Holding a position about which no one has any expectations is
something of a toss up:  there are disadvantages but there are also some
opportunities that municipal historians in New York should consider.  I
think these are important because what we do is important to the community
and we should show our municipalities how we conduct our business in order
to educate them about the possibilities of the positions we hold.

        I really think that every municipal historian should expect to be
treated professionally, which also means that we need to act professionally
too.  I think we should all be connected to the internet via a
municipalities connection, even if we have a connection of our own at home.
This is not asking much in terms of what the municipality needs to do but
it does give us a formal way of communicating with others, with the
municipality, and with people in the area.

        In addition, we should have a mail box in the municipality and we
need to collect materials from it quite regularly.  This is a simple thing,
but it does establish our presence and our activity.

        Appointed historians should also have a business card from the
municipality and ideally, a place to work where we can keep records safely.
This is difficult for some places to provide, but it should be a goal for
all of us.  There should be a phone number where we can be reached people
in the municipal office should know how to contact you when questions arise
or when people leave things off for you.

        Additionally important is an annual report.  The State Historian's
Office sends us a form which we should fill out and return.  Some municipal
historians simply copy that form and hand in it to the municipality.

          That is probably OK, but it would be much more effective to write
a simple, one page report that shows the hours we work, how we spent them,
the number of calls and inquiries we had and answered, the conferences
attended for education, and the range of activities undertaken.  This
report should be delivered in person to the Town/City/County Board with a 3
to 5 minute oral report in which we talk about one thing we consider
important undertaken during the year.  It could be the publication of a
tour guide to the community, the preservation of records, the development
of a filing system for town records, or whatever.

        I would strongly recommend that we not tell the officials everyone
on the report but educate them to our activities with one specific thing.
They can read the entire report later and they will do so with more
information about our activities having heard a very short report first.

         I think it is very important that we also thank the Board for the
opportunity to serve the community; that we stress our needs; that we
indicate preservation activities concerning municipal records, and that we
show we are getting whatever education about our jobs that is available.
We should also ask if the Board has any questions?

        These things are small in themselves, but they do show our
seriousness and they indicate to others that the job is not without
importance to how people think about the communities in which they live.

        Carol Kammen
        Tompkins County Historian