§ 140 — Historical documentary heritage grants and aid

§ 140. Historical documentary heritage grants and aid. 1. Short title.\nThis section shall be known and may be cited as the "New York\ndocumentary heritage act".\n 2. Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall\nmean:\n a. "Historical records". Records that contain significant information\nthat is of enduring value and are therefore worthy of long-term\nretention and systematic management. Historical records may include\ndiaries, journals, ledgers, minutes, reports, photographs, maps,\ndrawings, blueprints, agreements, memoranda, deeds, case files, and\nother material. They may take any of several physical forms: parchment,\npaper, microfilm, cassette tape, film, videotape, computer tapes, discs,\nand other "machine readable" formats.\n b. "Historical records program". Any deliberate, organized program to\ncollect, hold, care for, and make available historical records,\nincluding identifying, appraising, arranging, describing, and\nreferencing them and using them in exhibitions and other public and\neducational programs.\n c. "Institutions eligible for historical records program grants".\nChartered or incorporated nonprofit archives, libraries, historical\nsocieties and museums and other nonprofit institutions in New York state\nwhich operate historical records programs and which meet standards to be\nestablished by the commissioner pursuant to regulations adopted for such\npurposes. Institutions operated by state or federal government agencies,\nand local government archives shall not be eligible for historical\nrecords project grants, except that an institution of the state\nuniversity of New York or the city university of New York may apply for\nhistorical records project grants with regard to records other than\ninternal records generated by the institution after July first, nineteen\nhundred forty-eight if it is a component of the state university of New\nYork or after July first, nineteen hundred seventy-nine if it is a\ncomponent of the city university of New York or after the subsequent\ndate on which the institution became a component of such university.\n d. "Historical records program project". A project to carry out one or\nmore of the activities described in subdivision three of this section.\n e. "Cooperative project". A collaborative effort undertaken by two or\nmore historical records programs, to meet shared needs or to accomplish\na common purpose, or a project undertaken by a service provider to\naddress the historical records needs of more than one historical records\nprogram.\n f. "Regional advisory and assistance agency". A reference and research\nlibrary resources system, or an alternate public or nonprofit agency or\norganization willing to provide historical records program development\nadvice and assistance services covering a reference and research library\nresources system region which is acceptable to the commissioner.\n g. "Historical records program development advice and assistance".\nAdvice and assistance on the development and strengthening of historical\nrecords programs, promotion of cooperation, coordinated documentation\nplanning, training in historical records management techniques, advice\nand assistance in reporting of information concerning historical records\nto statewide and national data bases where appropriate, and initiatives\nto increase public awareness of the values and uses of historical\nrecords.\n h. "Service provider". A nonprofit professional or other association,\nlocal government, college or university, historical service agency, or\nother nonprofit institution or system which provides services to\nhistorical records programs.\n i. "Cost sharing". Local funds, local in-kind services, and other\nfunds and support from other than state sources.\n j. "Program year". The annual period from July first through June\nthirtieth.\n 3. Scope of activities to be supported. The commissioner is authorized\nto provide grants and advice to institutions eligible for historical\nrecords programs and cooperative projects, and aid to regional advisory\nand assistance agencies, the central administration of the state\nuniversity of New York and the central administration of the city\nuniversity of New York. Grants shall be used to support the development\nand administration of historical records programs; the surveying,\nappraisal, identification, collection, duplication, arrangement,\ndescription, and making available of historical records; public and\neducational programming relating to historical records; projects to\nimprove archival techniques; and projects to promote the research use of\nhistorical records. Aid to regional advisory and assistance agencies\nshall be used to promote and assist the development of historical\nrecords programs. Aid to the central administrations of the state\nuniversity of New York and the city university of New York shall be used\nto develop guidelines, policies and procedures, training, technical\nassistance, materials, oversight, retention and disposition schedules\nfor university records, and to promote, guide and direct the component\ninstitutions of such universities in the sound administration of\narchival records.\n 4. Distribution of funds. a. Historical documentary heritage funds\nshall be distributed as follows: (1) Grants. (i) individual historical\nrecords program projects shall be eligible for at least thirty-five\npercent of the amount available;\n (ii) cooperative projects shall be eligible for up to twenty percent\nof the amount available.\n (2) Aid. (i) regional advisory and assistance agencies shall be\neligible for forty percent of the amount available;\n (ii) the central administration of the state university of New York\nshall be eligible for two and one-half percent of the total amount\navailable;\n (iii) the central administration of the city university of New York\nshall be eligible for two and one-half percent of the total amount\navailable.\n b. Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraphs one and two of\nparagraph a of this subdivision, the commissioner, taking into account\nthe recommendations of the New York state historical records advisory\nboard, may distribute funds designated for one purpose to address the\nneeds of another purpose, provided that the commissioner determines that\nthe significance of the contributions to be realized from the proposals\nin one category outweighs the significance of the contributions to be\nrealized from the proposals in another category.\n 5. Cost-sharing. The commissioner shall determine the amount of\ncost-sharing required from historical records programs, including\ncooperative programs. For individual historical records program projects\ninvolving arrangement, description, and other work relating directly to\nthe administration of historical records held by a program, the amount\nof such cost-sharing shall be at least fifty percent.\n 6. Applications for historical records program projects. a. Filing. By\ndates determined by the commissioner each year, an eligible institution\nmay file an application, in a form prescribed by the commissioner, for a\ngrant to support the approved costs of a proposed historical records\nproject.\n b. Content. Such application shall include, but need not be limited\nto:\n (1) a statement describing the applicant's need for the funding\nrequested;\n (2) collection statements and policies used by the institution to\nguide its acquisition efforts;\n (3) a summary description of the records included in the historical\nrecords program of the institution;\n (4) the status of finding aids and published guides for the historical\nrecords held by the institution;\n (5) the current and/or anticipated level of use and audience for the\nhistorical records;\n (6) the importance of the historical records for documenting life in\nNew York;\n (7) the expected impact of the grant upon the historical records\nprogram;\n (8) the plan of work for the activities for which the funding is\nsought;\n (9) the proposed project budget, including cost-sharing which would be\ncommitted to the project; and\n (10) the staff and other resources devoted to the institution's\nhistorical records program on an ongoing basis.\n c. Approval. In approving any application pursuant to this\nsubdivision, the commissioner shall consider:\n (1) information in the proposal as set forth in paragraph b of this\nsubdivision;\n (2) the capacity of the institution to make the historical records\nknown and accessible for research, education, public programs, improved\npolicy making and other public benefits;\n (3) the potential for improving the documentation of the heritage of\nany racial and ethnic group; and\n (4) the potential for improving the documentation of under documented\nsubjects, institutions, or activities.\n 7. Application for cooperative projects. a. Filing. By dates to be\nestablished by the commissioner each year, a service provider or an\neligible institution acting as fiscal agent on behalf of a group of\neligible institutions, may file an application, in a form prescribed by\nthe commissioner. A group of cooperating institutions may be formed\nbecause of a common purpose, rather than because of geographical\nproximity.\n b. Content. Such application shall include, but need not be limited\nto:\n (1) a statement describing the applicant's need for the funding\nrequested;\n (2) a description of the issue, problem, or need that the project will\naddress;\n (3) a description of the historical records programs to be served and\nhow the effort to be undertaken in a cooperative project relates to and\nwill strengthen these programs;\n (4) description of the plan of work for the project;\n (5) outcome or product of the project and how it will improve the\nidentification and administration of historical records or contribute to\nthe strengthening of historical records programs; and\n (6) the proposed budget, including cost-sharing that would be\ncontributed to the project.\n c. Approval. In approving any application pursuant to this\nsubdivision, the commissioner shall consider:\n (1) information in the proposal as set forth in paragraph b of this\nsubdivision;\n (2) the importance of the records involved for the documentation of\nlife in New York state;\n (3) the importance of the project and the intended outcome or product\nin terms of strengthening the programs of the cooperating institutions\nand promoting improved historical records management;\n (4) the capacities of the cooperating institutions or service\nproviders for carrying out the project, including prior experience with\ncooperative or service projects; and\n (5) the potential for cooperating institutions to sustain an ongoing\nproductive cooperative relationship as a result of the project.\n 8. Aid for regional advisory and assistance agencies. a. Coordination.\nThe commissioner shall establish statewide priorities for regional\nadvisory and assistance agencies and shall assist and coordinate their\nefforts.\n b. Historical records program advice and assistance plans. To be\neligible to receive aid annually, each participating regional advisory\nand assistance agency shall submit an annual workplan acceptable to the\ncommissioner, and, after the first year of receiving aid, a report on\nactivities of the prior year and a five-year plan, by dates designated\nby the commissioner. The five-year plan shall outline goals and\nobjectives to be accomplished in the region during the five-year period.\nThe annual workplan shall describe the activities to be carried out\nduring the year and the program advice and assistance to be provided.\nThe five-year plans and the annual workplans shall reflect regional\npriorities and shall be consistent with statewide priorities established\nby the commissioner.\n c. Aid. The commissioner shall each year determine the distribution of\naid among eligible regional advisory and assistance agencies. In doing\nso, he shall take into account the level of resources needed to provide\nthe services described in paragraphs f and g of subdivision two of this\nsection in a satisfactory manner, the extent of the geographical area\nserved by each agency, and the size of the population served by each\nagency, and shall distribute the available funds in such a manner as\nwill best give effect to this section.\n 9. Aid for state university of New York and city university of New\nYork. To be eligible to receive aid annually, the central\nadministration of the state university of New York and the central\nadministration of the city university of New York shall each submit an\nannual workplan acceptable to the commissioner, and, after the first\nyear of receiving aid, a report on activities of the prior year and a\nfive-year plan.\n 11. Regulations. The commissioner shall adopt regulations to implement\nthe provisions of this section.\n