PARIS and Plainfield - Perfect Together?

PARIS and Plainfield together?

Yes, but make that P.A.R.I.S. -- Public Archives and Records Infrastructure Support -- the grants program of the state's Division of Archives and Records Management designed to give local governments the tools they need to preserve priceless and irreplaceable records concerning local history.

Plainfield received a grant of $50,000, as the Ledger noted in passing.

Table of 2007 PARIS grants. (Click to enlarge.)

But what is the grant for?

Plainfield had applied for a part-time records manager.

The state did not see it exactly that way -- the grant is being made on the condition that the City hire a FULL-TIME records manager, to start on January 7, 2008 or sooner.

And that the City submit to the state a) a revised budget reflecting a full-time position, and b) an outline of specific goals, objectives and job duties for the first year.

This is a good first step to getting a handle on both better routine records management and the preservation of irreplaceable artifacts. (I could tell you horror stories of the casual disregard in which the City's records have been held in the past -- including fires, water damage and plain old-fashioned rot.)

The grant award and its conditions. (Click to enlarge.)

Next question: Who is getting the job? And will they have any qualifications?

Other than knowing someone, that is.

-- Dan Damon

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