TABLE OF CONTENTS | Recommendation Locator |
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY |
Wyoming State Archives |
Background |
Archivists and records managers establish the institutional
memory of government by identifying and ensuring the preservation of records
that document its work and impact. In
Wyoming, the State Archives, a program within the Department of State Parks
and Cultural Resources, Division of Cultural Resources, performs this
function. Two sets of statutes affect the WSA. One is the state’s Public Records Act (W.S. 16-4-201 through
16-4-205), which defines public records and stipulates how government records
custodians must make them available to the public. This act also specifies those government records that are not
available for public use. The second
group (W.S. 9-2-401 through 9-2-419,) assigns WSA a wide range of records
management responsibilities. Among
those are securing state records in a central archives, setting record
retention periods, and operating a state records center. WSA has traditionally extended its
services to all political subdivisions in the state as well as to state
agencies and courts. WSA
Operates Through Three Sections. The state
archivist, a statutory position, directs WSA work through three
sections: Records Management,
Technical Services, and Archives and Historical Research. The Records Management section develops records retention
schedules for state and local government records. Records schedules identify records as either permanent or
non-permanent, and if non-permanent, specify for how long records must be
retained before being legally destroyed.
This is called a record’s “retention period.” Records Management staff, working in
consultation with the agency of records origin, determine records retention
periods. The State Records Committee,
a statutorily authorized body, makes final and legally binding decisions on
records retention schedules. In addition, as authorized by statute, this WSA section operates
the Records Center which is used by state agencies to store non-permanent
records until they can be legally destroyed.
This allows state agencies to use office space more efficiently. Currently, the Records Center holds
approximately 30,000 cubic feet of state agency records. Archives and Historical Research (Archives) is the section that
manages and preserves permanent government records that document and
interpret the state’s history. In
addition to storing these records, Archives prepares the records and provides
reference services so that they are accessible to the public for scholarly
and personal research. Archives’
permanent holdings of 30,600 cubic feet include state and local government
records, and a collection of non-governmental historical materials. More than half of the permanent records
Archives maintains in its primary storage facility, Archives South, are local
government and court records. Most resources in the third WSA section, Technical Services, are
dedicated to the micrographics unit, which microfilms records for some state
agencies, creates duplicate microfilm, processes microfilm for state agencies
doing their own microfilming, and establishes standards for all microfilming
done by governmental agencies.
Statute requires WSA too operate a central microfilming division. In addition, this section provides WSA
photograph and paper conservation capabilities. Current
Storage Space and Capacity. Most of WSA’s current storage capacity of
74,000 cubic feet is in a warehouse facility in south Cheyenne that houses
both the Records Center and Archives South.
WSA also has limited storage capacity in the newly remodeled Barrett
Building in two climate-controlled vaults.
Between transfers to WSA storage facilities and destruction rates, the
facilities jointly increase the amount of paper records they store by
approximately 2,000 cubic feet each year.
Based on this rate, we estimate that the available paper records
storage space may be adequate for approximately four more years. WSA
Budget is Small. With a biennial budget of approximately $1.8
million for the 1999-2000 biennium, WSA operated on about one-half of one
percent of the state’s budget during that biennium. WSA is funded entirely from the General Fund, but the state
recovers some of those funds through federal cost allocation. A few large federally funded agencies
generate cost allocations to the General Fund based upon the WSA services
they use. Most WSA costs (90 percent) are for personnel services. Its 25 FTEs include the state archivist, 3
section supervisors, 10 non-supervisory professional positions, and 11
administrative specialists. WSA does
not budget to maintain its storage space:
those expenses are included in the Department of Administration and
Information’s budget. The exception
is the cost of shelving, for which WSA must request funds in addition to its
standard budget. Program Has Been Studied Before: Records Management Issues Still Not
Addressed. Aspects
of this program were studied in the mid-1990s, resulting in a 1995 report
created by the State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB). Little has been done with the
recommendations from this report. In
addition, the 1999 Joint Legislative and Executive Revenue and Expenditure
study touched upon records management.
Despite concerns with records management issues, WSA has maintained
its focus upon the traditional paper record environment. We suggest ways that WSA might change its
program to better prepare it to meet the challenges of the electronic records
environment. |
|
|
Finding 1 |
WSA Has Not Developed an Electronic
Records Program |
|
|
|
WSA does not have significant influence in the state’s
information resource policy arena.
Having such representation is important because the use of electronic
information entails high levels of expenditures, and that information needs
to be managed so that it can best serve both government and the public. Without the archives and records
management perspective in technology decisions, the state may acquire systems
that do not address records needs. To
ensure the preservation of electronic records of long-term value, agencies
must address records retention requirements in the planning and design stages
of new information systems. It is also important that archives and records management
programs adapt their practices to accommodate electronic formats. However, WSA has not progressed far in
developing an electronic records program.
Its current program consists of one electronic records analyst to
assist both state and local government agencies with electronic records
issues. Moreover, WSA has no overall
guidance instructing state agencies on maintaining records
electronically. WSA staff view the
electronic format as a processing medium only, with paper copies serving as
the records. Still,
WSA officials acknowledge that government employees are increasingly creating
records electronically, and those records are likely going unscheduled and
unpreserved. WSA’s limited program
for assisting agencies in managing electronic records puts those records at
risk, and potentially creates an unnecessary reliance by state government on
paper records. WSA estimates that
more than 9,000 cubic feet of records is
currently being stored in the Records Center for periods of between one
and five years. Some of these records
could potentially be maintained in the electronic format if WSA had a viable
approach to training agency personnel to manage them in that medium. |
|
|
|
Recommendation: WSA should focus on developing its
electronic records program. |
|
|
|
Electronic
records present a complex issue to state government, and one that is
potentially costly. Addressing the
issue requires a joint effort on the part of government managers and
technology staff, as well as the staff members creating the records. However, WSA must do more to assert
electronic records preservation issues to ensure they are addressed. Further, it needs to shift its focus from
maintaining the traditional paper records system to developing more of an
electronics presence. |
|
|
Finding 2 |
Archives-Provided Training Is Limited
in Amount and Scope |
|
|
|
W.S. 9-2-406 (a)(vi) charges WSA with “gathering and
disseminating to interested agencies information on all phases of records
management and current practices, methods, and procedures for efficient and
economical management of records.”
WSA provides some formal training to state employees in the area of
records management. However, its
outreach and training program is limited in amount and the focus does not
extend to local government agencies.
In its 1995 report, SHRAB recognized the importance of training and
recommended that a training program be developed. In spite of this, little has been done since then to address
the issue. WSA has not made training a priority. This is a concern because WSA has a potential audience of all
government records creators in the State of Wyoming, a group of approximately
51,500 people. Considering its
statutory charge, WSA’s current plan to provide two trainings per year is
inadequate. WSA needs to be more
proactive in providing training to records creators. Improperly managing records can potentially cost the
state both time and money.
Mismanagement of records includes misfiling, losing, improperly
destroying, saving unnecessarily, or otherwise mishandling records. It is likely that without proper training,
agencies and local entities will mismanage their records. The consequences of such mismanagement
could include a state agency experiencing adverse results in litigation,
paying more for office space than is necessary, and having to provide
additional funding for paper records storage. We believe that an effective training program could reduce
mismanagement of records within Wyoming, and has the potential to decrease
state expenditures. |
|
|
|
Recommendation: WSA should seek temporary funding to
develop and implement a
comprehensive training program. |
|
|
|
Developing
and implementing a comprehensive training program for state agencies and
local entities should be a priority for WSA.
Through a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records
Commission (NHPRC), SHRAB will soon be reconstituted, giving WSA a unique
opportunity.
Through SHRAB, WSA may be able to obtain funding for a
temporary position to create such a training program. An effective training program should
eventually free up WSA resources that could be focused on other projects. |
|
|
Finding 3
|
WSA Can Make More Full Use of Its
Micrographics Resources |
|
|
|
Micrographics is a valuable but expensive records and archives
management tool. Calculated use of
this technology improves management of and access to records, provides a
means to preserve and protect valuable and fragile records, and reduces
storage space requirements. Microfilm
provides a reliable permanent alternative to paper storage and is recognized
as the legal original. WSA is not using its micrographics resources strategically. Once projects are taken on, WSA does not
re-evaluate them in terms of the resources they require or competing needs
for its microfilming services. WSA
appears to make decisions about allocating micrographics services based on
tradition, and many microfilming projects have been done for state agencies
for years. However, WSA denies new
microfilming requests without comparing existing projects to proposed
projects in terms of paper records storage savings. Micrographics is not contributing as much to space savings as
could be expected, given its staff and equipment. Currently, WSA is storing about 5,000 cubic feet of permanent
records waiting to be microfilmed. In
addition, Archives estimates that as much as 95 percent of its collection
could be microfilmed without the need to retain the paper original. If the section were operating at full
capacity, microfilming could extend the life of current paper storage
facilities by 7 to 39 years. However,
WSA’s microfilming equipment is often in need of repair, and it has
difficulty retaining camera operators. WSA has not determined the level of microfilming that makes the
most cost effective contribution to records and archives management. For example, WSA does not have
specifications determining when a proposed microfilming project is cost
effective. Nor has it calculated
whether it would be more cost effective to invest in its microfilming
resources rather in additional shelving. The program has not actively pursued
financial support for micrographics equipment replacement and maintenance. Maintaining this equipment is essential to
ensure that the micrographics unit makes its due contribution to archives and
records management. |
|
|
|
Recommendation: WSA should develop a plan to strategically
use its microfilming resources and the special revenue funds they generate. |
|
|
|
This
plan should balance the technical costs associated with micrographics with
its space savings, records preservation, and other management
contributions. The plan might also
include a request to change statutes so that funds generated by microfilming
can be used to support its equipment needs.
|
|
|
Finding 4 |
WSA’s Implementation of Statute
Creates Open-Ended Obligation |
|
|
|
Although the statutes directing WSA’s specific responsibilities
do not clearly indicate that they extend to all state political subdivisions,
WSA has interpreted its legal authority for these records from W.S.
9-2-410. This statute states that all
records are the property of the state and must be managed according to the
statutes authorizing WSA. In
practice, WSA provides non-state government political subdivisions and courts with two services: developing records retention schedules and storing permanent
records. Records retention scheduling is a manageable undertaking for WSA
and provides local governments with the legal authority to dispose of records
when they have reached their retention limits. Storing the permanent records of the state’s political
subdivisions and courts is potentially more
problematic for WSA, however.
Already, most (66 percent) of the permanent records stored in Archives
South come from governmental entities other than state agencies. Records from county and district courts make up nearly half of
the non-state agency permanent records in Archives South. County clerks, municipalities, school
districts, and publicly funded hospitals are other major record
contri-butors. In many cases, WSA
allows local governments to choose whether they will retain their own
permanent records, or send them to the state. In
addition to the storage space they occupy, non-state agency records can
absorb other WSA resources, particularly if the records are not properly
prepared. Further, by assuming
responsibility for the records created by all of the state’s governmental
bodies, WSA sets a precedent for maintaining that responsibility when those
records are moved to an electronic format.
Maintaining permanent records electronically requires costly technology
to “migrate” records to formats compatible with subsequent systems. WSA will
likely face revising its interpretation of its statutory responsibilities to
accept only paper records from local governments and courts, or accept the
migration responsibilities that go along with them. |
|
|
|
Recommendation: The Legislature should consider reviewing
WSA’s statutory responsibility for local government records. |
|
|
|
Currently,
the WSA interpretation results in open-ended costs to state government
without the means to control them.
The Legislature might consider reviewing whether it wants to maintain
current services to local governments, or to reduce them. If it wants to continue the existing WSA
services to local governments, WSA needs resources for records management
training to affect the quality of the records it stores. |
|
|
Finding 5 |
WSA Records Management Services Are
Geared to the Paper Environment |
|
|
|
Even though information technology is rapidly changing the ways
records are created, WSA continues to focus its configuration of records
management services on the paper-based environment. Perceiving its resources as inadequate, WSA officials have
elected to focus upon what it has traditionally done best: schedule and store paper records. WSA schedules few records for electronic
storage, even though that medium would accommodate some short-term records (three to five years retention). Most records scheduling is done with state agencies, with which
WSA records analysts work to develop an understanding of the records they are
scheduling. Although statutes require
agencies to have records officers to provide significant assistance in this
process, WSA analysts do the bulk of the work scheduling work, which can be
labor-intensive. This leaves records
analysts little time to provide training or to address electronic records
issues. Furthermore, the scheduling
process is subjective, with WSA negotiating with agencies over retention
periods. The program’s seemingly chronic need for additional
records storage, coupled with its service-oriented approach to meeting agency
desires, prompted us to question whether WSA may be scheduling records for
lengthy retention periods. This would
create pressure on WSA storage facilities.
However, WSA schedules most state records for retention periods of
five years or less. |
|
|
|
Recommendation: WSA should reassess its approach to
providing records services to free resources for other needs. |
|
|
|
The
current WSA approach to managing records is resource intensive, leaving the
program unable to address other vital aspects of the state’s records management
program. In view of the challenges
posed by electronic records, WSA should reassess the manner in which it
provides records scheduling services.
The kind of services required by 21st century records
systems are qualitatively different than those that fit paper records
needs. WSA officials should consider
shifting more records management responsibility to the agencies, and instead
act more in a consulting or training capacity. |
|
|
Finding 6 |
Archives Can Take Steps to Better
Utilize Certain Staff Resources |
|
|
|
WSA productivity data for Archives staff suggests that Archives
could better utilize several positions primarily dedicated to providing
reference assistance. Currently, four
reference archivists are available in the Archives reading room to assist
patrons and agencies with research and requests. While they also perform additional duties, all staff in the
reading room are not needed to assist patrons on a full-time basis. We believe WSA could devise a more
efficient staffing pattern, one which would assign a limited number of staff
to providing direct patron assistance. WSA ascribes to a traditional gatekeeper approach to reference
service that makes the presence of the reference archivists necessary. Under this approach, expert intermediaries
place themselves between the user and both the primary access tools and the
historical record. This approach
limits patrons’ ability to access research material without the help of a
reference archivist. In contrast, the
American Heritage Center, a University of Wyoming archives, ascribes to a
more user-centered approach. In this
approach, the reference archivist acts as a pointer to finding aides that
patrons use, with minimal help, to obtain the type of information they
seek. This user-centered approach
enables AHC to staff the reference room with only one reference archivist at
a time. WSA
has yet to develop either a comprehensive array of modern and readily
searchable finding aides or thorough guides to finding aides that would
facilitate the user-centered approach to reference. We believe WSA may be dedicating more staff resources to
providing reference than is necessary, leaving other needs unattended. |
|
|
|
Recommendation: The WSA should evaluate current staff
assignments. |
|
|
|
The
WSA should evaluate the utilization of reading room staff, and consider both
the allocation of staff and procedures and practices used when providing
reference services. Attention should
be given to developing a more complete and modern set of finding aides, as
well as guides to finding aides, that would make them easy to utilize without
the assistance of a reference staff member.
While not immediate, the eventual impact would be to lessen the burden
on existing reference staff, freeing up time to focus on other projects. |
|
|
Finding 7 |
Two State-Funded Entities Perform the
Same Function |
|
|
|
The American Heritage Center (AHC) at the University of Wyoming
and the Wyoming State Archives are both receiving state funds to collect
non-governmental historical records.
AHC’s budget is
supplemented by private donations used to process its collections, and it can seek additional donations
when necessary. The historical
collection at WSA is small and requires a disproportionate amount of
resources to maintain it. WSA must
also be judicious in deciding what additional material to acquire because of the significant costs incurred
when cataloging, storing, and preserving historical materials. Statutes
are unclear about WSA’s role in continuing to collect historical
records. Two statutory references
give WSA mixed direction regarding historical records. The uncertainty and expectation set out by
statute gives WSA little incentive to expand current efforts in support of
the collection. The same uncertainty
may also have inhibited cooperative efforts with other Wyoming repositories,
as envisioned by the 1995 SHRAB report. |
|
|
|
Recommendation: WSA should evaluate maintaining its
historical records collection. |
|
|
|
WSA
should evaluate its policy with regard to whether and how it will continue to
collect and manage historical records.
Within the State, WSA performs a general government support
function. Its small historical collection is more culturally
directed than the rest of its materials, and also requires WSA to divert
resources from its primary general government function. WSA may wish to propose a statutory
amendment to clarify its responsibilities regarding the historical
collection. Also, collaborative agreements with AHC could free up valuable space
and resources for WSA. |
|
|
Conclusion |
WSA
officials will likely agree that changes could be made in its existing
program, but maintain that they lack the resources to do more than maintain
the existing program. However, the
magnitude of the electronic records impact is such that we believe WSA must
re-evaluate its current practices.
Therefore, WSA officials must rethink how the program will provide
records management services in the future, and take the steps necessary to
move forward. |