Please excuse cross postings

For Immediate Release
January 19, 2006

CoSA Launches "Closest to Home" Project:
Archival Programs for Local Government Records

IOWA CITY, IOWA - January 19, 2006 - The Council of State Archivists (CoSA)
has received a two-year grant from the National Historical Publications and
Records Commission (NHPRC) which includes $170,869 to support a project
designed to lay the groundwork for stronger local government archives in
each state.

The project will analyze current conditions and determine what services,
standards, and funding strategies will work best to ensure the long-term
preservation of and access to local government records.
Local government records represent the foundation of the U.S. archival
system and are truly "Closest to Home," created and used in the communities
in which we, as citizens, live and work.  They are arguably the records that
most affect our daily lives and those of our neighbors, documenting our
marriages; the education of our children; the homes, land, and businesses we
own; the social services we receive; and civil and criminal legal
proceedings in our communities.

A nine-member Task Force will oversee the project.  Kaye Lanning Minchew,
Director of the Troup County (GA) Archives, and Roy H. Tryon, State
Archivist and Records Administrator of the South Carolina Department of
Archives and History, will co-chair the Task Force.  Three Expert Panels
will support the work of the Task Force, each representing a sector with a
strong interest in improving archival programs for local government records:
local government officials, users of local government records, and
archivists who work directly with local government records. The Task Force
will also engage three consultants to prepare reports on the key issues
affecting local government records of long-term value.

The Council of State Archivists (CoSA) is a national organization comprising
the directors of the principal archival agencies in each state and
territorial government. Working collectively through their membership in
CoSA, the State Archivists encourage cooperation and promulgation of best
practices among the states; define and communicate archival and records
concerns at a national level; and work with other national organizations to
ensure that the nation's documentary heritage is preserved and accessible.
CoSA changed its name from the Council of State Historical Records
Coordinators (COSHRC) in October 2005.

For more information about the Local Government Archives Project, contact:

  Kaye Lanning Minchew, Director, Troup County Archives.
  Phone: 706-884-1828.  Email: [log in to unmask]

  Roy Tryon, State Archivist and Records Administrator, SC Department of
Archives and History.
  Phone: 803-896-6120.  Email: [log in to unmask]

Additional details are available on the project's website at
http://www.statearchivists.org/lga/.

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More information about the Council of State Archivists:

  CoSA website:  www.statearchivists.org

  David Carmicheal, CoSA President, and Director, The Georgia Archives.
  Phone: 678-364-3714.  Email: [log in to unmask]

  Victoria Irons Walch, Executive Director, Council of State Archivists.
  308 East Burlington Street #189, Iowa City IA 52240
  Phone: 319-338-0248.  Email: [log in to unmask]

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