During this time period the Board met 3 times:
6 April, 13 October and 15 December. All meetings
took place at the Ohio Historical Center.
Also during this reporting period, the Board
saw 3 new appointments and 5 re-appointments.
New appointees were: Raimund Goerler, Archivist
for the Ohio State University; Ronald Koetters,
CEO of Monarch Construction Company of Cincinnati
and Member, Board of Directors of the Cincinnati
Museum Center; and Julie McMaster, Archivist
for the Toledo Museum of Art. They join board
members Roland Baumann, Michael Lucas, Gary
Ness, George Parkinson and Carol Tomer, who
were re-appointed for new terms, as well as
Keith Corman, Barbara Floyd and James Oda.
The April meeting took place in conjunction
with the Society of Ohio Archivists (SOA)
Spring Meeting. Ann Newhall, NHPRC Executive
Director, was the keynote speaker at the SOA
Meeting and she met with the Board as it considered
planning and participated in a "roundtable"
discussion of various issues related to OHRAB
and NHPRC.
Revision of The Ohio 2003 Plan
Newhall addressed the Board's decision to
revise The Ohio 2003 Plan and how it
fit in with the overall issue of state planning.
She agreed with the proposed idea of a board
retreat and suggested that the Board contact
their counterparts in Delaware, who recently
held their own retreat. The possibility of
using a facilitator during the retreat was
brought up for consideration. Newhall urged
the Board to examine other state plans before
the retreat with the idea of adopting the
plan which best fits the needs of Ohio. At
the December meeting, the Board again took
up the issue of revising its plan, a proposal
on hold for much of the year until Board appointments
were current. The Board agreed to re-activate
the sub-committee, replacing Jonathan Dembo
(who resigned in April) with Goerler. The
sub-committee was charged with organizing
the retreat for the Spring. A report is expected
for the February meeting.
Joint Electronic Records Repository Initiative
During the April meeting, Newhall participated
in a discussion of an NHPRC grant proposal
being prepared for submission against a 1
June 2000 deadline Its purpose is to support
the Joint Electronic Records Repository Initiative
(JERRI) JERRI would establish a semi-custodial
repository for State of Ohio archival records.
Assistant State Archivist Charles Arp explained
JERRI and the purpose of the grant, being
to receive input from other interested parties
outside Ohio and share the results with others.
With support from NHPRC, the Ohio repository
would work better and serve as a model that
others might follow. Board members made suggestions
and encouraged submission of the proposal,
being cognizant of the need for an electronic
records program in Ohio, as called for in
The Ohio 2003 Plan(1)
.
A copy of the proposal as submitted is attached
to this report.
During the summer work on JERRI continued.
A preliminary committee was established to
build support among the archival community
as well as in state government. A proposal
was made for additional funding from the state
to establish a 2-year pilot program, and The
State Library of Ohio (SLO) agreed to provide
$58,000 to provide for the development and
implementation of web-based search and retrieval
tools for State of Ohio government resources
and publications. All four JERRI partners
have included budget expansion requests in
their FY 02-03 budgets related to the project
or identified resources dedicated to JERRI,
and technical, policy/legal and archival committees
will begin meeting in January and February
of 2001.
At the October meeting, OHRAB adopted a resolution
of support for state funding:
The Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board
(OHRAB) offers a resolution of support for
the Joint Electronic Records Repository Initiative.
OHRAB fully supports the plan as presented
to provide guidelines and support the implementation
of the preservation of electronic records
in Ohio, as the board called for in The Ohio
2003 Plan. Furthermore, OHRAB offers its recommendation
that the State of Ohio provide funding for
JERRI as it sees the project as integral to
the archiving of historical records in Ohio.
At the December meeting, the Board heard
that the NHPRC has agreed to partially fund
the grant proposal (a total of $100,000) contingent
on additional funding from the State. The
NHPRC asked that the JERRI team scale back
the research phase and increase the implementation
phase of the proposal. It was reported that
State Archives staff will be working with
the Minnesota Historical Society and the San
Diego Supercomputer Center as well as others
on establishing educational workshops to train
archivists on electronic record archival issues.
On 4 December, the JERRI partners met and
signed the following:
Memorandum of Understanding
The Ohio Department of Administrative Services,
the Ohio Historical Society, the State Library
of Ohio and the Ohio Supercomputer Center
affirm their mutual support for the Joint
Electronic Records Repository Initiative.
The goal of this interagency partnership is
to collaboratively develop an electronic records
repository that will preserve and provide
access to the state government's electronic
resources with enduring value.
The four sponsoring agencies agree to jointly
seek adequate funding in the next biennial
State of Ohio budget to formally establish
an electronic records archives effective July
1, 2001. This memorandum of understanding
serves to ratify the financial participation
goals of each agency for at least the next
fiscal biennium during which time the electronic
archives will be developed.
Ohio Memory Project
Envisioned as a celebration of state history
and a virtual repository of digitized archival
records scattered throughout the state, the
Ohio Memory Project was originally a proposal
created by OHRAB(2)
in 1997.
A partnership of the Ohio Historical Society,
OHRAB, the State Library of Ohio, the Ohio
Public Library Information Network (OPLIN),
and the Ohio Library Council and others continued
to refine the concept and secure funding for
the project. In February 2000, OPLIN approved
a grant of $500,000 to the Ohio Historical
Society to launch the project.
The Ohio Memory online scrapbook will bring
together historical materials from archives,
museums, libraries, and historical societies
around the state to create a large collection
of primary source material. Acting as a single
point of access to historical materials of
multiple types from a variety of institutions,
the site will highlight connections between
collections, providing more comprehensive
coverage of the state's history than any single
institution could. The scrapbook will identify
hidden treasures that are currently inaccessible,
raise awareness of state and local history,
encourage teaching and study of Ohio history
using primary sources, and promote academic
scholarship and publishing. Long after the
celebrations in 2003, the scrapbook will remain
as a lasting legacy of Ohio's bicentennial.
All in accordance with goals established by
The Ohio 2003 Plan(3).
At the October meeting, the Board was introduced
to project staff members who gave a report
on the success of the workshops and a demonstration
of the website (http://www.ohiomemory.org).
The Board offered suggestions and asked questions
of the Ohio Memory Project staff. The Board
would like to continue in an advisory role
as well as serving as advocate and perhaps
helping staff to locate important collections
and working as a contact between the host
institutions and the project staff.
In December, the Board saw examples of materials
submitted thus far for consideration in the
Ohio Memory Scrapbook. In following up the
discussion at the October meeting on the Board's
role with the project, a list of workshop
attendees was handed out so that the Board
could assist the project staff in working
with potential participants.
Archives Week
Designed to enhance public awareness of the
archival world, Archives Week has been celebrated
annually in Ohio since 1993. The Board - in
conjunction with the Society of Ohio Archivists
- has maintained a strong interest in the
development of Archives Week, lending its
counsel and support as needed.
The theme for Archives Week 1999 was "Celebrating
Education." 5000 posters and 6000 bookmarks
were distributed throughout the state. The
theme for the year 2000 was "Museums
in Ohio" and in addition to the posters,
various programs were held around the state,
including an on-line exhibit in Columbus,
and celebrations were held in Athens, Cleveland
and Dayton. The theme for Archives Week 2001
will be "Media in Ohio." The Archives
Week web-page, located at the Society of Ohio
Archivists web-site (http://www.ohiojunction.net/soa/aweek.html),
contains information, full-color downloadable
versions of the current poster, as well as
an exhibit of past posters.
During the reporting period, the Board received
updates on Archives Week from George Bain,
Archivist for Ohio University. The Board discussed
theme possibilities for the future as well
as ways to expand the success of Archives
Week through the use of the Internet and local
programming. Julie McMaster agreed to serve
as the OHRAB liaison to Archives Week.
Respectfully submitted,
George Parkinson
Deputy Coordinator
(1) Goal
B: "To assure citizens of Ohio an
accessible documentation of both common and
diverse elements of their historical experience."
Level-Two Objective: "To work with
interested parties to ensure the preservation
of electronic records." (The Ohio
2003 Plan, March 1995)
(2)
In December of 1997, under Grant #98-021,
a sub-committee reported to the board on a
re-grant proposal called "The Bicentennial
Scrapbook" which called for the creation
of an on-line digital image library.
(3) Goal
A: "To assure the preservation
of Ohio's documentary heritage through collaborative
efforts." Level-Two Objective,
section b.5): "2003-Celebrating Two
Hundred Years of Statehood. Commemorate Ohio's
bicentennial by making fundamental documents
and other vital records accessible through
online networks and other appropriate electronic
formats." (The Ohio 2003 Plan, March
1995)
