The Wyoming State Archives has accepted the one millionth document into their Digital Archives and celebrates the exponential growth of this secure storage method for the state’s valuable records.
Wyoming Digital Archives by the numbers:
- 7 years
- 1,000,000 records
- 190 individual users in:
- 19 state agencies
- 12 county offices
- 1 municipal office (Sundance, coming soon!)
- 1st documents added by the Secretary of State
- 1,000,000th document added by the Department of Environmental Quality Air Division
In 2013, the Wyoming State Archives began working in collaboration with the state’s Enterprise Technology Services experts on the best solution for safely and securely housing the state’s digital public records.
They found the solution in the Wyoming Digital Archives, a military-grade storage database for public records, the documents that reflect the work of Wyoming’s government. This includes both permanent records and other documents with long-term value, which were either “born digital” (not created on paper) or digitized.
To date, the Digital Archives boasts 100 licensed security levels, allowing customized access for a variety of users, from the Governor to staff in government offices across Wyoming at the state and local level. At a nominal cost, it provides agencies a way to preserve and manage their electronic records in much the same way the State Records Center and State Archives preserve and manage paper records.
Documents ingested (added) to the Digital Archives are available to the agency’s staff using a web interface with keyword searchability, drastically decreasing the time needed to access older records. Access restrictions can be set by agencies to protect confidential documents and information as needed and to document changes made to the files. The system also includes a page where anyone can search for publicly accessible documents.
“It took us over four years to add the first half million documents, but only two years to make it a million. The Wyoming State Archives appreciates the opportunity to make public employees’ lives easier and put the information they need securely at their fingertips when they need it,” said Kathy Marquis, Wyoming State Archivist.
For more information, contact Kathy at kathy.marquis@wyo.gov or (307) 777-8691.