Monterey County Grand Jury
• 2016-2017
• Agency Response
Preservation of Historical Documents of Monterey County*
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F4
Findings and Recommendations 6 findings
F1
The archivists and historians employed by the different agencies are well educated in their field and take great care in their duties. Response: The City Council agrees with the finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
All Cities and agencies within Monterey County should catalog and index all historical documentation they maintain. Response: The recommendation has been implemented for the City of Monterey. The Monterey Public Library catalogs and indexes historical documentation, and documents
F2
Most agencies in Monterey County charged with the task to maintain and store historical records and artifacts do the best they can with the facilities and funds they have available. Response: The City Council agrees with the finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
This index once created should be shared between each city and all county historical agencies. Response: The recommendation will not be implemented because it is not reasonable. It would be very challenging to have each city and all county historical agencies agree upon one shared index for use, due to each agency having distinct missions, patron needs, fiscal realities, purchasing and technology requirements. As an example, currently there are at least four different online indexes used by these types of organizations, and even those who use the same index service (e.g. Koha, PastPerfect) have different versions which are not able to work seamlessly with each other. Management and funding of a shared index is also a considerable project. In the 1990s and early 2000s public libraries across Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties ۸. * received State Library funding to support a shared library index which drew from their different online catalog systems. It became cost-prohibitive to support and maintain after State Library funding was reduced, with few users to justify the increasing costs. It was discontinued in the mid-2000s. Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the Civil Grand Jury's Report. Respectfully submitted, Clyde Roberson Mayor City Manager CC: City Attorney
F3
The documents stored in these repositories vary. The most modern and up to date methods are those maintained in a temperature, and humidity controlled vault at the Monterey County Historical Society. Response: The City Council partially agrees with the finding. While the Monterey County Historical Society's vault is modern and up-to-date, the City of Monterey maintains a secure, UV-protected, climate and humidity-controlled California History Room at the Monterey Public Library. This facility is maintained to high document preservation standards, while allowing public access through the City's Museums, CITY HALL • MONTEREY • CALIFORNIA • 93940 • 831.646.3760 • FAX 831.646.3793 Web Site • http://www.monterey.org 1.1 Cultural Arts and Archives Manager, trained librarians, and through document finding aids within the Library's online catalog, accessible at www.monterey.org/library.
No recommendations for this finding
F5
Historical documents and photos should be digitized and available to the public on-line, to lessen the amount of handling of documents. Response: The City Council agrees with the finding.
No recommendations for this finding
F6
The historical documents and artifacts of Monterey County are valuable assets to the citizens of California, Monterey County and residents of the cities located within the county. As such, they should be protected to ensure proper storage, maintenance and handling. Response: The City Council agrees with the finding.
No recommendations for this finding
F7
Not all the locations that store and maintain historical documents are staffed by trained archivists. Response: The City Council agrees with the finding.
No recommendations for this finding
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.