Library of Congress Collaboration for Preservation of State Government Digital Information

Summary

Project started on Jan. 1, 2005 (Completed)


State and local governments are creating vast amounts of information solely in digital form, including land data, school records, official publications and court records. Much of this material is of permanent legal, legislative, or cultural value, yet is at risk because of a number of technological as well as policy and management issues. Technological issues include fragile media, technological obsolescence, or other technical hazards. Policy and management issues include organizational inertia, a lack of executive and legislative leadership, and the absence of appropriate decision-making frameworks and operational guidelines. State libraries, archives, and other state and local institutions face complex barriers in developing an effective strategy to meet this challenge.

The purpose of this project is to assist the Library of Congress (LC) in working with U.S. states and territories to develop strategies for the preservation of significant government information in digital form and to build the collaborative arrangements necessary to implement these strategies.


Scope of Work

State Government Digital Information Preservation Survey

From the Library of Congress States Workshops, LC and CTG learned that state librarians, archivists, records managers, and other partners related to digital preservation, overwhelmingly supported LC efforts to:

  1. Assemble information to develop digital preservation profiles for each state and territory, and
  2. Explore opportunities to establish collaborative partnerships with the states.

CTG’s work in the next phase of this project involved managing a systematic survey of the states and territories to:

  • Task 1.Collect information needed for the state and territory digital preservation profiles.
  • Task 2. Gather details about the specific kinds of digital information identified as priorities by workshop participants and that has value to the Congress and the nation as a whole.

For both tasks, CTG worked with the leadership of relevant professional organizations serving state librarians, archivists, and others with an interest in the long-term management of state government digital information.

CTG launched the State Government Digital Information Preservation Survey in January 2006. The Web-based survey was e-mailed to state librarians, archivists, and records managers in all 50 states, 4 territories, and the District of Columbia.

During the final phase of the project, CTG analyzed the results of the survey and produced the following two resources to support current and future state and national digital preservation efforts. 

CTG notified via e-mail all survey participants, attendees of the Library of Congress States Workshops, and others who expressed an interest in the survey results that the survey products were available on CTG’s Web site.

CTG will stay engaged with the Library of Congress and other members of the digital preservation community to explore ways to continue the state profiles beyond 2006 and maintain an updated and useful resource.

Finally, CTG always encourages feedback on its publications and other resources in support of producing practical and useful resources for government professionals and those academic and private sector professionals that support them. Therefore, do not hesitate to contact us.

Library of Congress States Workshops and Digital Preservation Capability Assessment and Planning Toolkit

In the spring of 2005, CTG assisted the Library of Congress (LC) in orchestrating a unique national forum for states and territories to discuss digital preservation needs. The aim of this forum was to guide investments to preserve at-risk state government digital information by hearing from state government practitioners about the issues they are facing in planning and managing digital preservation projects. This activity was part of the Library’s National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP) and the forum was a continuation of LC’s effort to serve as a change agent for digital preservation through partnerships with stakeholders. It allowed LC to collect experiences, concerns, perspectives, and recommendations to inform the development of next steps for LC in ensuring the preservation of state government digital information. This collection of input will be used by LC to leverage existing partnerships and build new ones that will result in new preservation strategies and successes.

The national forum included three one-day workshops conducted by the Library of Congress and CTG in the Washington, DC area. Workshop participants included state-level librarians, archivists, records managers, representatives from state offices of the Chief Information Officer (CIO), and other professionals.

All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and three territories sent teams, the majority of which were comprised of three members, to one of three workshops. Across the workshops, 67 librarians, 53 archivists, 13 records managers, and 20 IT professionals were in attendance. Each workshop had a geographically diverse mix of between 14 to 19 states and at least one territory represented. CTG facilitated a series of large and small group discussions and exercises to obtain information from states in the following areas:

  1. Top concern related to the preservation of state government digital information.
  2. Major state government information digital preservation success story.
  3. The topic about which each state would most like to network with others states.
  4. The state government digital information considered to be most at-risk.
  5. How can states extend or build partnership networks?
  6. Preservation-related roles the states and the Library should fill and not fill

Also, in conjunction with planning the workshops, CTG developed a capability assessment and planning toolkit to assist state government practitioners in planning and implementing digital preservation projects. Copies of this toolkit were provided to all of the workshop participants during the three workshops.

For results of the workshops please see the Library of Congress report at http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/partners/states.html


Press Releases & News Stories

Press Releases

CTG In the News

 


Publications & Results

Issue Brief

Guides

Reports

Conference Paper

Symposium Report


Related Websites


Partners

Lead Partners

  • Library of Congress
  • Connecticut State Library
  • Institute of Museum and Library Services
  • U.S. National Archives and Records Administration/The National Historical Publications and Records Commission
  • American Association of Law Libraries Washington Affairs
  • New Mexico State Library
  • National Science Foundation
  • National Electronic Commerce Coordinating Council
  • Delaware Public Archives
  • South Carolina Department of Archives and History
  • Washington State Archives
  • Virginia State Library
  • Minnesota Historical Society
  • Georgia Division of Archives and History
  • Texas State Library & Archives
  • State Library of North Carolina
  • Illinois State Library
  • Maine State Archives
  • Arizona State Library
  • Maine State Library
  • National Association of State Chief Information Officers
  • Maryland State Archives
  • Center for Technology in Government

Participants

State and Territorial Agencies

  • Colorado State Library
  • Colorado State Archives
  • State of Hawaii Information and Communication Services Division
  • Hawaii State Public Library System
  • Hawaii State Archives
  • State of Idaho
  • Idaho State Historical Society
  • Idaho State Library
  • State Library of Massachusetts
  • Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners
  • Maine State Archives
  • Maine State Library
  • Library of Michigan
  • Michigan Historical Center
  • Minnesota Historical Society
  • Minnesota Office of Technology
  • Missouri State Library
  • Missouri State Archives
  • Missouri Office of the Secretary of State
  • Joeten-Kiyu Public Library
  • Nevada State Library and Archives
  • Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
  • State Library of Pennsylvania
  • South Carolina Department of Archives and History
  • South Carolina State Library
  • Office of the State Chief Information Officer - South Carolina
  • State of Tennessee, Dept. of General Services, Records Management Division
  • Tennessee State Library & Archives
  • Washington State Archives
  • Washington State Digital Archives
  • Washington State Library
  • Wisconsin Department of Administration
  • Wisconsin Reference and Loan Library
  • Wisconsin Historical Society
  • Wyoming State Library
  • State of Wyoming Department of Administration and Information
  • Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources
  • District of Columbia Public Library
  • District of Columbia Office of Public Records Management
  • Alaska State Library
  • Alaska State Archives
  • Arkansas State Library
  • Arkansas History Commission
  • American Samoa Government
  • Feleti Barstow Public Library
  • Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records
  • Delaware Public Archives
  • Delaware Division of Libraries/State Library
  • State Library and Archives of Florida
  • Kansas State Library
  • Kansas State Historical Society
  • State Library of Louisiana
  • Louisiana State Archives
  • Mississippi Department of Archives and History
  • Montana Office of Secretary of State, State Records [ Dead Link ]
  • Montana State Library
  • Montana Historical Society
  • New Jersey State Library
  • New Jersey Division of Archives & Records Management (NJDARM)
  • New Mexico State Records Center and Archives
  • New Mexico State Library
  • New York State Archives
  • New York State Education Department, Office of Cultural Education
  • New York State Library
  • State Library of Ohio
  • Ohio Historical Society
  • Oklahoma Department of Libraries
  • Oregon State Library
  • Oregon State Archives
  • South Dakota State Library
  • South Dakota State Archives
  • Salt Lake County Records Management and Archives [ Dead Link ]
  • Utah State Library
  • Utah State Archives and Records Services
  • Vermont State Archives
  • State of Vermont, Department of Libraries
  • West Virginia Archives and History
  • Alabama Department of Archives and History
  • Network of Alabama Academic Libraries
  • Alabama Public Library
  • California State Archives
  • California State Library
  • Connecticut State Library
  • Connecticut Department of Information Technology
  • Georgia Archives
  • Georgia Technology Authority
  • State Library of Iowa
  • Iowa State University
  • State Archives of Iowa
  • Illinois State Library
  • University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science
  • Illinois State Archives
  • Indiana State Library
  • Indiana Commission on Public Records
  • Kentucky Department for Libraries & Archives
  • University of Kentucky
  • Kentucky Commonwealth Office of Technology
  • Maryland State Archives
  • Maryland State Department of Education
  • State Archives of North Carolina
  • State Library of North Carolina
  • State Historical Society of North Dakota
  • North Dakota State Library
  • Nebraska Library Commission
  • Nebraska State Historical Society
  • New Hampshire State Archives
  • New Hampshire Division of Records Management and Archives
  • New Hampshire State Library
  • Office of the Secretary of State - Rhode Island State Archives Division
  • Office of the Secretary of State - Rhode Island State Library
  • Texas State Library and Archives Commission
  • Texas Department of Information Resources
  • Library of Virginia
  • Virgin Islands Territorial Library System
  • University of the Virgin Islands

Federal Agencies and Professional Associations and Organizations

  • American Association of Law Libraries (AALL)
  • Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA)
  • Cornell University Library
  • Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR)
  • Council of State Historical Records Coordinators (COSHRC)
  • U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO)
  • Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)
  • National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
  • National Association of Government Administrators Records and Archives (NAGARA)
  • National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC)
  • Online Computer Library Center (OCLC)
  • Society of American Archivists (SAA)


Funding Sources

This project is funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation.