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Albany, NY - The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) has awarded $397,332, its largest records grant ever, to an innovative partnership of the State Archives and the Center for Technology in Government (CTG). The grant will fund a two-year project, Gateways to the Past, Present and Future: Practical Guidelines to Secondary Uses of Records.

Secondary uses of records refers to the multitude of ways records are used, other than the reason for which they were created. For example, the information that is collected as part of issuing a birth or death certificate can have a secondary use for medical, genealogical or demographic research. Data collected for police work can be useful in studying crime trends and meteorological data can be used to inform research on global climactic changes.

"Some of the information in these records will be used in ways we haven't even imagined yet. We want to be sure that the information is available and usable for the widest variety of contemporary and future public needs." said Theresa Pardo, CTG Project Director.

New York State Archives and the CTG will investigate innovative and emerging technologies to ensure that electronic records continue to be accessible for secondary use. They will develop records management processes and models for government agencies to employ so that these records are available and useable for the widest variety of contemporary and future public needs. New York State Archives and CTG will also seek to reduce the cost of preserving, accessing and using electronic records by exploring resource-sharing approaches.

This project is significant because it brings together one of the leading archival institutions in the country with a award-winning research center that has a reputation for applying academic knowledge to practical problems and generating solutions that can be implemented.