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Educational Programs Offered by State Archives
Last updated September 22, 2001

Intro | State Agencies | Local Govts | Professional Archivists |July 13, 2010>K-12 Teachers/Students | Grassroots | Web-based

In early 2001, we asked the State Archivists to tell us what educational programs their agencies and state historical records advisory boards (SHRABs) had in place for a variety of audiences. To date, we've heard from 32 states. Please note: The information in these tables was gathered through the broad question "What is your state archives and/or SHRAB doing in the following education areas?" Accordingly, this is not intended as an all-encompassing summary of what the respondent states are doing, but rather, a sampling of the types of educational activities being undertaken at this time.

• Programs for professional archivists
  Eighteen of the 32 states responding to the survey offer basic workshops to other professional archivists in their area. Eleven of them also offer some advanced training, either workshops, college courses, or archival institutes. This is distinct from the training that is provided to the staffs of the respondents. Fifteen states indicated that they support staff to attend basic workshops and regional meeting; seven provide attendance at Modern Archives Institute, or equivalent in-depth training, and one (MO) indicated tuition reimbursement for staff. (IL indicated that tuition reimbursement has been promised, but has never yet materialized.) Eight of the states included extensive cooperative efforts/partnerships with others, including universities (NE), archival and allied professional associations (NV, NH, NC, PA, SC, WY), and other states (UT).
• Programs for the grassroots
  Out of 32 respondent states, 25 regularly offer some basic workshops or training, nine also offer extensive or advanced workshops or training. Of the seven respondent states that are not currently offering training in this area, two provide consultations on request, and two indicated that training to this audience is provided by another agency. Eleven states have outside funding for all or part of their education program (nine from the NHPRC, three of these are identified as regrant projects). In some cases it is for a basic program or on-site consultations and training, others are introducing new techniques such as mentoring (WI and KS) and cable television broadcasting (NC). Eight states are currently involved in projects partnering with another agency or institution.
• Programs for state government agencies
  Of the thirty-three states included in this category, twenty-nine responded that they provide regular workshops and/or daily training for state records managers (six provide both). Only nine of the states indicated that they have manuals or retention schedules (CT, ME, MO, MI, OR, PA, SC, TX, WY), six of them are available online. Michigan and South Carolina have outside funding for state records education (NHPRC). Oregon is the only state providing Web-based training for state government at this time.
• Programs for local government agencies
  Fewer states are responsible for local government records than state records. Of the thirty-four respondent states, twenty-five provide regular workshops to local government officials; July 13, 2010role but provide assistance on request. Ten states (ME, MO, MT, NV, OH, OR, PA, SC, TX, WY) have records retention schedules and manuals for local government records; seven of these are available on-line. Nine states (IL, ME, MI, MO, MT, NV, PA, SC, VA) report regular participation in county association meetings. Four of the respondent states (there are more out there) are currently offering grants to local governments. Two of these are funded through a fee-based program (CT, MO) and two are supported by NHPRC grants (ME, VT). Ohio and Oregon are included in the responses for local government, and offer online training.
• Programs for K-12 educators and students
  Six of the states that provided responses to the survey are currently not offering resources for K-12 education. Of the remaining 26 states, seventeen indicated they have materials available on their Web site for teachers and/or students. Eighteen provide "documents" and related curriculum materials to teachers and students. And eight have specific teacher training materials or workshops (AK,ME, NE, NY, NC, PA, SD, VT). Six are now offering or developing actual classes to offer K-12 groups that visit the facility (MI, MO, PA, SD, VA, WY). Five states cited active participation in History Day, from posting research materials on the Web site, to hosting the event (ME, MO, NC, OK, WA). And six indicated partnerships with other organizations including universities (ME), education departments (MI, NE, NY), and state historical societies (NH). None of the respondents indicated outside funding for their K-12 education efforts.
• Web-based educational programs
  All of the thirty-four states responding about Web-based training have basic information on services available on a Web page, although not all of them listed it. Several states offer online records schedules and manuals (AL, CT, GA, MO, NV, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TX, UT, WA, WY). Others provide or are developing online teaching materials including documents and exhibits (FL, GA, KS, LA, ME, MI, MO, MT, NE, NV, NY, NC, ND, OK, PA, VT, WI).

  Only four states have actual Web-based training (ME, downloadable database; NY, grant training; OH, PowerPoint workshop for local government; and OR, Web-based records management training for state and local government). Three others (GA, PA, VT) indicated they are currently researching and developing online training. In addition, a consortium consisting of New York, Ohio, and AASLH, have submitted a grant proposal to IMLS to develop Web-based training for grass-roots. This work began at the NFACE conference in Atlanta.

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