Ohio Academic Library Association.
Throughout
the year, the board achieved many of the objectives of The
Ohio 2003 Plan. Work began on the board's first regrant
proposal, "Homefront and Battlefront: Ohioans Serve the Nation,"
which will accomplish Objective A2 of the plan. The board fulfilled
Objective A3 by encouraging the continuation of two successful
programs organized by the Society of Ohio Archivists: Archives
101, which teaches archival skills to non-professionals, and Archives
Week, which puts some of the treasures maintained by Ohio repositories
on display to increase public awareness of the importance of archives.
The board also furthered Objective B2 by supporting the Ohio Historical
Society's grant proposal, "Establishing the Ohio Electronic Records
Archives," which was submitted in June 1995.
Additionally,
the board adopted as one of its objectives the implementation
of To Outwit Time: Preserving Materials
in Ohio's Libraries and Archives, a preservation action
agenda that resulted from a grant from the National Endowment
for the Humanities (NEH). The Statewide Preservation Planning
Committee (SPPC) that oversaw the work of the planning effort
was not a continuing entity and did not have the authority to
implement its recommendations. Because OHRAB is a permanent board
appointed by the governor to act as the central body for historical
records planning in the state, and because the NEH project co-directors
are members of the board, it is the logical inheritor of the SPPC's
work. The actions suggested in the action agenda were added to
the board's own goals and objectives. In May 1995, The Ohio
2003 Plan and To Outwit Time were printed
jointly in an effort to achieve cost savings and to underscore
the interrelation between the two plans.
To date,
nearly two thousand copies of the joint publication have been
distributed to libraries, archives, historical societies, museums,
participants in the NEH planning effort, and State Historical
Records Coordinators. Copies were also mailed to members of the
Society of Ohio Archivists and Ohio lawmakers.
The end
of fiscal year 1995 decisively marks the end of OHRAB's planning
period. Fiscal year 1996 will be a year of action for the board.
A regrant proposal for "Homefront and Battlefront: Ohioans Serve
the Nation," which will focus on records documenting the wartime
experiences of Ohioans, will be submitted to NHPRC against the
1 October 1995 deadline. The board will also work to implement
the actions recommended in To Outwit
Time by establishing an Interim Preservation Office
supported jointly by the Ohio Historical Society and the State
Library of Ohio. In addition, board members will seek to meet
with interested groups throughout the state to publicize the board's
activities and encourage grant applications.
The Ohio
Historical Records Advisory Board Roster
Gary C.
Ness, State Coordinator
Director, Ohio Historical Society
1982 Velma Avenue
Columbus, OH 43211-2497
Email: gness@winslo.ohio.gov
George Parkinson,
Deputy Coordinator
Archives/Library Division Chief
Ohio Historical Society
1982 Velma Avenue
Columbus, OH 43211-2497
Email: gparkins@winslo.ohio.gov
George Bain
Head, Archives and Special Collections
Alden Library
Ohio University
Athens, OH 45701-2978
Email: bain@ouvaxa.cats.ohiou.edu
Roland Baumann
Oberlin College Archivist
420 Mudd Center
Oberlin, OH 44074-0175
Email: roland_baumann@qmgate.cc.oberlin.edu
Alice Cornell
Head, Archives and Rare Books Department
University of Cincinnati
Blegen Library
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0113
Email: alice.cornell@uc.edu
Jonathan
Dembo
Archivist, Cincinnati Historical Society
1301 Western Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45203
Barbara
Floyd
University Archivist
Ward M. Canaday Center
University of Toledo
Toledo, OH 43606
Email: lbr0008@uoft01.utoledo.edu
Dennis Harrison
University Archivist
Case Western Reserve University
10900 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106
Email: dih@po.cwru.edu
Michael
Lucas
Deputy State Librarian for Library Services
State Library of Ohio
65 South Front Street
Columbus, OH 43215-4163
Email: mlucas@slonet.ohio.gov
James Oda
Director, Piqua Historical Society
Flesh Public Library
124 West Greene Street
Piqua, OH 45356
Carol Tomer
Archivist
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
9500 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44195
Email: tomerc@ccsmtp.ccf.org
The
Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board
Annual Report
1 July 1993-30 June 1994
In December
1993, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission
(NHPRC) awarded a planning grant of $18,524 to the Ohio Historical
Records Advisory Board, which enabled the board to share The
Ohio 2003 Draft Plan with all Ohioans concerned with preserving
historical records. The beginning of the grant period sparked
an intensification of board activities. The board met four times
in 1994, in January, February, March, and June. In the spring,
the board produced an informational brochure, which includes the
draft plan, a time line of grant activities, NHPRC application
deadlines, and the board roster. Board members distributed approximately
2,000 of the new brochures at the six regional Ohio Library Council's
Chapter Conferences, the Ohio Genealogical Society's Annual Meeting,
the Local History Workshop at Bowling Green State University,
and the spring meeting of the Society of Ohio Archivists. In addition,
the brochures were distributed to libraries, archives and historical
societies together with the Preservation Action Agenda written
by the consultant to the NEH-funded Statewide Preservation Project.
The draft
plan appeared in the Society of Ohio Archivists' Ohio Archivist
(Spring 1994), the Ohio Historical Society's Preview
(Winter 1994) and Echoes (October 1993), and the
Ohio Academy of History Newsletter (Winter 1994).
Distribution and publication of the draft plan increased awareness
of the board's activities, and also inspired several projects
related to the board's goals--one to electronically link the catalogs
of the three largest historical societies in the state, and another
to focus on Ohio's anti-slavery movement.
One board
member, John Fleming, resigned from the board, and the terms of
William Crowley, Dennis Harrison and Diana Synadinos expired.
After the reporting period, Governor Voinovich reappointed Dennis
Harrison to serve another term and appointed Carol Tomer, James
Oda, and Michael Lucas to fill the vacancies left by Syandinos,
Fleming, and Crowley. Lucas, who began attending board meetings
in February, replaces Crowley as the representative from the State
Library of Ohio. In addition, at the board's invitation, Mary
Bowman, President of the Ohio Genealogical Society, began attending
meetings in February. The board seeks to foster closer ties with
genealogists, who represent one of its largest beneficiary groups,
and whose interest in preserving Ohio's documentary heritage makes
them vital allies in the board's efforts to implement its plan.
The board
divided into subcommittees to develop an implementation schedule
for each goal of The Ohio 2003 Draft Plan.
- George
Bain, Mary Bowman, and Barbara Floyd will focus on Goal A, "To
assure the preservation of Ohio's documentary heritage through
collaborative efforts."
- Roland
Baumann and new board members Carol Tomer and James Oda will
focus on Goal B, "To assure citizens of Ohio an accessible documentation
of both common and diverse elements of their historical experience."
- Jonathan
Dembo and Michael Lucas will focus on Goal C, "To achieve progress
in the preservation and use of original source material in Ohio."
- Dennis
Harrison and Alice Cornell will focus on Goal D, "To generate
public support for an accessible historical record."
Two grant applicants
brought draft proposals before the board to receive comments and
suggestions: Janet Kalven has prepared a proposal to process photographs
in the Grail National Archives against the 1 October 1994 deadline,
and Raimund Goerler submitted, and the board reviewed, a proposal
to organize a conference on electronic records issues in colleges
and universities against the 1 June 1994 deadline.
The board
implemented several objectives of the Ohio 2003 Draft Plan
during the period of this report. The board met with Robert Strauss,
the consultant to the Statewide Preservation Project, and with
the Council of the Society of Ohio Archivists to explore possible
avenues of collaboration. With the Council the board discussed
how the two groups might work together to expand upon SOA's Archives
101 Workshops, launched in April. The board also encouraged Raimund
Goerler to develop his grant proposal, which carries out recommendations
of the Working Meeting on Research Issues in Electronic Records.
Additionally, board members expressed interest in founding regrant
projects focusing on antebellum reform movements, military/social
history, 20th-century Ohio history, women's history, religious
history and the history of minority groups.
In the next
year, the board will build on the groundwork accomplished during
the fiscal year 1994. Encouraged by the success of the Society
of Ohio Archivists's first Archives Week in 1993, board member
George Bain, who initiated and organized the program, expects
greater participation in and public reaction to Archives Week
1994, to be held in September. The board agreed that this year's
theme, "Sports and Recreation in the Archives," should capitalize
on the interest in sports history generated by Ken Burns' miniseries
Baseball. In November, George Parkinson and Barbara
Floyd will chair a panel discussion on the Ohio 2003 Draft
Plan at the annual meeting of the Ohio
Association of Historical Societies & Museums. The board
will continue to explore ways to fund a regrant program, possibly
coordinating its efforts with those of the Statewide Preservation
Project Committee. Jonathan Dembo will develop a session devoted
to gaps in Ohio's documentary history for the spring 1995 meeting
of the Ohio Academy of History. Lastly, the board will work to
finalize The Ohio 2003 Draft Plan, to develop a specific
work plan to accompany it, and to translate its goals into action.
Respectfully
submitted by
George Parkinson
OHRAB Deputy Coordinator
