Here is a comprehensive, authoritative introduction to the elements of
day-to-day operations of local government archives, with special
emphasis on best practices and practical solutions and strategies for
establishing and improving such things as storage, environmental
control, staffing, and intellectual control. It includes a chapter on
general consideration for preservation of electronic archival records.
Local government records are the records that most directly touch the
lives of U. S. residents: deeds and property records, marriage licenses,
school transcripts, law suits, and more, yet these records are often the
most neglected records in the country. This guide is designed to appeal
both to trained archivists as well as to those without formal training
but find they are dealing with the administration of an archives program
in a municipality, county, parish, township or borough, or a
quasi-governmental entity such as a water district or a regional
transportation authority. Managing Local Government Archives describes
and prescribes the essential elements and best practices of a local
government archives program. It is intended to be both a text for
classroom instruction and a self-help tool for both professional and
paraprofessional archivists. It is also intended to be helpful to local
governments considering the planning and implementation of a formal
archives program. Coverage encompasses the various domains of archival
enterprise as practiced in a local government setting: -acquisition,
-appraisal, -arrangement and description, -preservation, -access,
-relationship to the records management profession, and -other topics.
