Preserving State Government Digital Information: A Baseline Report

Theresa A. Pardo, G. Brian Burke, and Hyuckbin Kwon
July 1, 2006
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Abstract

Cover Digital PreservationPartnerships have emerged as the most viable strategy for securing the resources necessary for preserving state government digital information. Whether these partnerships span units within a single agency or multiple state and local governments and in some cases the federal government, their development requires knowledge of capabilities and priorities to be shared among potential partners. This report provides the baseline knowledge necessary to launch these critical partnership development efforts. Baseline data on state government digital information preservation capabilities and activities was collected in five key areas:

  1. Institutional Roles and Responsibilities
  2. State Government Digital Information Preservation Activities
  3. Training Needs for Digital Preservation
  4. State Government Digital Information Currently At-Risk
  5. Engagement with Enterprise Architecture

Six observations about the challenges facing state government digital preservation initiatives emerged from the baseline data:

  1. Capability for preserving state government digital information is low.
  2. There is no consistent approach to addressing “at-risk” information.
  3. Authority for setting standards and responsibility for providing digital preservation services is dispersed.
  4. Executive, legislative, and judicial agencies operate parallel digital preservation efforts.
  5. Digital preservation and Enterprise Architecture initiatives are not well-connected.
  6. Efforts to develop strategic digital preservation programs are hampered by problem focused practices and funding and staffing models.

Responding Unit Profiles

As a complementary resource to this baseline report, you may review the individual profiles from the 67 responding units within the states/territories listed below.

Note that the acronyms following the state/territory names indicate the following: L = Library; A = Archives; RM = Records Management; * = Other agencies 

  1. Alabama ARM
  2. Alaska LARM
  3. American Samoa LARM
  4. Arizona LARM
  5. Arkansas LARM*
  6. California A
  7. California L
  8. Colorado ARM
  9. Colorado L
  10. Connecticut LARM
  11. Delaware A
  12. Delaware RM
  13. Florida LARM
  14. Georgia ARM
  15. Hawaii LARM
  16. Idaho LA
  17. Illinois ARM
  18. Illinois L
  19. Indiana LARM*
  20. Iowa ARM
  21. Iowa L
  22. Kansas ARM
  23. Kansas L
  24. Kentucky LARM*
  25. Louisiana ARM
  26. Louisiana L
  27. Maine A
  28. Maryland ARM
  29. Massachusetts ARM
  30. Massachusetts L
  31. Michigan LARM
  32. Minnesota A*
  33. Mississippi ARM
  34. Missouri LARM
  35. Montana LARM*
  36. Nebraska LA
  37. Nevada LARM
  38. New Hampshire ARM
  39. New Jersey LARM
  40. New Mexico LARM
  41. New York LARM
  42. North Carolina LARM
  43. North Dakota RM
  44. Northern Mariana Islands L
  45. Ohio A
  46. Ohio L
  47. Oklahoma LARM
  48. Oregon ARM
  49. Oregon L
  50. Pennsylvania LARM
  51. Puerto Rico L
  52. Rhode Island L*
  53. South Carolina LARM*
  54. South Dakota A
  55. South Dakota L
  56. Tennessee LA
  57. Tennessee RM
  58. Texas LARM*
  59. Utah LARM*
  60. Vermont A
  61. Virginia LARM
  62. Washington ARM
  63. West Virginia L
  64. Wisconsin LA
  65. Wisconsin*
  66. Wyoming ARM
  67. Wyoming L

 

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