Working Papers as Federal Records: The Need for New Legislation to Preserve the History of National Policy

This article deals with policy records at the front end of their lives; that is, preserving them from destruction by federal agencies in the decades immediately after their creation. It does not deal with the destruction of archived documents by Archives officials themselves. It discusses only in passing the related question of how long a policy record should be sealed off from public inspection; the literature includes a variety of opinions on that subject. The author is content to leave to others the problem of just where to draw the balance between making historical documentation available soon enough so that it can offer relevant lessons to citizens, but not so soon as to discourage officials from putting their candid thoughts and recommendations on paper or disk, for fear of public exposure and pressure. He focuses, instead, on the preservation of governmental records, and particularly of drafts, comments, and other working papers. Of course the issues of preservation and access are intimately linked: if records are routinely destroyed as soon as they are no longer needed by their creators, public access-even much delayed public access-becomes altogether impossible

Organisational change and the computerisation of British and Spanish savings banks, circa 1965-1985

In this article we explore organisational changes associated with the computarization of British savings banks while making a running comparison with developments in Spain. This international comparison addresses the evolution of the same organisational form in two distinct competitive environments in the late 20th century. Changes in regulation and technological developments (particularly applications of information technology) are said to be responsible for enhancing competitiveness of retail finance. Archival research on the evolution of savings banks helps to ascertain how, prior to competitive changes taking place, participants in bank markets had to develop capabilities to compete. Moreover, assess the response of collaborative agreements to opportunities opened by technological change (in particular resolve apparent scale disadvantages to contest bank markets). Of particular interest are choices made between applications of computer technology to redefine the relation between head office and retail branches as well as between staff at retail branches and customers.comparative financial markets, United Kingdom, Spain, market structure, technological change, regulatory change, savings banks, banks, TSB, cajas de ahorro

Evaluating oral histories for restoration ecology

Significant ecological restoration is required in the agricultural regions of south-western Australia. Environmental history, including local knowledge based on long-term observation of the biophysical environment, can help guide this process. Scientists already use local anecdotal information because other information sources are absent or too recent, yet they are often skeptical of its veracity. This study focused on whether environmental oral histories can be evaluated for factual accuracy and their capacity to be useful in the restoration process. Some of the complexities associated with linking environmental histories with restoration ecology, and the role played by oral histories in establishing the link were reviewed. Three analytical tools were then established: 1. A set of five ecosystem attributes against which the relevancy and comprehensiveness of the oral histories could be assessed. 2. A classification of uses of historical information in the restoration process for assessing the capacity of the interviews to provide information that helps determine restoration potential, understand processes of change and assist restoration planning. 3. A triangulation process for corroborating recollections across interviews, and through the use of external data sources, in order to examine the consistency and veracity of the recollections. These analytical tools were applied in a case study set in the degraded headwaters of the upper Tone River, south-western Australia. Purposeful sampling was used to select seven interviewees with information-rich recollections of the biophysical condition of the river commencing prior to extensive clearing in the catchment in the late 1940s. The interview method employed broad, open questions about the ecosystem attributes to avoid pre-determining the content of the interview, and to give participants the freedom to recall what was significant about the river to them. To avoid compromising the triangulation exercises, memory aids were not used. The deliberate non-use of specific and probing questions in the interviews probably reduced the amount and type of detailed information collected, and the capacity to determine its factual accuracy. Amending the interview method would address this issue. Nevertheless, information was collected that was relevant and potentially useful to river restoration, principally in relation to setting goals of importance to local people. Cross-interview analysis corroborated almost 50% of selected recollections across the interviews. An exercise using the results of the cross-interview analysis and identified information sources, found that most of the statements could be corroborated, and therefore increased in evidentiary value. In another independent test of the oral histories, statements were taken from transcripts and given to scientists trained in aspects of restoration ecology. They determined that nearly two-thirds of all statements were capable of being checked for factual accuracy. This study has demonstrated that when oral histories are collected for a particular purpose, there are techniques that can be used to extract and evaluate relevant information. By using a diversity of techniques to assess the veracity of the recollections with significant success, it has also been shown that recollections can be a valuable source of factual information

Summer Vacation in the Wild: An Historical and Archaeological Study of Timber Land Fraud in the Tobacco Plains, Montana

During the 19th and early 20th century, Congress passed several laws intended to allow average Americans the chance to acquire portions of the public domain for their own benefit. However, contemporary observers and historians alike have noted that several of these laws—especially the Homestead Act and the Timber and Stone Act—were instead used by speculators and lumber companies to amass large landholdings by orchestrating and purchasing fraudulent entries. Local historical tradition suggests that Eureka Lumber Company, Bonners Ferry Lumber Company, and J. Neils Lumber Company employed this tactic within the Kootenai National Forest (KNF), though the veracity of such claims have never been tested. This study seeks to discover just how prevalent timber fraud may have been in the Tobacco Plains region of the KNF. Using historical resources such as patent records, county and General Land Office (GLO) tract books, and historic newspapers, the study develops a research strategy to identify such parcels and determine the scale to which such fraudulent activities occurred in the vicinity of Eureka, Montana. Then, using existing survey and site data from the KNF alongside new investigations from the 2020 field season, this project seeks to establish whether this pattern of behavior left any detectable signature in the archaeological record. Together, these analyses reveal an almost total lack of evidence supporting the hypothesis that local lumber companies engaged in deliberately fraudulent practices in the Tobacco Plains

Information Seeking in Context: Teachers' Content Selection during Lesson Planning Using the Shoah Foundation's Visual History Archive of Holocaust Survivor Testimony

This study explored the information seeking task of content selection. An integrative conceptual framework used existing models to examine the context and process of information seeking, evaluation, and selection. The conceptual framework incorporated three main elements of the information seeking process: * The information need context, * The information search process, * Relevance criteria. Among teachers' many duties are the creation, implementation, and revision of lesson plans. A subtask of lesson planning is content selection, which occurs when teachers seek outside content, such as readings or audio recordings, to incorporate into lesson plans. Content selection is seen here as a work-task-embedded information seeking process. A qualitative study was implemented within the setting of a week-long professional development workshop, during which eight teachers used a custom software product that combined a lesson-planning module with an information retrieval (IR) system. The IR system provided access to a subset of the Shoah Foundation's Visual History Archive. Data types included interviews, fly-on-the-wall transcripts, transaction logs, relevance judgments, and lesson plans. Analysis combined inductive and deductive techniques, including start codes, constant comparison, emergent themes, and matrix analysis. Findings depict associations among each component of the framework. 1. The information need context consists of five layers (Environment, Role, Person, Task, Information Source), each of which influences information search and relevance. 2. The ISP includes two cognitive-behavioral facets: Conceptualizing and Actualizing. 3. Relevance criteria are the situationally-driven embodiment of contextual elements that apply to information seeking. These findings have theoretical and practical implications for information studies and education. For information studies, this study contributes to understanding of the ISP as contextual, cognitive, and interactive. Information need, while unobservable in its native form, can be depicted in enough detail to supply meaningful requirements for the design of information systems and processes. Content selection is a form of exploratory search, and this study's implications suggest that the "traditional" reference interview should be used as an interaction model during exploratory search. For education, this study extends the discourse about consequences of standards-based education for teacher practice and contributes to models of teacher planning as an iterative, cognitive process

Accounting Historians Journal, 1999, Vol. 26, no. 1 [whole issue]

June issu

History at NASA

The efforts of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to capture and record the events of the past are described, particularly the research accomplishments of NASA's agency-wide history program. A concise guide to the historical research resources available at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., at NASA facilities around the country, and through the federal records systems is given

Tlingit Women in Leadership: One Culture, Two Worlds

This project has been completed through a multi-level stage using the following applications: examination of comprehensive examination of gender equality in Tlingit society (traditional and contemporary) using historical and descriptive research. The Tlingit tribe continues the custom of matrilineal descent (familial lineage is determined through mother) decided clan affiliation, inheritance and disbursal of wealth, tribal and clan leadership. Tlingit culture still continues to be divided into two matrilineal moieties, Raven and Eagle (Wolf). Throughout traditional into present-day Tlingit culture, both men and women continue to be treated equally. The role of Tlingit women include are educating the young, conducting business in the tribal and public sectors and lastly, working to change public policy at the local, state and federal levels of government. Seven Tlingit women leaders (ages from 26 to 87 years old) participated in this qualitative study, which examined influences, challenges and experiences they encountered during their lifetimes. The intent of this researcher focused in the qualities of leadership developed in each participant. Through the use of a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview from each participant resulted in a collection of data. Examination of each participant â„¢s family histories and personal experiences has influenced who they are. This study has focused on how these Tlingit women â„¢s experiences of family/tribal roles, education and life, opportunities as well as barriers, their role models and/or mentors who have shaped their lives. Last to be examined was the participants â„¢ own definition of leadership and their personal and social concerns (specifically role of education, land and cultural preservation, tribal autonomy). These Tlingit women are well-known and respected for their involvement in numerous areas of Business, Management, Politics (at local, state and federal levels). The data collected from these seven participants â„¢ revealed commonalities and how they have shaped their leadership qualities