How many states have digital archivists to make sure that today's records are available to future generations? Washington State obviously does, as evidenced by this announcement:
Kerry Barbour is taking the reins of the state's Digital Archives office in Cheney, bringing with her nearly 20 years of information technology experience.
"I am excited that Kerry Barbour has agreed to join our Digital Archives team," said Washington State Archivist Jerry Handfield. "Kerry has managed many successful technology projects in state government. She will take us to the next level in our mission to preserve Washington's legal and historical records and make our documents of democracy accessible to our citizens."
In her role as digital archivist, Barbour will manage the operations of the state Digital Archives, located at Eastern Washington University in Cheney. Digital Archives is a branch of the Olympia-based Washington State Archives. Regional branches are found in Bellevue, Bellingham, Cheney and Ellensburg.
"I'm thrilled and excited to become the digital archivist," Barbour said. "My initial goal is to educate state agencies about digital archives and our infrastructure. I want to let them know we are here and what we can do for them."
Before starting her new job, Barbour was the information services director for the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission in Olympia the past three years. Before that, she was an information technology manager with the Department of Social and Health Services for about 12 years.
The mission of Digital Archives is to collect, index, store and make accessible electronic records created by state and local government agencies of Washington State.
Since launching in October 2004 as the first of its kind in the nation, Washington's Digital Archives is the lead partner in a multi-state project funded by the Library of Congress to demonstrate the requirements of building a digital archive system in states around the country.
More than 74 million items can be accessed online at the Digital Archives. Visit http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov for more details.
We have used the present records they have placed online and are thankful to not have to drive 16 hours, or wait for days, to obtain a document. The county my husband was born in (Grays Harbor) has not been digitized yet, but a very nice young woman made the effort to return our call, and told us that area would be online soon.
Yea for Washington State!
Posted by: Elaine | November 20, 2008 at 03:23 AM
I welcome state's efforts to digitize information for the deceased but always am disturbed when there is living person identification information (birth date, mother's maiden name) online without ability to trace who accessed that information. Unfortunately, Washington State is allowing counties to digitize what they want and that included personal identification information for my family. Birth certificates and other documents of living persons should not be online!
Posted by: Linda | November 20, 2008 at 09:46 AM
I think it is absolutely wonderful that Washington State has a Digital Archives website...the more information online, the better.
Thank you!
Posted by: Alma Davis | November 23, 2008 at 08:52 PM