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(erielack) Re: ELHS Board of Directors Statement

Dear Paul,

Thank you for responding on behalf of the ELHS Board on the issue of the
ELHS Archives.  I realize the Board does not normally address such issues on
an open forum, but listing the criteria helps everyone to understand at
least some of the official thought process.  And that can only be good for
all parties interested, including the Board.

In reviewing the criteria, though, I also picked up on the same sentence as
Peter Heimbach that ELHS "must" retain ownership.  Indeed, if that's really
what the Board intended to communicate, then should we assume that Steamtown
has in effect been eliminated? The fact that the other three candidates, if
one includes Akron, are all located in Ohio would appear to those less
familiar with the situation as a preference by the Board for keeping the
archives in that state.  I'm sure it's just a coincidence.

I don't need to repeat what others have expressed on the priority of
accessibility, preservation and dissemination over ownership since I don't
believe their comments have fallen on deaf ears.  I will note, however, that
the criteria cite pricing control and revenue as two reasons to retain
ownership.  If that's the case, then Tom Schmieder's earlier note calling
for a cost/benefit analysis seems like it would be a good course of action
for the Board to take in advance of the two Spring meetings.  A high-level,
rudimentary analysis would probaby suffice.

The ELHS members attending the Spring meetings will be very interested in
the Board's thinking, both collectively, and as Chuck Walsh points out,
individually.   With a month to go, the Board has the time to be well
prepared for the questions that have been and will be posed.  If Steamtown
has not been eliminated from consideration, then I would suggest that
another discussion with Pat McKnight would be appropriate to explore further
the possible arrangements that could be made there.  (Perhaps you should
take Bob Bahrs along, since he apparently made the original contact and had
asked that he be kept informed of the Board's progress.)

Again, Paul, thank you for the criteria below -- everyone appreciates it.

Don Barnickel




- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul Cappelloni" <pcap.bprr_@_verizon.net>
To: "'EL Mail List'" <erielack_@_lists.elhts.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2007 11:26 PM
Subject: (erielack) ELHS Board of Directors Statement and Selection Critira
for New Archives Location


> The following statement will be posted to the ELHS website
> http://www.erielack.org <http://www.erielack.org/>   under the News and
> Events section within the next few days.  This is also been posted to the
> ELHS Members Yahoo Group.
>
>
>
> The Archives Steering Committee and the Board of Directors of the Erie
> Lackawanna Historical Society are working to move the Society's archives
to
> a location that meets all of the Society's criteria.  Those criteria, and
> the reasons behind them, are:
>
>
>
>  1) The facility must offer full-time professional staffing, adequate
space
> for the collection, and modern climate and fire-control systems at a cost
> that is affordable. A professional archives facility offers the best
> opportunity for access to the collection by our members, for work by our
> curator, for conversion to electronic media, and for protection to our
> collection from loss or damage.
>
>
>
> 2) The Society must maintain control over the collection. If the Society
> loses ownership of the collection, it cannot assure access to the
collection
> for members or the public, cannot set pricing on reproductions, does not
get
> the revenue from reproductions, cannot control what is kept in the
> collection or disposed of, and if the institution gets into financial
> trouble as a governmental entity (which all of our candidate locations
are),
> it can warehouse the collection with ELHS having no say in the matter.
>
>
>
> 3) The location should be in a community on or near the route of the Erie
> Lackawanna and the staff of the candidate location must have a
demonstrated
> interest in having this collection added to existing, relevant
collections.
> This criterion helps make the collection relevant to the institution
housing
> it, giving it an added incentive to be interested and involved with the
> Society's collection and not "just a warehouse" for it.
>
>
>
> 4) The facility should be no farther west than it is now at Akron, and
> inland from the extreme eastern end of the railroad. This eases access
>
> for members.  These are the same criteria that were used when The
University
> of Akron was selected as the location for the archives.
>
>
>
> Cleveland State University, Youngstown State University, and Steamtown
> National Historic Site are among the locations that are under
consideration.
> Each institution has significant advantages and at least one significant
> disadvantage which will weigh in the decision process.  In addition, there
> are changes underway at the University of Akron that have opened the
remote
> possibility that the collection could remain at that institution under an
> improved relationship.  Other potentially-viable locations have been
> eliminated because they completely fail to meet one or more of the above
> four criteria; however, members are welcome to propose other locations,
> provided they do meet the Society's criteria.  Candidates for
consideration
> should be sent, with contact information, to Archives Steering Committee
> chair Larry DeYoung at larry.deyoung_@_verizon.net.
>
>
>
> We welcome the interest and participation of our members, but the ELHS can
> not and typically does not conduct its business on open email lists that
> include non-members. Information is conveyed to the membership in the ELHS
> quarterly newsletter, The Extra Board.  Additional announcements and
> information can be found on the website referenced above and/or the ELHS
> Members Yahoo Group. The ELHS Board of Directors meets twice a year, once
at
> the Eastern Spring Meeting and once at the Annual Convention. These
meetings
> are open to the membership.  The next opportunity to attend a board
meeting
> will be April 1, 2007, at 10:00 AM  at the Parsippany, N.J., Holiday Inn,
> immediately preceding the 2007 Eastern Spring Meeting.
>
>
>
>
>
> Paul Cappelloni
>
> President, ELHS
>
> pcap.bprr_@_verizon.net
>
>
>
>
>
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