Patricia:
Here in NH, state law requires every city and town to have a Municipal
Records Committee which is composed of the key records creators in the
town (clerk, tax collector, assessor, etc.) Their primary purpose is to
monitor and manage the retention of their community's records.
Unfortunately, that system doesn't work very well for a number of
reasons: the governing body ignores the law and fails to appoint members
to the committee, there's no one among the committee members who knows
much about records retention, and/or the committee doesn't do much else
beyond discussing retention.
The State of New York requires each community to designate a local
records officer. Now, substitute "county" for "state" and "department"
for "community," and consider the following...
The City of Dallas uses a parallel model requiring each city department
to designate a records officer who reports to the City Records Manager
(in the City Secretary's Office), and those department records officers
hold regular meetings to discuss records management issues, training,
etc. Dallas is a big city, and the committee allows the use of the city
auditorium for regional records training sessions (e.g., the local ARMA
Chapter) and have an arrangement where a certain number of city
employees can attend. The Dallas model seems to work very well in that
community, and is one that I really like.
I am "cc-ing" this to the City Archivist in Dallas. Perhaps he can
share some additional information with you directly about how this
records committee is structured, how it came to be established, how it
is working, what could be done better, etc.
Good luck! Your problem is shared by many in local and county
government.
Paul R. Bergeron, CA
City Clerk
229 Main Street
Nashua, NH 03060
Telephone: 603/589-3010
Fax: 603/589-3029
http://www.gonashua.com/
-----Original Message-----
From: Archives & Archivists [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Patricia Martinelli
Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2006 8:52 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Getting it all sorted...
Everyone:
I can used the advise/opinions of anyone who has had deal with anything
similar to the following:
I am responsible for the archivist duties in our newly-formed county
government division (September 2005) and am very concerned because our
archives are spread throughout different buildings, in the hands of
different departments, and none of the documents are appropriately
housed, in my opinion. I have tried to make a dent in boxing and
wrapping them but I have not yet been successful in raising the
awareness level of the Powers That Be regarding their living conditions.
I apologize if the List has already discussed this matter but I would
greatly appreciate hearing from anyone who cares to share their
experiences in this area. I have worked in government long enough not to
expect miracles but I feel like I could be doing more with respect to
caring for our archives.
As always, many thanks!
Patricia A. Martinelli
Historian
Cumberland County Division of Archives and Records Management 790 E.
Commerce Street Bridgeton, NJ 08302 856-453-2234
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