Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Committee on Archives and Records
August 2, 2019
Minutes
The Texas State Library and Archives Commission’s Committee on Archives and Records met on Friday, August 2, in the Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives and Library Building in Austin, Texas.
Committee Members Present:
Larry G. Holt, committee chair
David Garza, via videoconference
Lynwood Givens
Commissioners Present:
Darryl Tocker
Michael Waters, commission chair
Commissioners Absent:
Arthur Mann
Martha Wong
Staff Present:
Mark Smith, director and librarian
Donna Osborne, chief operations and fiscal officer
Jelain Chubb, director, Archives and Information Services
Craig Kelso, director, State and Local Records Management
Sarah Jacobson, Manager, Records Management Assistance, SLRM
Erica Wilson-Lang, Government Information Analyst, SLRM
Angela Kent, Manager, Information Services, ARIS
Tracy Kuhn Lash, executive assistant
Alana Inman, manager, Sam Houston Center
Michael Ford, director, Information Technology Services&nbs
Oscar Munoz, desktop support specialist, ITS
- Welcome, introductions, and general announcements.
Commissioner Holt called the meeting to order at 2 p.m., welcomed everyone to the meeting and noted that a quorum was present.
- Approval of minutes of March 28, 2019 meeting.
Commissioner Givens moved to approve the minutes of the March 28, 2019 Archives and Records Committee meeting and Commissioner Garza seconded. Motion passed.
- Public comment. There was no public comment.
- Discussion of Schedule EL, Elections and Voter Registration.
Craig Kelso and Erica Wilson-Lang presented proposed amendments to 13 TAC §7.125(a)(10), local government retention schedule EL (Records of Elections and Voter Registration). Ms. Wilson-Lang said that with the exception of some grammatical changes, the amendments reflect statutory changes adopted in the 85th and 86th Legislative Sessions. She said the most significant change is a repeal of a six-month retention period for election records for non-federal offices, lengthening the retention period to 22 months. After discussion, Commissioner Givens moved to recommend the amended schedule to the full commission. Commissioner Garza seconded. Motion passed.
At the request of Jelain Chubb, the committee took up Agenda Item 6.
- Discussion of agreements with outside organizations for the digitization of archival materials.
Jelain Chubb provided an overview of past partnerships with outside organizations to digitize some of the agency’s collections and reported on recent agreements and answered committee questions. She said the agency recently entered into an agreement with FamilySearch to digitize a select series of publicly available records from the agency’s collections and make them freely available to researchers on the FamilySearch website. Ms. Chubb said such collaborations were encouraged in the agency’s Sunset review in order to get more information online which this does at little or no cost to the state.
FamilySearch would also like to scan a select series of publicly available local government records in TSLAC’s custody, she said. These records are located in Regional Historical Resource Depositories (RHRD) around the state and will necessitate agreements with each repository to allow scanning on their premises. Ms. Chubb said that staff will reach out to the RHRDs to discuss this project this fall.
Ms. Chubb reported also that the agency has received a request from Ancestry to scan records related to voting records. The agency partnered with Ancestry in 2009 to digitize the heavily used Confederate Pension Applications at no cost to the agency. She said these records are accessible at no charge for Texas residents.
After discussion, Mark Smith said staff would continue negotiations with Ancestry with the benefit of the agency’s new General Counsel who will come on board in September. The committee directed staff to explore options to ensure that Texas receives the highest possible value in return for the use of state resources. Staff will then bring the Ancestry agreement back to the committee for discussion. No action required by the committee.
- Discussion of allocation of 2020-21 biennial budget appropriation for repairs at the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center.
Alana Inman presented a list of priorities for expending a $1 million appropriation from the 86th Legislature for the 2020-2021 biennium for repairs and renovations at the Sam Houston Regional Library and Resource Center in Liberty. During discussion, the committee agreed that the Texas Facilities Commission should be encouraged to reduce the engineer/architect fees of $360,000. During discussion the committee identified priorities that include services of an engineer/architect which the committee considered elevated, elevator repairs, HVAC repairs, repairs to historic buildings, expanding fire suppression system into storage areas and security upgrades. Commissioner Givens moved to approve the list and Commissioner Garza seconded. Motion passed.
- Agenda items for next meeting or future agenda items.
Commissioner Holt noted that future meetings would include continued discussions and follow-up on strategic agreements with outside organizations, a strategic plan for future repairs and work at the Sam Houston Center and records retention schedules. He adjourned the meeting at 4:11 p.m.