Kathryn Brunetta, Records Manager, Monongalia County Clerk’s Office

Proposal Type: Roundtable

Abstract: The expansion of the mineral industries has led to an increased use of local historical resources for researching land titles and rights. This development has forced local governments to address issues of access and preservation within their limited budgets. The high volume of use created by the needs of the mineral industries is leading to the deterioration of books and documents maintained by these organizations. Many local governments either do not have or are not allocating sufficient funds to properly preserve these books to compensate for the wear they are experiencing. These agencies often lack skilled staff to properly preserve and repair damaged documents. While the public tends to prefer digital access to documents, digitization can be an expensive and time consuming process. Digitization is beginning to address issues of availability and preservation, but this process puts a strain on funds and cannot keep up with the growing demand.

Local governments have begun to collaborate with public historians to meet the needs of those in the mineral industries. Public historians are providing archive management, preservation, conservation, and consulting to these institutions to assist in records management. While some agencies have begun to form these relationships, public historians can take an active role in this process in order to help maintain local historical resources.

Seeking: We are looking for people who would be interested in participating in a roundtable discussion of the issues that have arisen from the relationship between public historians, local government, and the mineral industries and discussing creative approaches to these issues. Our perspective is from the records management of a local government agency. We would like to hear from other records managers about how their archives have been affected by the development of the mineral industries and how they are addressing issues of access and preservation. We would also like to hear from public historians who are interacting with the mineral industries in other roles, such as consultants or researchers, to see what issues they may be observing in these interactions.

Related Topics: Preservation, Archives, Government

If you have a direct offer of assistance, sensitive criticism, or wish to share contact information for other people the proposer should reach out to, please get in contact directly: Kathryn Brunetta, kathryn.brunetta[at]gmail.com

If you have general ideas or feedback to share please feel free to use the comments feature below.

Discussion

3 comments
  1. Denise Meringolo says:

    It might be useful to broaden your inquiry to consultants who might be the ones hired to do the work you describe and to historians of science who might be the first to notice the deterioration or lack of records you describe.

  2. Cassie Kilroy Thompson says:

    I concur with Denise Meringolo’s suggestion about including historians of science as well as consultants who are called upon to utilize these records in need of preservation. If you are unable to collect participants with mineral industries experience, I would also suggest that broadening the arena to other natural resource areas, such as water rights, groundwater pollution, or even hazardous waste disposal, where historical records are often not thought of as archival materials.

  3. Modupe Labode says:

    Kathryn, I really like this topic and agree with Cassie’s and Denise’s suggestions.
    Many people thinking about the resources boom are not considering the real issue of how archives and objects are being created and maintained. As you develop this panel, you might think about reaching out to archivists and/or librarians who have experience creating and maintaining archives under difficult situations. Perhaps others have collaborated with educational institutions in comparable situations. I imagine that county clerks and historical societies in the western part of North America are also dealing with this issue, and it would be interesting to get their perspectives, given the regional differences in mineral and water rights.

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