This report is a summary of the entire grant
period, from July 1993 through August 1997.
For more complete details, please see the
OHRAB minutes and annual reports.
Reactivated in 1991, the Ohio Historical Records
Advisory Board held its first meeting of the
newly appointed board in June of 1992. The
board has been holding regular meetings at
least four times a year since then.
In December of 1993, the National Historical
Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC)
awarded a planning grant of $18,524 to the
board. This enabled the board to begin work
on revising the state plan. The result was
The Ohio 2003 Plan, modeled after the
NHPRC's strategic plan and aimed toward the
Ohio Bicentennial Celebration in 2003. The
draft version first appeared in the Spring
of 1994. Subsequent distribution and publication
of the draft plan increased awareness of the
board's activities. The draft plan appeared
in The Ohio Archivist (Spring 1994),
the Ohio Historical Society's Preview Magazine
(Winter 1994) and Echoes (October
1993), and the Ohio Academy of History Newsletter
(Winter 1994). An implementation schedule
for The Ohio 2003 Draft Plan, adopted
in 1994, resulted in the completion of several
objectives of the draft plan.
In February of 1995, the Ohio Historical Records
Advisory Board officially adopted The Ohio
2003 Plan, and the word "draft"
was dropped from the title.
Additionally, the board adopted a preservation
action agenda for Ohio, To Outwit Time:
Preserving Materials in Ohio's Libraries and
Archives. Funded in January of 1993 by
a grant from the National Endowment for the
Humanities (NEH), To Outwit Time was
a preservation plan for the state of Ohio.
Though the fact that the NEH grant and the
NHPRC planning grant to OHRAB were both awarded
in 1993 was at first a coincidence, OHRAB
took the opportunity to not only adopt To
Outwit Time, but also to coordinate the
two plans. In May of 1995, The Ohio 2003
Plan and To Outwit Time were printed
jointly. Five thousand copies were printed
and distributed to libraries, archives, historical
societies, museums, participants in the NEH
planning effort, and state historical records
coordinators. Copies were also mailed to the
members of the Society of Ohio Archivists
and Ohio lawmakers.
During the course of the grant period, the
board achieved many of the objectives of The
Ohio 2003 Plan. Work was completed on
the board's first regrant proposal "Homefront
and Battlefront: Ohioans Serve the Nation."
Though currently withdrawn from NHPRC consideration,
the board has continued to look for ways to
support this proposal. Toward the end of the
grant period, the board began work on a new
regrant proposal. The board has prepared a
draft proposal that will emphasize preservation
and access to thousands of images which represent
200 years of Ohio history and which will be
made readily available through Ohio's online
networks. A committee made up of Jonathan
Dembo (chair), Michael Lucas and James Oda
was formed to organize the board's approach
to the regrant proposal and to develop it
for further discussion.
The board fulfilled Objective A3 of The
Ohio 2003 Plan 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 through advocacy
increases public awareness of historical records.
A proven success, Archives Week has been celebrated
every year for the past four years.
The board advanced the goals found in Objective
B2 of The Ohio 2003 Plan by supporting
the Ohio Historical Society's grant proposal
"Establishing the Ohio Electronic Records
Archives," which was submitted in June
of 1995. Initially, this plan called for a
grant from the NHPRC to support a two-year
project. The impetus for this project was
the Ohio Electronic Records Initiative. The
NHPRC declined to fund the full amount, opting
instead to award a $10,000 consultant grant
to be used to help the society refine its
electronic records program and to create the
Electronic Records Archives. The grant also
called for recommendations for the most appropriate
methods for achieving the State Archives'
goals. In March of 1996, the society retained
as consultant Margaret Hedstrom, Associate
Professor at the School of Information and
Library Studies at the University of Michigan.
Her Draft Report was finished in August
1996. This report was based on Hedstrom's
review of the original grant proposal and
visits with State Archives staff. In February
of 1997, the Ohio Historical Society received
$1.5 million in Capital II funding from the
state; money earmarked for establishing the
electronic records program and to support
ongoing automation projects. Hedstrom's final
report will reflect this funding.
Another initiative that advanced goals articulated
in The Ohio 2003 Plan is "Access
Through Automation: A Technology Plan for
the Archives/Library Division of the Ohio
Historical Society." Begun in March of
1996, this is a six year project designed
to facilitate public access to the society's
research and archival collections, as well
as link the collections of the Ohio Historical
Society, the Western Reserve Historical Society,
and perhaps the Cincinnati Historical Society
into the statewide information infrastructure.
Other projects fulfilling The Ohio 2003
Plan's call for improved access through
new technology, and for the automation of
access to public records:
The Ohio Vital Information for Libraries
Center project (OVIL). Begun in July of 1996,
and supported by an LSCA grant and through
funds provided by the Ohio Public Library
Information Network (OPLIN), this initiative
will develop and evaluate processes for converting
public records and society information resources
to electronic formats for distribution through
the OPLIN and the World Wide Web. In addition,
the project will provide Ohio materials for
the National Digital Library.
The African American Experience in Ohio.
In April of 1997, The Ohio Historical Society
received a $72,844 grant for the proposal
The African American Experience in Ohio. One
of only 10 proposals in the country to be
awarded a grant by the Library of Congress/Ameritech
National Digital Library, this project will
present a digitized chronological collection
representing the experiences of African Americans
in Ohio from 1850 to 1920.
In 1996, OHRAB established a website and
home page on the World Wide Web (URL
http://www.ohiohistory.org/ohrab). In
their ongoing efforts to implement The
Ohio 2003 Plan, the board has continued
to participate in the planning and support
of various projects, including the Historical
Records and Repository Survey (HRRS). A project
of the Council of State Historical Records
Coordinators, this national survey was sponsored
and coordinated in Ohio by the Ohio Historical
Records Advisory Board.
In December of 1996, the board met with the
Executive Director of the Ohio
Bicentennial Commission. He reported on the
status of the Bicentennial Commission, and
shared his thoughts on the direction the upcoming
Bicentennial will take. He also discussed
the anticipated role OHRAB will have in the
Bicentennial, and expressed his interest in
working with the board to implement The
Ohio 2003 Plan as part of the Bicentennial
Commission's plans.
Throughout the grant period, the board reviewed
grants submitted to the NHPRC by Ohio historical
organizations. In addition to the $10,000
the Ohio Historical Society received for "Establishing
the Ohio Electronic Records Archives,"
the following grants were funded through the
NHPRC: the Cincinnati Historical Society,
which received a $97, 786 grant for work on
the Nippert Collection of the German Methodist
Church, the Toledo Museum of Art, which received
a grant of $54,392 to complete its archives
and records management program, and the Ohio
State University Archives, which received
a grant of $18,446 to fund the proposal "A
Cooperative Approach to Electronic Records
and Information Management at Colleges and
Universities in Ohio."
In June of 1997, the board discussed the recent
completion of the board's continuance grant
proposal, which was submitted to the NHPRC
before the 1 June deadline. This proposal
will support board meetings over the next
two years, and allow for continued implementation
of The Ohio 2003 Plan.
The past four years have been a time of action
and growth for the Ohio Historical Records
Advisory Board. While the next few years will
see the continuation of many of the initiatives
and programs supported by the board, it will
also see the rise of new goals and challenges
as Ohio moves toward its Bicentennial year
of 2003.
