On October 9^th, the Nevada State Archives and Records department opened their doors to our ARMA chapter for a tour.  Liz from the Archives, showed everyone some wonderful pieces of Nevada history and how they are preserved.  Sara showed the group how the State stores inactive records and how the Records Center facilitates records retention for every agency within State government.  Heather took everyone through Imaging and Preservation Services digital and microfilming capabilities and the services provided to State and local governmental agencies.

Chris from Alpine County

It was very informative and interesting!  It was nice to get a look at the facility where we have been getting microfilm duplicated for a long while.  It was great to see the machines and processes for duplication, scanning and imaging, and to meet some of the folks who operate them.  A highlight here was the large format Zeutschel scanner.  The records storage area was also very interesting, especially in comparison with our interim storage – and we thought we were running out of space!  I believe the number of boxes was something like 80,000?  Wow!  The Archives was also very cool, and the WWI display, and the display room in general, was really nice to see and to know about the open public hours.  The space-saving electronic movable shelves were a highlight of both records storage and Archives.  In the Archives, highlights were the oldest piece from 1851, the glass plates in the wooden crate, and just an abundance of the cool old leather-bound ledger books.  We have some of those at our County Archives, but it was cool to see so many in such good shape.

Overall, a really great learning experience, and very much appreciated.  Thank you!

Joy and Diane from NV Energy

What an interesting meeting we had in Carson City touring the Nevada State Archives, Library and Public Records.  It’s was a pleasure viewing the old State Government documents that date back to the 1860s.  Each month the Archives displays a special presentation and it happened to be about World War I during our tour.  Much of the information can be found online, but it was fascinating to see many of the old mementoes.

We were able to see how they migrate records to different media – microfilm, microfiche in the Imaging & Processing lab.  They can convert this information to digital images as well.  Also, we viewed the secure Records Center Storage area where state governmental records are held and the archives vault that holds beautiful old books, photos and flags dating back to Territorial days!  The original State Constitution is also in the archives vault.

If you have time, come in and research their collections, or check out their digital collections online.  There are some fantastic photos and records of the Silver State.  This was an enjoyable time with the Nevada State Library, Archives and Public Records.  Our thanks to Sara Martel and Heather Hahn for arranging this visit, and our tour guides Liz Moore (Archives), John Warren & Heather Hahn (Imaging & Processing Services) and Sara Martel (Records Center Storage).