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THE PRIMACY AND PROBLEMS OF DIGITAL RECORDS: THE CALIFORNIA OCCUPATIONAL INFORMATION COORDINATING COMMITTEE RECORDS AT THE CALIFORNIA STATE ARCHIVES Tyler Gilbert Cline B.A., Humboldt State University, 2009 PROJECT Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in HISTORY (Public History) at CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO SPRING 2011 © 2011 Tyler Gilbert Cline ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii THE PRIMACY AND PROBLEMS OF DIGITAL RECORDS: THE CALIFORNIA OCCUPATIONAL INFORMATION COORDINATING COMMITTEE RECORDS AT THE CALIFORNIA STATE ARCHIVES A Project by Tyler Gilbert Cline Approved By: _____________________________, Committee Chair Lee M. A. Simpson, Ph.D. _____________________________, Second Reader Jeffrey Crawford _____________________ Date iii Student: Tyler Gilbert Cline I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University format manual, and that this project is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to be awarded for this Project. ___________________________, Department Chair ____________ Aaron J. Cohen, Ph.D. Date Department of History iv Abstract of THE PRIMACY AND PROBLEMS OF DIGITAL RECORDS: THE CALIFORNIA OCCUPATIONAL INFORMATION COORDINATING COMMITTEE RECORDS AT THE CALIFORNIA STATE ARCHIVES by Tyler Gilbert Cline Statement of Problem The records of the Occupational Information Coordinating Committee include floppy diskettes and CD-ROMs. The files on these electronic media could not be processed be- cause the State Archives has not developed procedures for processing electronic records. Sources of Data Data sources for this project included monographs, newspaper articles, journal articles, archival materials, unpublished manuals and guidelines, emails, memoranda, publica- tions, and web pages. Conclusions Reached The inability to describe the media according to archival best practices left the author with valuable insight into the functions of large archives without existing electronic records management programs as well as an understanding of the developments in the field of electronic records management. _______________________, Committee Chair Lee M. A. Simpson, Ph.D. _____________________ Date v DEDICATION To my father, my greatest teacher. Without your love and support this would never have been possible. Without your guidance my love for learning would never have sprouted. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work would not have been possible without the guidance and friendship of Lee Simpson and Jeff Crawford. Dr. Simpson, thank you for lending me a sympathetic ear during my first semester when I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Jeff, you’ve been guiding positive force and a great boss; and to the extent that managing processing students is like herding cats that’s saying something. To all at the archives who made this thesis possible, Jeff and Sara, Breanne Cato, and my fellow processing students. Without your institutional knowledge I would be lost in a morass of red tape and headache. To all my teachers, whose inspiration took me on wings of knowledge and fasci- nation through this great academic journey over the last decade, thank you. Andrea Ta- rantino, Craig Parker, Gayle Olson-Raymer, my life is better for having known you, my love of history, of knowledge, of education and society is stronger for having known your wisdom. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Dedication .......................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgments............................................................................................................. vii Chapter 1. METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................1 Accessioning ............................................................................................................2 Agency History ........................................................................................................7 Arrangement ..........................................................................................................10 Description .............................................................................................................15 Conclusions ............................................................................................................18 2. ELECTRONIC RECORDS .........................................................................................20 Preservation of Physical Media .............................................................................21 Preservation of Digital Data...................................................................................25 Metadata .................................................................................................................31 Integrity and Authenticity ......................................................................................32 Electronic Records Program ..................................................................................37 3. FINDINGS ...................................................................................................................41 Findings..................................................................................................................42 Conclusions ............................................................................................................45 Appendix A. Inventory of the COICC Records ..............................................................47 Appendix B. Sample Processing Plan .............................................................................64 Appendix C. Sample Catalog Cards ................................................................................66 viii Appendix D. Sample Box Labels ....................................................................................69 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................75 ix 1 Chapter 1 METHODOLOGY Records created by agencies and interagency committees of the State of Califor- nia that are determined to have enduring value are kept in perpetuity for the people of California. The repository for such records is the California State Archives, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.1 California’s Constitution of 1849 charged the Sec- retary of State with keeping “a fair record of the official acts of the legislative and execu- tive departments of the Government.”2 The first law passed by the Legislature and chap- tered as Chapter 1 of the Statutes of 1850 codified this constitutional responsibility to in- clude: all public records, registers, maps, books, papers, rolls, documents, and other writings...which pertain to…the political, civil, and military history, and past administration of the Government in California; the titles to bonds within the territory, or any other subject…references or authorities to the Government, or people of the State.3 The State Archives has been the repository for such records since its establishment on January 5, 1850. Records of State agencies at the end of their operational lifecycle and not destroyed are transferred to the State Records Center for storage. Those records which are flagged for destruction by their official records retention schedules but catego- rized as having enduring value are transferred to the State Archives upon the end of their 4 informational lifecycle and storage period at the State Records Center. 1 Preserving and Promoting the History of California, Brochure (Sacramento: California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, n.d.). 2 Constitution of the State of California, Adopted 1849, Article V, Section 19. 3 California, An Act Concerning the Public Archives, Statutes of 1850, 1:44. 4 Jessica Herrick, “Records Retention Schedules and Accessioning,” presentation to the California State Archives, 14 July 2010. 2 Accessioning The records of the California Occupational Information Coordinating Committee, or the COICC, came to the California State Archives over a period of years from 1998 to 2006 in four separate accessions, ranging from five to twenty-one cubic feet of records each. The accessioning process is one in which records are transferred to the State Arc- hives in physical form. The Archives also gains intellectual and legal control and author- ity over records. These three forms of control: physical, intellectual, and legal, constitute an accession, and guarantee that the Archives may properly provide access to the records for researchers.5 The first of these such accessions occurred in July 1998, and included twenty-one cubic feet of records from the inception of the COICC in 1978 through Pro- gram Year 1994.6 The accession worksheet filled out by the accessioning archivist listed only textual materials as being present, although later examination by the author during processing yielded three-quarters of one cubic foot of electronic records in the form of 5 ¼” and 3 ½” floppy diskettes.7 The accession worksheet listed the contents of the acces- sion as “memoranda, committee minutes, agenda, correspondence, operations and budg- ets, reports, curricula, and projects.”8 5 Gregory S. Hunter, Developing and Maintaining Practical Archives: A How-To-Do-It Ma- nual, 2nd Ed. (New York: Neal Schuman Publishers, 2004), 101-102. 6 Accession Number 1998-07-10, Accessioning Worksheet, Accessioning Program Records, Cali- fornia State Archives, Office

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