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Vol. 25:3 ISSN 0160-8460 Fall 1997
Spotlight on the States The Ohio 2003 Plan
At its November 1993 meeting, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) awarded a planning grant (NHPRC Grant No. 94-033) of $18,524 to the Ohio State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB) to revise and update its priorities by sharing The Ohio 2003 Draft Plan with constituents of historical records programs in the state, making appropriate revisions based on their input, and developing an implementation schedule. The year 2003 is significant because it will mark the bicentennial of Ohio's statehood. Commission staff recently received the Ohio SHRAB's final report on the administration of this grant. This record of the Ohio SHRAB's accomplishments makes very interesting reading.
The Ohio SHRAB's first objective was to share the draft strategic plan with interested constituents. To this end, the draft plan was published in the Spring 1994 issue of The Ohio Archivist, the Winter 1994 issue of Preview Magazine and the October 1993 issue of Echoes (both produced by the Ohio Historical Society), and the Winter 1994 issue of the Ohio Academy of History's Newsletter. The SHRAB established an implementation schedule for the plan in 1994, and after making appropriate revisions of the draft, officially adopted The Ohio 2003 Plan in February 1995. A joint printing of the plan and of Ohio's preservation action agenda, entitled To Outwit Time: Preserving Materials in Ohio's Libraries and Archives, prepared under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), took place in May 1995. The Ohio SHRAB distributed 5,000 copies of the two documents to libraries, archives, historical societies, museums, members of the Society of Ohio Archivists, and Ohio lawmakers, among others.
The board fulfilled one of the plan's objectives by encouraging the Society of Ohio Archivists to continue two successful programs. The Society's Archives 101 teaches archival skills to non-professionals, and its Archives Week increases public awareness of historical records.
The Ohio SHRAB advanced a second objective of the plan by supporting the Ohio Historical Society's grant proposal relating to the establishment of a state electronic records archives. At its November 1995 meeting, the NHPRC approved a grant (96-019) of up to $10,000 for a six-month consultancy to assist with planning for the development of the Ohio Electronic Records Archives. Project staff would review state-agency records policies an update them as necessary to integrate functional requirements for recordkeeping. The Society retained Margaret Hedstrom of the University of Michigan's School of Information and Library Studies as its consultant. Ms. Hedstrom submitted her draft report in August 1996. Meanwhile, significant events were taking place in the state legislature. In February 1997, the state earmarked $1.5 million to establish an electronic records program and support ongoing automation projects.
The Ohio Historical Society furthered another of the plan's objectives through its project entitled "Access Through Automation: A Technology Plan for the Archives/Library Division of the Ohio Historical Society." Begun in March 1996, this six-year program will facilitate public access to the Society's research and archival collections, as well as link the collections of the Society, the Western Reserve Historical Society, and perhaps the Cincinnati Historical Society into the statewide information infrastructure.
In 1996, the Ohio SHRAB established a website and home page on the World Wide Web (http://www.ohiohistory.org/ohrab). It also sponsored and coordinated the Ohio segment of the Historical Records and Repository Survey (HRRS), a project of the Council of State Historical Records Coordinators.
In December 1996, the SHRAB met with the executive director of the Ohio Bicentennial Commission, who expressed interest in a joint effort to implement The Ohio 2003 Plan as part of the Commission's plan of action. Linking state records preservation efforts to so notable an event as the celebration of the bicentennial of statehood will help to make the public more conscious of Ohio's documentary heritage, hopefully at both state and local levels. The Ohio SHRAB deserves to be congratulated for its accomplishments under its dynamic strategic plan.
