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Re: Who Decides?



For everyone's information, today's paper had a followup article. This piece
touched a little more on the conservation issues, specifically the cost and
difficulty of preserving the paper records. It also raises the disturbing
thought of state legislators taking it upon themselves to decide what archivists
are supposed to be doing, evidently (from the context) without making much
effort to study the realities of the archival world.

Best wishes,

Thomas Berry, Archivist
Historical Construction Equipment Association
Bowling Green, Ohio

Dennis East wrote:

> Since I am very familiar with the situation regarding the destruction of the
> state records by the State Archives in Ohio and the delays, stonewalling, and
> attacks by the always enlightened leadership of the Ohio Historical Society on
> the Ohio citizen and OHS member who raised the issues, the answer to Peter
> Kurilecz's question is obvious.  The records were improperly, if not
> illegally(I am not a barrister, but I believe the law in Ohio was violated),
> discarded; then denied, then admitted, then delayed, then. . . .
>
> Every aspiring and practicing archivist should read the article in the Toledo
> Blade and decide for themselves based on the information available. It's a
> great case study for an archives class!
>
> But it's also a darn shame because some historically rich records were lost
> and the historical, archival, and genealogical communities in Ohio are the
> worst for it.  (Yes, some/most records may have been microfilmed, but they
> don't know if the microfilm is complete because it was never certified. . .
> )
> Read the article, then decide.  Who will decide in Ohio?  Now that's an
> interesting question as well because the State Archives which does the state's
> business is part of the Ohio Historical Society, a private not for profit
> corporation, that the Ohio Attorney General, among others, has adjudged not to
> be a state agency and therefore exempt from any review of wrongdoing etc.  The
> private citizen involved (Kopp) is expected to pursue legal action with his
> own resources and several state legislators who were
> apprised of the situation declined to become involved.
>
> Ah, Ohio is still Ohio when it comes to taking care (or not) of its archives
> and records.  Even in the new millenium (which it is not) some things never
> change.  Did anyone think they would ever top the placing of the Governor
> James Rhodes papers in the landfill . . . . which happened on my watch???? Ha!
>
> Dennis East
> Former (praise the Lord ... or so someone must say somewhere)  State
> Archivist, Ohio
>
> "Kurilecz, Peter" wrote:
>
> > An interesting story was reported in yesterday's Toledo Blade. The full
> > story can be found at the url posted below.
> >
> > http://www.toledoblade.com/editorial/news/0a23reco.htm
> >
> > Peter A. Kurilecz CRM, CA
> > Woodside Summit Group, Inc
> > Richmond, Virginia
> > mailto:peterk@woodsidesummitgroup.com
> >
> > A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
> >
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>
>   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>   Dennis East <de2+@pitt.edu>
>
>   Dennis East
>     <de2+@pitt.edu>
>     Fax: 412-244-7077
>     Work: 412-244-7065
>   Additional Information:
>   Last Name     East
>   First Name    Dennis
>   Version       2.1

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>