Trenton, NJ – Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells announced today that the County of Passaic has won a PARIS Award for Excellence for distinguished performance in preserving and enhancing public access to the county’s historical records. The project was funded by a 2005 grant from the state’s innovative Public Archives and Records Infrastructure Support (PARIS) Grants Program.
In ceremonies held in the General Assembly Chamber at the State House, Passaic County PARIS Project Manager Frances Purciello received the award from Secretary Wells, Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein, and Javier Inclán, Governor Jon Corzine’s Director of Constituent and Intergovernmental Affairs.
Nearly 150 state and local officials attended the ceremonies. Dr. Weinstein, head of the National Archives and Records Administration, presented the keynote address, applauding New Jersey for launching a program that has become a national model for meeting the challenge of managing local government records, whether from the ancient past or in the information technology age.
The Award for Excellence recognizes Passaic County’s special achievement in the category of “Public Access to Historical Records.” It was one of eight awards given by the Department of State’s Division of Archives and Records Management to outstanding county and municipal governments participating in the PARIS program during its inaugural year.
In May 2005, Passaic County received a $791,300 PARIS grant for preservation, conservation treatment, and reformatting of permanent historical records held in the offices of the county clerk, surrogate and sheriff. Included in the grant were funds for microfilming and digital imaging of archives in the three constitutional offices dating from the county’s formation in 1837 to the 20th century. The project produced approximately 2.5 million images of the records, which are now viewable electronically on public access computer stations in the clerk’s and surrogate’s offices.
County staff and the public may now access historically significant records quickly and easily in digital format, including naturalization records, wills, estate files, land records, incorporations and name changes. These records are invaluable to researchers, including genealogists and local historians. Besides improving access, the project will enable the county to retire the delicate original books and records to secure archival storage.
Ms. Purciello accepted the award on behalf of the county, stating “Prior to the PARIS grants program, the County of Passaic had no centralized records management program. PARIS gave the county the money and support to get started, and to quickly realize many efficiencies in the way public records, including those of historical value, are protected and accessed.” She was joined by Deputy County Surrogate Joan Marchese, and Captain Lori Mambelli of the Sheriff’s Office.
Besides Passaic County, seven other local governments received a PARIS Award for Excellence. Other recipients and award categories were Atlantic County for “Enterprise-wide Approach to Electronic Records,” Monmouth County for “Shared Services: County-to-County,” Camden County for “Shared Services: County-to-Municipalities,” Woodbridge Township for “Outstanding Project Management: Municipal,” Union County for “Outstanding Project Management: County,” Cape May County for “Disaster Preparedness,” and Gloucester County for “Comprehensive and Enterprise-Wide Approach to Archives and Records Management.”
The Public Archives and Records Infrastructure Support Grants Program is the nation’s leading state program for upgrading the security, integrity and efficiency of local government records administration. Administered by the Division of Archives and Records Management (DARM) in the Department of State, PARIS distributes between $17 and $27 million annually to county and municipal governments to support archives and records management infrastructure improvements. Since its inception in 2005, PARIS has emphasized comprehensive strategic planning, promoting intergovernmental shared services, and encouraged enterprise solutions to records management challenges in the electronic information age, transforming local governments’ business practices and responsiveness to citizens.
“It doesn’t get any better than this!” said Secretary Wells, commending the success of the PARIS program. She continued, “Through a strong focus on shared services, more and more local governments are benefiting from the PARIS program, and counties and larger cities are offering centralized services. This has created an increase in government efficiency, while realizing significant cost savings to taxpayers.” Karl J. Niederer, Director of DARM, shared this view, stating “The model of cooperative intergovernmental shared services nurtured through PARIS – encouraging the 21 counties to become archives and records management “hubs” serving both the county and the municipalities within their borders – is worthy of emulation in other states.”
Allen Weinstein, who traveled to the event from the National Archives in Washington, D.C., expressed appreciation for the PARIS program and its successes achieved to date, stating “What you are accomplishing in New Jersey—working collaboratively through PARIS at all levels of government to improve local records preservation and access—meshes remarkably well with the strategic vision and mission of the National Archives.”
More information on the PARIS grants program may be found online at www.njarchives.org/links/paris.html.
