Maryland State Archives
Budget Presentation for FY 1998
November 21, 1996
Budget Review: Initiatives for Historical Programs, Government Information,
and the Management of Records
An archives is the conscience of the public, the repository of its collective memory, recording the triumphs and failures of the past and pointing the way to remedying the ills of the present. Without an archives there cannot be a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Without convenient and affordable access to reliable information gleaned from the Archives no society can call itself truly free. No one understood this better than Thomas Jefferson, who in the Declaration of Independence, severely criticized the King of England for calling "together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures."
If we are fatigued by anything today, it is by a government not yet able to guide us through the torrent of change and information that issues daily from the technological revolution. Somewhat like Noah in the face of the flood, the Archives has taken the lead in building a simple, cost-effective ark designed to help government weather the storm and deposit us all safely on dry ground. The vessel is christened appropriately a 'homepage' on the world wide web of the Intranet of state government and on the public servers of the Internet.
Before we venture out to our efforts to help government on to the Intranet and the Internet, however, I would like to first address the recommendations of the Department of Budget and Fiscal Planning with regard to our FY 1998 Budget, which were both thoughtful and judicious in the light of the current budgetary situation.
If a general fund reduction of 7% is required, we estimate this will amount to $121,730. Such a reduction in general funds would severely curtail the ability of the Archives to manage its baseline operations as outlined below. Since 1993, the State Archives has dramatically improved the management of its programs with fewer staff and fewer appropriated dollars. It would be possible to meet a 7% reduction in appropriated funds by increasing special fund revenue.
It should be pointed out, however, that it is the current management staff as represented by the current, i.e. FY97 level, that would produce the increase in income, and thus retaining that staff is essential to any increase in special funds at a time when the sources for special fund revenue for the Archives appear to be static. It is our recommendation that an investment in maintaining the current efficiency levels of the State Archives would be cost beneficial to the state and that a 7% reduction in appropriated general funds would be counterproductive. If a 7% reduction is deemed necessary, we propose that it be handled in the following manner:
| FY 96 | FY 97 | FY 98 | |
| General Funds | $1,590,019 | $1,771,377 | $1,649,647 |
| Special Funds | 843,562 | 592,650 | 688,364 |
| Federal Funds | 56,037 | 0 | 0 |
| Total Funding | 2,489,600 | 2,364,027 | 2,338,011 |
The Archives' budget request for FY98 provides a mixture of general and special funds to:
The Archives has recently published the 1996-1997 edition of this standard
reference work of Maryland state and local government. This edition was
printed with funds encumbered from FY95. In FY97, we have greatly enhanced
this important service by providing the publication in three formats: the
traditional, printed version; an on-line version retrievable by password
from our Web site; and a dynamic version which will be unveiled on December
10 at the Technology Showcase. The dynamic version will be available to
customers by subscription and will provide up-to-date information on state
and local government and its officials. The annual appropriation of $46,000
first approved in this year's budget and referred to as item 1 in our agenda
for today, is explicitly for the maintenance of information on the web
site on a continuing basis within the context of the web based system designed
by the existing Archives' staff, whose development time is now allocated
to additional income producing projects.
For example, every year the State Archives prepares The Organization of State Government for use by the Department of Budget and Management.
Organizational chart of the Maryland State Archives
The Archives has invested a great deal of effort in the communication of government information among the various government agencies, especially those within the Annapolis Intranet. Working with staff at a number of agencies within the Annapolis campus, we have developed communication on the existing fiber optic network for internal dissemination of data and secure access to the Internet.
We began working with CITEC (a non-profit organization devoted to increasing public access to government information) and the General Assembly last spring to develop a means of access to legislative information and, especially, the application developed by us called Who are your Elected Officials? In the process, our staff has mastered SQL (Standard Query Language) applications developed in the NT server environment. Sequent Computer Systems has agreed, through the offices of CITEC, to be our partner in this project. As a result, Sequent is donating a server and technical expertise valued at $150,000. The WinServer20 they are providing can manage over 200GB of files and has processing speed and software comparable to some of the most advanced equipment available. This new server will be used for all of the government sites currently housed at the Archives.
This new resource will make it possible for the Archives to entirely revamp the Internet sites that it currently has online and provide some of the most sophisticated applications for data retrieval. For example, we are developing an application for the Secretary of State which allows citizens to access information easily about charitable organizations which, with the Secretary's approval, will be on-line as of December 10.
To continue and enhance this development, as well as to rationalize technological resources within state government, we are asking for the transfer of the Maryland Electronic Capital to the Archives. This should include a permanent staff position assigned to this function and the equipment at the Shaw House Annex. This transfer will allow the MEC to be lodged on our new, state-of-the-art server, be available to the public in the search room at the Maryland State Archives which has parking and is handicapped accessible. This will reduce the current duplication of effort in the provision of information about Maryland and Maryland government on the Internet and Annapolis Campus Intranet as well as eliminating the cost of T1 service to the Shaw House.
We also recommend that the gift of the Sequent server and the contributions of CITEC and Sequent Computer Systems be acknowledged in an appropriate manner at a cabinet meeting at which the new services provided by the server (including the new Maryland Manual online) would be demonstrated.
In order to manage the vast amount of paper records generated by state government, the Archives has acquired a warehouse in Hammond's Ferry for the records of the Maryland Deposit Insurance Fund and other materials that cannot be housed at the Archives.
While government is beginning to manage its records electronically, it is still dealing with a phenomenal amount of paper. The Archives has custody of almost 170,000 cubic feet of records at this time. Our building in Annapolis is full to capacity and we are currently at capacity in our adjunct facility. Our best estimates of the permanent records that are still in the custody of various state, county, and municipal agencies in their original form is 486,000 cubic feet.
The space at Hammonds Ferry is not adequate to meet the demand for the storage of permanently valuable paper records. We are proposing a plan that makes best use of the state's existing resources while addressing an additional issue of prime importance to the future of state government: the conversion of paper records to an electronic format, such as CD ROM, and the permanent maintenance of electronic files in an archival setting.
The Archives proposes to take responsibility for the records appraisal, storage, and image management functions currently the vested in the Records Management Division of the Department of General Services to the Archives.
The Records Management Division has a staff of eighteen employees devoted to the appraisal of state government records, providing microfilm and image management services, and a warehouse operation for the transient records of state agencies. The current budget for the Division, $834,047, is derived primarily from cost recovery with some general fund support.
Revenues are obtained from filming, computer output microfilm, and retrieval of records in storage. In 1996, The Division initiated a program to place computer output and image files on CD-ROM for retrieval and distribution by agencies. FY 96 actual revenues were $535,000. The FY 97 allowance was $533,000 and it is assumed that retrieval charges instituted this fiscal year will generate additional revenues.
Such a merger would provide the following benefits:
1. Efficient disposition of state agency records through disposal or permanent retention in an accessible format;
2. Management of the total life cycle of government records and the preparation of five year statewide records inventories that would lead to a reduction in leased office space and faster retrieval of government information;
3. More cost effective use of the image management resources of the Archives and the Records Management Division;
4. Better utilization of state-owned space for the management of transient and permanent records of state government and the cost of leased warehouse space.
The Archives has struggled for the last 5 years to maintain a program of biographical research. Documenting who we are is as important as the record of what government has done. The Archives needs to revitalize this part of its program.
We have, over the past few summers, using interns funded by outside sources, conducted research into the lives of African Americans living in Baltimore in the period following the Civil War. Centered on returning USCT soldiers who settled in Baltimore after the war as well as their families and associates, this research has produced a wealth of information on a long-ignored but important segment of society in the late 19th century - the urban black population.
"A New Body of Citizens"
From the Maryland State Archives' biographical research project
on the USCT troops and the Black citizens of Baltimore in the period following
the Civil War
We believe that the time has come to make this important research part of the archival program again, and we are requesting a new staff position to conduct biographical research. Projects to be addressed include the continuation of research on Maryland officials, the African American experience in Maryland, and the First Ladies and Official Hostesses projects.
First Lady Mary Digges Lee (1745-1805)
In order to revitalize our important biographical research initiative, we are requesting a new permanent, full time Archivist IV staff position at the level of grade 15, step 1. The total requirement to fund such a position, with fringe benefits and necessary equipment, is $42,953.
It is possible for the Archives to continue the task of addressing the archival issues created by information technology applications, to better attend to the growing mass of archival material, and to revive a nationally recognized program of biographical research. To do so will require more effective use of existing resources, increased efforts to find support in the private sector in ways that are uniquely beneficial to the state, and additional general fund resources.
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© Copyright November 19, 1996 Maryland State Archives