[SOA] Ohio Historical Society Budget Reductions

[Angela O'Neal]

Dear colleagues,

The Ohio Historical Society has taken steps to deal with significant
budget shortfalls for the remainder of this year and in the next fiscal
year (beginning July 1, 2008).  Information about those actions is
included in the April 11, 2008 press release available at
http://www.ohiohistory.org/about/pr/041108a.html.

 

The Society's Archives/Library operations are affected in the following
ways: 

 

Archives/Library Reading Room Hours 

The Ohio Historical Society will continue to offer twenty-four hours of
public access per week. To be consistent with the new Ohio Historical
Center hours, the Archives/Library Reading Room will change its public
hours to Thursday 1-9, Friday 9-5, and Saturday 9-5. This will provide
researchers with three consecutive days of public access. While hours of
operation will move from Wednesday to Friday, there will be no reduction
in public hours. These changes are effective May 1, 2008. (The
Archives/Library will not be open to the public on Wednesday, April 30,
but will open Friday, May 1).

 

Conservation 

The Ohio Historical Society will suspend its in-house paper conservation
operations beginning April 14, 2008. The Society will continue to
maintain and preserve collections, employing accepted techniques and
best practices, and will seek outside expertise for collections
requiring intensive conservation treatment. 

 

Microfilm

While the Ohio Historical Society will continue its microfilm program,
the in-house microfilm operations will be discontinued as of April 14,
2008. The Society is finalizing an agreement with OCLC Preservation
Service Centers to provide preservation-quality microfilming through a
partnership with OCLC, a recognized leader in library and preservation
services. By partnering with OCLC, the Society will be able to provide
high-quality microfilming. In addition, the Society will be able to
achieve efficiencies in pricing by serving as a clearinghouse for
microfilm activities in the state. OHS will continue to provide
duplication services of its microfilm collections held by the Society.
This arrangement will not affect the storage of and access to microfilm
collections held by OHS.

 

State Archives 

The Society is grateful for the advocacy support that helped convince
the State to provide more funding for State Archives in the current
state operating budget.  OHS is committed to re-building State Archives
operations based on that support. State Archives will retain all current
staff positions and will hire an electronic records archivist position
in the coming months.

 

The Society's museum, program and site operations are also affected by
these budget reductions. For more information, see
http://www.ohiohistory.org/about/pr/041108a.html. We appreciate your
support and concern. Access to the "real stuff" of history is a core
value of the Society. You can continue to voice your support for state
funding of our Archives/Library operations and other OHS services by
communicating with the Governor and your state representative and
senator.  Information about how to do so is available on the Society's
web site (www.ohiohistory.org <http://www.ohiohistory.org/> ).

 

Thanks again for your support. Please do not hesitate to contact me if
you have any questions or concerns. 

 

Sincerely,

Angela

__________________________________________________

 

Angela O'Neal
Digital Projects Manager 
Ohio Historical Society 
(614) 297-2576 

 

View our collections online:
http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/archlib/
<http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/archlib/>  

 

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OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

Connect with the past. Create a better future.

 

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