UpFront with NGS: Records Preservation

Showing posts with label Records Preservation. Show all posts

02 September 2016

RPAC shares -- Striking a Balance Between Records Access and Privacy

RPAC shares -- Striking a Balance Between Records Access and Privacy

Records Preservation and Access is so critical to genealogists, family historians, and others.

Our friends at RPAC have shared …

The Federation of Genealogical Societies is celebrating its 40th Anniversary as a featured theme at its Annual Conference this week in Springfield, Illinois. On this occasion, the Records Preservation and Access Committee is presenting a workshop session entitled “Striking a Balance Between Records Access and Privacy” Thursday Afternoon the 1st of September at 3:30pm CDT in Room B1 of the Springfield Conference Center.

As genealogists we want access to all our ancestors’ records but as individuals we want information about ourselves to remain private. Should the records of the living all be protected and the records of the deceased all be available? At this session we will discuss many examples of records which are closed to access and other open records which may be closed in the future.

The syllabus for this session is found at: RPAC at FGS Springfield 2016

Obviously, the session occurred yesterday and RPAC is making the PPT slides available here. From the RPAC publications page, you can also access previously given talks and other information.

Upfront with NGS has recently blogged on related topics -- The Right to Privacy – Personal Correspondence and The Right To Privacy – Care & Selectivity in What You Publish About Others.

The “balance” between access and privacy is constantly being debated and legislated. Make sure you understand the issues and tradeoffs involved. It is a complex topic.

Thanks to RPAC (NGS is a join committee member along with FGS and IAJGS) for keeping the topics of records preservation and records access at the forefront for us. We ALL benefit from responsible records access.

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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10 November 2014

Underground Storage = Records Preservation

The Lee’s Summit facility, in Missouri, was opened in 1998 as the first underground repository within the NARA records center system. [NARA Central Plains Region]
http://www.archives.gov/global-pages/larger-image.html?i=/publications/prologue/2009/summer/dateline/images/lees-l.jpg&c=/publications/prologue/2009/summer/dateline/images/lees.caption.html

We often talk about the need to preserve records.

The reality is that historically records were paper-based and took up lots of room.

Then they were stored on various media, which also took space.

Now many are stored digitally (still necessitating physical storage space as well as forms of backup).

This all came to mind after reading Making Room for Records (Prologue: Pieces of History, The National Archives (NARA))

Since it opened and began accepting records in 1935, the National Archives has had to face the issue of space. Housing the records of the Federal Government is no small task, even when only 1-3 percent of the government’s records are held in perpetuity.

It’s a fascinating to read about the efforts by NARA to ensure enough space for all the records that it does have to hold in perpetuity. Did you know that NARA has four underground repositories?

Many of you may be familiar with the Mormon Churches Granite Mountain Vault.

Most underground storage (for archival purposes) takes advantage of existing mines, Adaptation of Underground Space (Preservation, National Archives) – this article explains many of the advantages and challenges of using such spaces.

The US is not the only nation to use mines for storage. Read about the UK in Salted away: Cheshire salt mine to store National Archives and

Germany

, Barbarastollen underground archive.

Source: http://www.bbk.bund.de/SharedDocs/Bilder/BBK/DE/SampleBilder/
Faesser_Bergungsstollen_072009.jpg;jsessionid=
D1D88D369E04EEDF702790D2713A946D.1_cid355?__blob=poster&v=1

And, one doesn’t have to be a national archive nor a world-wide religion to take advantage of underground storage. Iron Mountain has a National Date Center in Pennsylvania which is used by the Smithsonian Institution and provides services, at a price.

Though most of our community archives will not end up stored in underground vaults, it is a reminder the preservation of massive quantities of created records (regardless of media) takes forethought and preparing for any type of eventuality.

Have you heard of other creative places used for records storage?

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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22 August 2014

Reference Room Closing -- Oregon State Library

It’s always sad when we hear about a library closing and when we are talking about the reference room at a state library that just seems to compound the pain. Just today, I spent hours in the reference room at the State Library of North Carolina, on the mezzanine level of the building, looking at books from several Virginia counties, some North Carolina counties with a bit of Revolutionary and South Carolina Baptist books thrown in for fun. I cannot imagine not having access to this collection whenever I start a genealogical journey. This collection of books is critical to the research I do.

Well, unfortunately, come 1 October, those visiting the Oregon State Library will no longer have access to the reference room collection. Read Salem genealogy, history buffs are losing a hidden gem to learn more about the history of the room and its collection, the volunteers who have kept it running and why it’s becoming unavailable. Here is the Message from the State Librarian About the Reference Room.

This just reminds us that there are collections to which we currently have unfettered access which may be at risk of also closing.

Though I frequently visit the State Library of North Carolina, often a couple of days every week, I can honestly say that I can’t remember the last time I visited my local library, except to drop off books to be used or sold at the annual sale. If that library were to close I would be saddened and yet can I say that I am doing my part to make sure that that doesn’t happen? Well, not really ...

So, let’s take a moment and appreciate our community and state libraries and the services they do provide to us. How would you feel if they all of a sudden disappeared?

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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Want to learn more about interacting with the blog, please read Hyperlinks, Subscribing and Comments -- How to Interact with Upfront with NGS Blog posts!

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