[please excuse cross postings]

As part of its Closest to Home project on local government archives, the
Council of State Archivists is seeking input from a broad range of
individuals about how to improve the preservation and use of these important
records.
  
The Local Government Archives Task Force, which is overseeing the project,
has developed an online questionnaire to encourage all interested parties to
share advice, insights, and opinions on four issues of particular
significance:

.  Securing resources, specifically funding, for preserving and managing
local government records with continuing value; .  Developing and delivering
training to local government officials in techniques and procedures for
caring for their records of continuing value; .  Addressing the impact of
information technology on the creation, preservation, and use of local
government records; and .  Strengthening advocacy and raising awareness
about the importance of the local government records and of archival
programs to care for them.

The results of the questionnaire will be used by the project consultants to
shape their reports and recommendations.

The questionnaire is easy to complete. You are welcome to answer some or all
of the questions. 

There are two versions of the questionnaire:
.  One is intended for those working in local governments, specifically
local government officials and archivists or records managers who care for
local government records.  
.  The other is designed for those working outside of local government but
who have an interest in the preservation and use of these records. This
category encompasses archivists or records managers in state government or
university settings, other state government employees, researchers,
genealogists, local historians, attorneys, land title specialists, and many
others.

The questionnaire will be available until December 31, 2006.  However, since
the project consultants have a November 30 deadline for submitting their
reports, they will only be able to draw on comments submitted by November
15.
 
To access the questionnaire, go to
http://www.statearchivists.org/lga/questions.htm.

For more information on the Closest to Home project, visit the project home
page at http://www.statarchivists.org/lga, or contact Bruce Dearstyne,
Coordinating Consultant for the Local Government Archives Project, at
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Thank you in advance for your participation!
Vicki Walch

Victoria Irons Walch, Executive Director Council of State Archivists (CoSA)
65 N Westminster St, Iowa City, IA  52245-3833
Telephone: 319.338.0248   Fax: 319.354.2526
http://www.statearchivists.org/

List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
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