2-28-03
To all my fellow Historians:
Before I left office today, I wanted to share the good news with all of
you regarding the new descriptions for the collections of the Washington
County Historian's Department being posted on the NYS Archives' Historic
Documents Inventory (HDI). This was done through support from NYS
Archives' LGRMIF grants, which helped underwrite a joint project between
the NYS Archives, the Washington County Historian's Department and the
Washington County Data Processing Department.
The result of this project was the creation of an application written
for MS ACCESS that allowed us: 1) to arrange and describe on computer
the collection of the Historian's Department; 2) to have full in-house
search capabilities, all designed using the MS ACCESS features; and 3)
to generate a report and then have the report file be able to be shipped
to the NYS Archives for uploading on to the HDI. The goal is for the NYS
Archives ultimately to provide the application at no cost. The user
would have to purchase MS Access. For municipal historians and anyone
with archival collections, including historical societies and museums,
this could provide a low-cost mechanism both to arrange and describe
collections and have an in-house and online mechanism for searching
them. But, from here, it will be up to the NYS Archives to see how it
this set up for eventual distribution. There'll have to be a manual and
I think the more people who look at it, the more its potential will
expand.
Although I know publicly thanking people is always fraught with peril,
as someone could be left out, I really must thank some key people. If
anyone has been omitted, please forgive me. Sincere thanks to all the
people who made the program successful: in the NYS Archives, Prudence
Backman, Bonita Weddle and Ann Marie Przybyla (our Regional Advisory
Officer for Region 4); in the Washington County Data Processing
Department, Karen Pratt, Dept. head, and Programmer Lisa Mcdonald; in my
department, the Washington County Historian's Department, Volunteer
Researcher Loretta Bates, who provided, among things, a particular
service in offering advice on the end product from the user's viewpoint;
and Librarian and Archivist Albert Fowler of the Crandall Library who
worked as a consultant in the initial design with Lisa Mcdonald and
Bonnie Weddle.
In particular Lisa Mcdonald, who designed the application, has done
wonders; and Bonnie Weddle has been absolutely excellent to work with.
The cooperation between those two was critical, and I can't say enough
to praise them and the
NYS Archives in general. I have to add, too, that we had strong support
from the Washington County Board of Supervisors, County Administrator
Kevin G. Hayes, and RMO Donald Stewart, and that's essential in any
project like this.
This sounds like an Oscar acceptance speech, so I will stop.
These are the sites for the collections of the Washington County
Historian's Department on
the HDI:
http://nysl.nysed.gov/uhtbin/035-hdi/(NIC)NYWH30E-880-00$
http://nysl.nysed.gov/uhtbin/035-hdi/(NIC)NYWH30E-880-01$
Thanks everybody,
Joe Cutshall-King
________________________________
Joseph A. Cutshall-King
Washington County Historian
Washington County Municipal Center
383 Broadway
Fort Edward, NY 12828
Tel.: 518-746-2178
Fax: 518-746-2219
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
HOME:
PO Box 154
Cossayuna, NY 12823
Home/Bus. Tel./FAX: 518-692-9505
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
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