Preparing National Park Service Records for Improved Public Access
Project ID: P15AC01644
Federal Agency: National Park Service
Partner Institution: Western Washington University
Fiscal Year: 2015
Initial Funding: $287,521
Total Funding: $370,926
Project Type: Technical Assistance
Project Disciplines: Cultural
National Park: Intermountain Region
Principal Investigator: Jimerson, Randall
Agreement Technical Representative: Saba, Khaleel
Abstract: The NPS creates resource management records in the course of daily business which are considered permanent and must be managed in perpetuity. These records incorporate the long history of assembling data on and managing park cultural and natural resources during the past century. Agency records management over the past three decades has steadily declined, leaving a complex and fragmented mix of temporary and permanent records. Over 40% of known agency archives are uncatalogued. The need to utilize information in these inaccessible records grows daily.
The Intermountain Region Museum Services Program of the NPS manages the Western Archeological and Conservation Center (WACC) in Tucson, Arizona, to curate archives and museum collections on behalf of parks, the region, and selected national programs. This facility houses over 6 million archival items from 70 western parks, as well as WACC’s own extensive archival collections. Holdings are increasing at a rate of approximately 750,000 archival items annually. WACC also functions as a project center where archives are processed, arranged, rehoused, and cataloged, and discovery tools, such as finding aids and inventories, are developed to improve public access. Collections also are prepared for digitization and appropriate metadata developed. Intern1ountain Region Museum Services Program Archivists are coordinating the high profile “Gift to the Nation” Centennial project to digitize the National Register and National Historic Landmark records to improve public access. Archivists stationed at WACC also provide assistance to parks and programs in identifying and assembling archives collections, and improving accountability for them.
WWU’s Archives and Records Management Program is the only comprehensive graduate training program for archivists in the Northwest. The course of study meets the expectations of the Society of American Archivists’ “Guidelines for a Graduate Program in Archives Studies.” Requirements include a 350 hour internship, providing the practical experience to balance the theoretical perspectives presented in coursework. The program of study includes archives and records management, a combination that is uniquely suited to addressing the problems recognized with NPS records.
WWU has successfully collaborated with the Intermountain Region Museum Services Program over the past three years to process, arrange, rehouse, and catalog over 500 linear feet of park and program records, and is preparing over 1,000 linear feet of National Register and National Historic Landmarks records for digitization (see Agreement Pl2AC15007) as part of the “Gift to the Nation” project. A NPS archivist coordinates the processing component of this project; the team currently includes two NPS project archivists and two WWU Post-Graduate Research Assistants.