The Year 2004 was very much “business as usual” except with the continuous struggle to find room for incoming records. The building has finally reached total storage capacity and records can be accepted only after shredding of records that have been destroyed based on the CO-2 Retention Schedule. Actually, this is not bad, considering the fact that it had been estimated that the Records and Archives Center would reach full capacity by March 1992. The County has also taken the first planning steps for doubling the size of the Records and Archives Center. The project should be completed in 2005.
During the year, the incoming and destroyed boxes were still imbalanced. A total of 960 cubic boxes were added and 633 were destroyed. The Records and Archives Center is suffering from the fact that a significant number of non-permanent records have been destroyed based on the Retention Schedule and more and more permanent boxes are being stored. he problem would be even more serious without the microfilming of approximately 1.5 million pages of permanent records. In the future, records management strategy will have to be changed by requiring more record compression through creating electronic records, a combination of electronic user copies and backup computer generated microfilm, and the use of electronic records rather than paper in day-to-day business.
The various county departments requested a total of 3,160 retrievals during FY2004. This does not include retrievals and inter-filings necessary to satisfy the requests of researchers at the Center or through mail and e-mail requests. Retrievals for the County Clerk far surpassed all other departments, followed by the Unified Court system, Probation, DSS and the Sheriff’s Office.
The Department of RAIMS hosted 546 researchers in 2004 and responded to an additional 130 researchers by mail. This is a significant drop from previous years and may be the result of ever-increasing usage of the Records and Archives web site at http://raims.com/. The number of “hits” exceeded 2 million, with distinct individual users between 25,000 and 30,000 per month. The reduction in researchers permitted the Assistant RMO to tackle various archival issues. Work included sorting, organizing, indexing and repairing of court records, chattel mortgages, mortgage assignments and Lis Pendens. The second series of Surrogate Court records was re-housed in acid-free files and boxes as well as entered into the RAIMS database. Volunteers continued to work on creating computerized indices of nineteenth century census and deed records. The initial work for a disaster preparedness plan for department-based vital records was also completed.
The RMO continued to serve as chairman of the Regional Advisory Committee of Region VII, State Archives, as board member of NYALGRO (New York Association of Local Records Management Officers) and as chair of a LGRMIF grant panel at the State Archives. He also shared his experience with other local government records managers on an informal basis. RAIMS was also awarded another grant, this time for additional shelving for the building expansion.
The Assistant RMO served on the Documentary Heritage Program Regional Advisory Committee and as a member of the Visions Update editorial committee.
The County Historian held three quarterly meetings for municipal historians, a special regional meeting to gather information on APHNYS registration program for historians. He is deeply involved in the research and exhibition on the history of the local Veterans Affairs hospital. As always, he worked closely with the county historical and genealogical societies. Particular attention was given to develop and update a comprehensive file of known county burial places and to identify them accurately with the global positioning system.
Although the County Historian is part-time, he is responsible for an incredible amount of work. Among his many projects, he completed a biography of a local African-American lawyer, Henry W. Johnson, which will appear in Rochester History. He updated a biography of Geneva author Sarah H. Bradford and his 200-page history of Canandaigua Lake. He completed the Civil War Monument/Memorials and the Willys book manuscripts. Both await funding and a publisher. The major project was the creation of educational panels for use by museums, historical societies and teachers. The topic is “Abolition and the Underground Railroad in Ontario County and Upstate New York.” Volume 1 has been published to CD and a 133-page hardcopy version in addition to the exhibit panels. Copies have been made available to teachers and historical societies/museums free of charge. The County Historian has presented numerous talks to interested groups. These are just the highlights of the historian’s achievements in 2004. For more details, his Annual Report to NY State is available upon request.
I would like to take this opportunity to compliment the entire RAIMS staff for helping each other whenever necessary. The staff has been very willing to be cross-trained – something that is absolutely essential with a small staff. Kudos also go to the Rodent Control Officer, Orphan Annie Raims, who kept the mouse population at zero, and who acts as the official greeter of the department.
The Staff:
Dr. Hans-J. Finke, Director/RMO Document Imaging:
Mary Jo Lanphear, Ass’t RMO Robin Cuppernell
Dr. Preston Pierce, County Historian Kristine Martin
Donna McCormick, Clerk (Records Mgt) Deborah Sawin
Liz Alcivar, part-time clerk,( front desk) Rodent Control: O.Annie Raims