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Workshop Catalog

The New York State Archives offers archives and records management training statewide. If your preferred workshop is not available near you, please contact us at archtrain@nysed.gov to request it.

You can filter the catalog by topic, type and audience. Click on the arrow next to each title for more information.

Workshop Description Type Audience Topic More Information
Ask Us Anything About Electronic Storage

October is National Archives Month and the State Archives is marking the occasion by holding a forum where state agencies and local governments can ask their most pressing questions about electronic records storage. Our focus for this session will best practices in selecting and managing electronic records storage.

Panelists for this event will consist of New York State Archives staff in Local Government Advisory Services & Scheduling and State Agency Services.

Come prepared with your questions or just join us to hear what others want to know and learn more about this topic.

If you’d like, you can send in your question early to recmgmt@nysed.gov (link sends e-mail) with the subject line “Ask Us Anything” and we’ll answer them during the webinar.

 

Webinar Local Governments, State Agencies Electronic Records See Ask Us Anything About Electronic Storage for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Developing a Policy for Managing Email

Local governments and state agencies rely on email to share information, in a myriad of ways, as a part of regular business. For example, to:

  •  Authorize specific actions
  • Disseminate policies and procedures
  • Approve payments
  • Interpret terms of contracts
  • Correspond with the public, customers, or constituents
  • Communicate with staff 
  • Circulate memoranda related to official business
  • Discuss work schedules and assignments
  • Share agendas and minutes of meetings
  • Issue final reports or recommendations

Email used for business must be managed as a record and it should be included in an organization’s overall records management policy. Effective management relies on policies such as those that promote end user cooperation, system automation, retention, and disposition. This webinar will present some practical approaches to managing email with related policies, and procedures to help implement them.

Webinar Local Governments, State Agencies Electronic Records, Email See Developing a Policy for Managing Email for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Developing an E-records Action Plan
The goal of this session is to provide you with the justification and tools to conduct an electronic records inventory and develop a plan for preserving your digital materials.
 
We have a number of outcomes:
 
  • This class will help you develop your knowledge of the scope of your electronic records collection – its size, the range of formats, and the themes it covers.
  • Provide tool to inventory e-records
  • It will help you understand which records in your collections are at the highest risk for degradation and most in need of preservation.
  • Finally, the class will help you to develop an Action Plan to address E-Records priorities.
 
While you may not be able to immediately implement all of the elements of your action plan, simply having one will guide your future digital preservation work.  You can also use it as an advocacy tool to alert your board or your supervisor to digital preservation issues and request the necessary resources to address them.  
Classroom Training Historical Records Repositories, Local Governments Electronic Records See Developing an E-records Action Plan for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Document Scanning Essentials

Although imaging systems can store and quickly retrieve a large volume of documents, they can rarely be justified on that basis alone. To make optimal use of this technology, state agencies and local governments must understand standards and best practices for scanning records and maintaining them in these systems.

This workshop will cover:

  • Current imaging and scanning practices
  • What you need to know to prepare for a scanning project
  • How to incorporate Records Management principles into scanning your records
  • Strategies and best practices for conducting your own scanning project 
Classroom Training Local Governments, State Agencies Imaging and Microfilming, Electronic Records See Document Scanning Essentials for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
E-Records Storage Options and Overviews

Along with the growing numbers of electronic records being created in government today comes the growing need to provide appropriate data storage. This non-technical workshop is intended to provide records managers with a basic overview of common ways electronic data is stored and an understanding of how it fits in with records management.

This workshop will cover:

  • Terms and strategies commonly used
  • How electronic data storage fits in with records management
  • How to determine your data storage needs
Classroom Training Historical Records Repositories, Local Governments, State Agencies Imaging and Microfilming, Electronic Records See E-Records Storage Options and Overviews for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Electronic Content Management Systems

Many people believe that an electronic content management system (ECM) is merely an electronic document imaging system, but it is actually a software system that allows for the creation, indexing, management, and retrieval of documents in various formats (including image files) through a single interface.

After a brief introduction to electronic documents, the bulk of this workshop will address:

  • Types of technologies and strategies required for their management
  • How governments can determine whether or not they need an ECM
  • How to plan for, implement, and maintain an ECM
Classroom Training Local Governments, State Agencies Imaging and Microfilming, Electronic Records See Electronic Content Management Systems for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Electronic Records Boot Camp
This webinar is meant for all who have put one toe in the electronic records water and felt it to be a bit chilly for them, or maybe a little overwhelming. We will strip away the IT jargon and get down to exactly what you need to know to feel comfortable in the emerging world of eRecords management. Maybe we will share something of a discussion together on these important issues, have some fun, and come away with enough knowledge to be a little dangerous. You’ll definitely go home with a confident IT swagger!
 
Some of the topics discussed include email management, legal issues surrounding management of electronic records in all their forms, imaging and document management systems, cloud computing, viewing social media as records,  securing a seat at your IT steering committee, electronic records preservation, and much more. 
 
The goals of this webinar are to expose participants to key issues of electronic records management:
 
  • RMO and IT decision making
  • Cloud Computing
  • email management
  • social media and local government
  • preserving electronic records
  • eRecords and the law
  • inventorying automated systems
  • policies and procedures
Webinar Local Governments Electronic Records See Electronic Records Boot Camp for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Electronic Records Disaster Planning and Recovery
This webinar focuses on electronic records disasters. Electronic records are susceptible to damage from water from floods and fires, heat from fires, power surges, computer viruses, and accidental or intentional destruction of data. Participants will learn how to mitigate these risks and respond to these disasters.
 
This webinar will explain how to:
 
  • Assess your organization's risk of experiencing an electronic records disaster
  • Reduce the chances that a disaster will damage your electronic records
  • Salvage various types of electronic media
  • Recover data stored on damaged electronic media
Webinar Local Governments, State Agencies Disaster Planning, Electronic Records, Questions for IT, General Records Management See Electronic Records Disaster Planning and Recovery for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Electronic Records Inventory

Many governments have inventoried their paper records. For a number of reasons, however, governments tend not to inventory their electronic records. As the volume of electronic records continues to grow, it is increasingly important for governments to know their electronic records and develop a plan for managing them systematically. This workshop will provide an overview on how to conduct an electronic records inventory and the action steps to take when the inventory is complete.

Topics will include:

  • Reasons to conduct an e-records inventory
  • Identifying records to inventory
  • Collecting meaningful inventory data
  • Analyzing the results of the inventory
  • Developing an e-records plan and program
Classroom Training Local Governments Disaster Planning, Electronic Records, Inventory See Electronic Records Inventory for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Email Essentials

Email messages can be official records when created or received in the transaction of public business. The workshop will discuss how to

  • Identify emails that are records
  • Identify the retention period for e-mail records
  • Consider the best retention strategies
  • File, maintain, and preserve e-mail
  • Develop an e-mail policy covering the management and acceptable use of e-mail
Classroom Training Local Governments Electronic Records See Email Essentials for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Email Essentials (Winter Webinar Series 2020)
Email messages can be official records when created or received in the transaction of public business. The webinar will discuss how to:
 
  • Identify emails that are records
  • Identify the retention period for e-mail records
  • Consider the best retention strategies
  • File, maintain, and preserve e-mail
  • Develop an e-mail policy covering the management and acceptable use of e-mail
Webinar Local Governments, State Agencies Electronic Records See Email Essentials (Winter Webinar Series 2020) for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Email Preservation and Transfer

Approximately 95% of New York’s government records, spread throughout its local governments and State agencies, are scheduled for eventual destruction.  What about the other 5% whose business, research, or historical value require that they remain accessible forever?  And, more specifically, what about the emails that fall within this category?

 During this webinar, we will discuss emails as permanent records, the challenges of maintaining access to them, and differing roles of local governments and State agencies in the preservation process.  We’ll also talk about how the State Archives manages the emails in its collections to ensure that they will remain available for future researchers and business users. 

Webinar Local Governments, State Agencies Electronic Records, Email, Historical Records See Email Preservation and Transfer for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Identifying Endangered Media Formats

Endangered media formats such as floppy disks, U-matic tapes, and data tapes pose difficult preservation questions for collecting institutions. These increasingly obsolete media formats are sometimes pushed to the side when organizing and preserving archival collections, simply because we often don't know what to do with them. Join Julia Novakovic, Archivist at The Strong National Museum of Play, as she shares her experience with identifying and caring for endangered media formats. This webinar will also address topics such as developing surveys for media collections, finding reference information on these formats, and determining next steps for what you might want to do once you have these numbers.

Webinar Historical Records Repositories Electronic Records, Historical Records See Identifying Endangered Media Formats for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Introduction to Electronic Records Management
This webinar will introduce the basic principles of electronic records management. One of the biggest challenges facing records and office managers is the complexity of issues surrounding the management of electronic records. The manager’s goal should be to determine the most efficient way to manage electronic records so that access for their entire retention period is ensured.
This webinar focuses on how to:
  • Manage electronic record keeping systems of varied sizes and types
  • File and maintain access to electronic records
  • Control the retention and disposition of electronic records
  • Develop security and other management controls over electronic records
  • Preserve electronic records over long periods of time
 
Webinar Local Governments, State Agencies Electronic Records, Questions for IT See Introduction to Electronic Records Management for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Introduction to Information Technology for Records Managers
With more and more records generated (created and received) electronically, today’s RMO needs to understand more about information technology. What is it? What does it encompass? How is it used? It can be challenging to know where to start. 
 
This webinar is an introduction for records managers to the basic concepts, tools, and technologies that they will encounter in their jobs and will provide them with a solid base of knowledge to move forward with.
Webinar Local Governments Electronic Records See Introduction to Information Technology for Records Managers for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Introduction to Managing Audiovisual Records

This webinar is an introduction to the management of audiovisual records. We will discuss what makes these records unique, learn about some of the records management challenges they pose and what can be done about them. We will take a look at the different kinds of audiovisual records you will likely encounter, their storage and retrieval, when and how to reformat and migrate them, as well as other related issues.

 

Webinar Historical Records Repositories, Local Governments, State Agencies Electronic Records, Active Records See Introduction to Managing Audiovisual Records for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Inventorying Your Electronic Records (Winter Webinar Series 2020)

Managing electronic records is one of our most timely challenges. It’s increasingly important for records managers to know their electronic records and develop plans to manage them. An effective way to begin this process is to conduct an electronic records inventory. This webinar will discuss how to identify key e-records systems, collect meaningful data, analyze the results, and develop an e-records management plan.

Webinar Local Governments Electronic Records, Questions for IT, Active Records, Indexing, Inventory See Inventorying Your Electronic Records (Winter Webinar Series 2020) for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Keeping Up With COVID-19 - Maintaining Your Pandemic Records

The COVID-19 public health emergency has resulted in an unprecedented level of documentation - both of the pandemic’s impact on communities and governments' response to the pandemic. Local governments and state agencies seeking guidance on managing and preserving these records are welcome to join us as we provide some insight on managing records in a remote environment, applying appropriate retention schedule items, and identifying records of enduring historical value.

Webinar Local Governments, State Agencies Electronic Records, Active Records, General Records Management, Retention and Disposition See Keeping Up With COVID-19 - Maintaining Your Pandemic Records for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Managing Born Digital Records

Today, most records are born digital, but many are still printed to paper, often unnecessarily. This workshop will explore strategies to manage these records digitally throughout their lifecycle and make the printer obsolete. This workshop will discuss the challenges of managing born digital records and give participants practical solutions to the problems of managing born digital records including access, retention, disposition, and preservation of these valuable records.

Classroom Training Local Governments, State Agencies Electronic Records See Managing Born Digital Records for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Managing Social Media Records

Many state and local government entities in New York State engage the public through social media, but few of those properly manage the records created on social media platforms. This webinar will demonstrate how social media content can be a government record and provide guidance on using social media effectively. A major focus of the webinar will be how to capture and preserve social media records to ensure the retention of the records for the full extent of their retention periods.

Topics covered by this webinar will include:

  • Managing social media content as official records
  • Assessing the risks of engaging in social media
  • Developing a social media plan
  • Writing social media policies
  • Retaining and preserving social media records 

 

Webinar Local Governments, State Agencies Electronic Records See Managing Social Media Records for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
More than CDs and Thumb Drives: Real Life Stories in the Adventures of Preserving Digital Records

Maintaining electronic records is just the first part of preserving these digital records for their entire retention period.  Preservation involves different steps to ensure these files are accessible for the long term, including permanent. It is more than just uploading the records to a server and forgetting about them.

The panelists in this webinar will discuss their experiences in preserving electronic records. It will include short demonstrations of the tools they use to maintain, migrate, and preserve electronic records as well as answer questions afterwards.

Presenters:

Maureen Reynolds, County Clerk, Tompkins County

Bonita Weddle, Coordinator, Electronic Records Unit, New York State Archives

Webinar Local Governments, State Agencies Electronic Records, Inactive Records See More than CDs and Thumb Drives: Real Life Stories in the Adventures of Preserving Digital Records for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Preservation of Electronic Records

With ever-changing technology and the short life expectancy of the media on which they are stored, electronic records pose a special challenge to governments' preservation. Governments' electronic records can be found not only on computer media, but also on audio tapes and videotapes.

This workshop will discuss:

  • different types of electronic media
  • techniques for preserving electronic records
  • how to maximize longevity of electronic storage media
  • how to preserve electronic media through proper storage techniques
  • how to maintaining intelligible access to electronic records
Classroom Training Historical Records Repositories, Local Governments Electronic Records, Historical Records See Preservation of Electronic Records for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Preserving Electronic Records
With ever-changing technology and the short life expectancy of the media on which they are stored, electronic records pose a special challenge to governments’ preservation efforts. Governments’ electronic records are found, not only on computer media, but also on audio tapes and videotapes. This presentation will be helpful for all government officials responsible for the preservation or maintenance of electronic records stored on computer media, audio tapes, and videotapes.
 
This webinar will:
 
  • Describe the different types of electronic media
  • Provide practical guidelines about various preservation techniques
  • Provide information about proper storage methodologies
  • Discuss how to maintain access to records
Webinar Local Governments Electronic Records, Historical Records See Preserving Electronic Records for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Quality Control and Verification of Digital Imaging

Verifying that each page of each document was scanned and a true legible copy of the original is the most important step in any imaging project, but the one that is most often ignored. This webinar will explain why this step is so critical to any successful imaging project and review each step in the process of quality control and verification.

Webinar Local Governments, State Agencies Imaging and Microfilming, Electronic Records See Quality Control and Verification of Digital Imaging for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Real Life ECMS Examples in Local Governments and State Agencies

Electronic content management systems (ECMS) enable organizations to scan and store images of documents to improve access to records, as well as eliminate paper. ECM systems are also software systems that allow for the creation, indexing, management, and retrieval of documents in various formats through a single interface.

This workshop will present three examples of different ECM systems currently being used by local governments and state agencies. The presenters will demonstrate how their systems manage records and discuss various aspects of how to plan for, implement, and maintain an ECMS. The presentations will be followed by time for questions.

Presenters:

Katie Palmer-House, Town of Dover Town Clerk. Katie will provide practical advice for ECMS scanning projects related to her town’s implementation and use of shared Laserfiche system.

Chuck Piotrowski, Knowledge Management Team, New York Power Authority. Chuck will discuss his work digitizing large format records of the NYS Canal Corporation and managing them with SharePoint.

Joanne Fazzari, Corporate Records Manager, New York Power Authority. Joanne will explain their use of shared metadata across platforms and how this has allowed them to get the most out of their ECM, OpenText Content Server.

Webinar Local Governments, State Agencies Electronic Records, Active Records See Real Life ECMS Examples in Local Governments and State Agencies for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Real Life Use of ECMS in Local Governments
Electronic content management systems (ECMS) enable organizations to scan and store images of documents to improve access to records, as well as eliminate paper. This software also allows for the creation, indexing, management, and retrieval of documents in various formats through a single interface.
 
Presenters in this webinar will share computer screens and demonstrate how, in real life, their governments are using ECMS to manage records. The demonstrations will be followed by time for questions.
 
Presenters:
 
Katie Palmer-House, Town of Dover, Town Clerk
Ricardo Wright-Ramos, Archivist, Albany County Hall of Records
Anastasia O’Neill, Electronic Records Management Technician, Albany County Hall of Records
Webinar Local Governments Electronic Records See Real Life Use of ECMS in Local Governments for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.
Scanning Your Historical Photographs

Scanning (digitizing) your historical photographs is the perfect way to increase use, share and preserve these visual treasures. But there is a lot to consider in terms of scanners, software, file formats, image resolution, bit depth, compression, preservation . . . the list goes on and on. Anyone can create a digital image from a photograph, but in this workshop, we will unveil the secrets to creating the highest possible quality scans of your photos. We will provide everything you need to know to take your scans from blase to brilliant in a very practical, informal presentation. Come and have some fun learning the true art of scanning. Whether you are a newbie or have serious experience scanning, this workshop will open your eyes to new techniques that will dramatically improve your digital results.

Classroom Training Historical Records Repositories, Local Governments, State Agencies Electronic Records, Imaging and Microfilming, Historical Records See Scanning Your Historical Photographs for upcoming availability, webinars, and more.