Bureau Director, David A. Haury, (seen here speaking at the 2008 Archives and Records Management Seminar) served as president of the Council of State Archivists this past year. His duties included a January meeting with the Obama Transition Team for the National Archives and Records Administration.

The Bureau of Archives and History impacts people’s lives by preserving and making accessible the documents that tell the story of Pennsylvania’s rich history. Our audience ranges from attorneys to genealogists and from school students to professors. The impact of the bureau extends far beyond our doors and even our records. We provide technical assistance and training in managing records to local government officials and historical societies. We stepped up the local government training to a new level this year with two new programs—both in partnership with the State Historical Records Advisory Board and with funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Our "itinerant archivist" has completed hands on work with local officials in seven counties in southwest Pennsylvania and this spring moved to the northeast to continue with seven more counties. "Archives without Tears" workshops provided an overview of basic archival practices in three locations for 108 local officials and historical society leaders representing 71 different organizations.

innovation

The State Archives acquired the historical photographs and records relating to the construction and evolution of the Shippingport Atomic Power Station. This was America’s first commercial nuclear power plant under President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s "Atoms for Peace" program. Also acquired were the papers of William D. Gordon, Governor Gifford Pinchot’s Secretary of Banking from 1931–1935.

PHMC/OA/OGC (Office of Administration and Office of General Counsel) e-mail training of 780 commonwealth employees was conducted which assisted agencies in preparing for the new RTKL (Right To Know Law), which took effect on January 1, 2009.

Agencies worked diligently on refining retention schedules, including 264 additional schedules and 763 amendments to existing schedules and 1,204 deletions.

Creative services were provided on more than 165 projects for the executive office and all bureaus of the agency for development of publications, brochures, flyers, Web communities and pages, e-commerce functions and editorial, design and promotions consultation.

A new State Records Committee advocated by PHMC was formed under the Office of Administration to allow agencies to provide input into records management policies and procedures. Stricter controls on retention and State Records Center use were implemented and work began on new policies, manuals, general schedules and forms.

impact

Beginning in January 2009, the Publications and Sales Division launched a new series of monthly bookstore presentations which have drawn an estimated 60 to 100 attendees per presentation. Doug Miller, then site administrator for Pennsbury Manor, provided an overview of the life of William Penn at the March presentation.

Staff provided service to 2,464 onsite patrons who consulted approximately 12.5 million pages of original records and 10.1 million images on microfilm.

Permanent preservation of historically valuable local government records by microfilming on site was guaranteed for 635 volumes and 14.5 cubic feet of loose paper records from 12 public institutions. Additional preservation was provided by depositing 11,021 rolls of security microfilm, 2,047 aperture cards and 8,000 microfilm jackets into our Security Microfilm Storage program (13.8 million images).

The State Records Center accessioned 36,404 cubic feet of state records and disposed of 45,592 cubic feet while responding to 30,909 requests for information from 49 agencies.

The State Archives accessioned 518 cubic feet (3.1 million pages) of state and local government records, 30 cubic feet (180,000 pages) of manuscript materials and 903 rolls of microfilm containing almost 1.1 million images.

With planned improvements in ease of navigation, file and information management, and portal training, the agency’s Web site garners an average annual visitation of more than 270,000.

Four editions of Pennsylvania Heritage were published with an audience reach of more than 6,500 individuals and an ever-expanding second readership. The spring edition of Pennsylvania Heritage was established as a major outreach resource on behalf of PHMC’s 2009 theme "Energy: Innovation and Impact." Staff offered a series of archives and records management workshops ("Archives Without Tears"), training sessions, and public history programs for more than 2,800 individuals representing 1,475 public and private institutions.