The State Library, State Museum, State Archives and Records Administration, and the Public Broadcasting Program comprise the Office of Cultural Education (OCE). These institutions are responsible for increasing the knowledge and information resources of State and local government, businesses, and individuals. The Office supports research, operates programs, and develops collections that serve the long-term interests of the institutions and residents of New York.

The Office of Cultural Education provides services directly to individuals and government at the New York State Library, the State Archives, and the State Museum. OCE also distributes aid to libraries and library systems, local governments, and public broadcasting stations, and provides instructional television services through the Public Broadcasting Program.

All New Yorkers will have access through cultural institutions and government to the information and knowledge they need to participate in society. Educators and students use cultural resources as a tool to fulfill curriculum and assessment goals and support lifelong learning.

The Office of Cultural Education ensures that valuable information, knowledge and collections are available now and in the future. It does this by operating New York's State Archives, State Library, State Museum and Public Broadcasting Program and helping related institutions.

GOAL 1: Educators and students use cultural resources as a tool to fulfill curriculum and assessment goals and support lifelong learning.

GOAL 2: All cultural institutions in New York will meet high performance standards.

GOAL 3: Cultural institution professionals in New York will be current with best practices in their fields and increasingly will reflect the diversity of New York.

GOAL 4: Cultural information and resources will be available and accessible to all people.

GOAL 5: Resources under our care will be securely and professionally maintained for current and long-term use by the people of New York.

GOAL 6: Our work environment will meet high standards.

Federal Statute: (see specific programs) Federal Regulation: (see specific programs)

State Statute: (see specific programs) State Regulation: (see specific programs)

State Operations: State 58.9%
Federal 15.5%
Special Revenue 25.6%
Total $28.47 million

The New York State Archives identifies, accessions, preserves, and makes available for research the archival records of New York State and colonial government. These archival records constitute the legal foundation for the rights and privileges of New York citizens. The Archives is the primary source for historical research about State policies and programs. Archival records are carefully selected for their value in documenting public programs and policy decisions, maintaining government accountability, providing legal evidence, and meeting research and other special needs of the government and the public.

The Archives was created by law in 1971 and began full operations in 1978 when its storage and research facility opened in the Cultural Education Center. The Archives now houses more than 60,000 cubic feet of records and last year responded to almost 52,000 research requests from government, businesses, and the general public. Holdings of the State Archives include records from all three branches of State Government and document virtually every aspect and era of New York history, including Dutch and British colonial rule, relations with Native American populations, the Revolutionary War, the Erie Canal and westward expansion, the Civil War, industrial development, labor law and programs, the rise of modern social welfare system, the evolution of the legal and criminal justice systems, public education, public health, the environmental movement, and dozens of other topics.

While the Archives have traditionally provided on-site access to its collections, researchers' needs are increasingly being served beyond Albany. These services range from access to information about SARA holdings and services via SARA's World Wide Web site (http://www.sara.nysed.gov/), including access to the Archives online catalog and a wide variety of access tools from guides to holdings on special topics, indexes, or lists of collection contents. Archives staff respond to requests received by telephone, mail and e-mail (archref@mail.nysed.gov) and offer copying services and several specialized search services, including vital records and military records, for those who cannot travel to Albany. Microfilm and fiche copies of many of the Archives most important and heavily used collections are available through interlibrary loan or for sale. The Archives has also made its microfilm and finding aids to the collection available to researchers at the National Archives --Northeast Region facility in New York City. Digital imaging, now being tested as a means of improving access, will ultimately make it possible to obtain digital images of important archival documents over the Internet.

Federal Statute: Federal Regulation:
State Statute: Arts and Cultural Affairs Law §57.05 State Regulation: 8 NYCRR Part 188

SARA administers the central records management program for State government agencies and provides a broad range of assistance and advice to both local governments and State agencies on a variety of records management issues. These services are provided from SARA's Albany office and, for local governments, from a network of nine regionally-located offices.

State law authorizes SARA to develop and disseminate records retention and disposition schedules for State and local governments, oversee the use of disposition schedules by State Executive Branch agencies and provide training, technical assistance, technology advisory services and other consultant services to support records management programs. Examples of professional government records services which SARA provides include advice and assistance in:

• Records management program planning and evaluation
• Files and record keeping system design and management
• Records retention and disposition
• Electronic records management
• Identifying and meeting record keeping requirements
• Managing records in automated office environments
• Security and access and disaster preparedness and recovery
• Storage and preservation
• Records appraisal and microfilming, imaging and micrographics

In addition to these advisory services, SARA operates a storage facility for State agency records on the State Office Campus in Albany. Agencies may store inactive records at these facilities until they are eligible for destruction. The State Records Center also provides low-cost, secure and environmentally controlled storage for paper records, master copies of microfilm, back-up computer tapes, and other sensitive media; pick-up, delivery, reference and retrieval services; and disposal by shredding and recycling.

SARA also administers a local assistance program, funded by the Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund. Through this program, local governments may apply for competitive grants to initiate and help develop local-based programs to effectively manage their records. For the 1998-99 year, SARA awarded nearly $1 million to municipal agencies of the City of New York and more than $6.2 million in additional grants to 417 local governments across the State. Local governments will use their grant funds for a variety of records management projects, some of which include developing electronic information systems, conducting thorough inventories of records, developing plans for managing Records, and conducting projects to microfilm and preserve local government archival records. Since the program was created in 1989, more than $73,600,000 in assistance has been awarded to local governments to support records management improvement projects.

Federal Statute: Federal Regulation:
State Statute: Arts and Cultural Affairs Law and Legislative Law ' 22(a) and (b)
State Regulation: 8 NYCRR Parts 185 and 188

SARA is increasing its services to teachers and educators to help them attain higher performance standards. SARA issues publications and sample lesson plans and activities that demonstrate how historical records can be integrated into curriculum. It also supports training sessions for teachers that help them identify, locate and use historical records in imaginative ways. In addition, SARA administers the annual Student Research Award Program that recognizes outstanding student projects that use historical records and serves as the regional coordinator for National History Day. The goal of SARA's educational efforts is to serve as a catalyst for encouraging the use of historical records as an educational tool that can help teachers develop learning-centered curriculum, foster the involvement of the entire community in the education of New York's school children, and provide a basis for lifelong learning.

An exhibit program brings the holdings of SARA to the people of New York State. Partnering with the New York State Thruway Authority, Sunoco Oil, and Host Marriott corporations has made it possible for SARA to organize and install five "History Happened Here" kiosks in rest stops along the Thruway. An additional kiosk is planned for 1999. Each focuses on a specific aspect of New York State history that happened in the area where the rest stop is located: the American Revolution in the Hudson Valley, the Capital District as a transportation hub, the Erie Canal in central New York, the development of the western frontier in New York, and the diversity of cultures in the Mohawk Valley.

Federal Statute: Federal Regulation:
State Statute: Arts and Cultural Affairs Law §57.05 State Regulation:

To ensure the identification, management and accessibility of historical records statewide, SARA coordinates statewide documentation, archival advisory services, and access to historical records and provides direct services to the people who create, manage and use historical records. As a result of these services, historical records repositories, local governments and State agencies are better able to identify, manage and make available an inclusive comprehensive documentation of the history and cultures of New York.

Among the Documentary Heritage services provided by SARA to holders of historical records are the Documentary Heritage Program (DHP), a grants and aid program; advice and assistance to State and local government in the appraisal of archival records; development and coordination of a statewide documentation plan to ensure a more comprehensive historical record of New York; development and implementation of statewide documentary inventory and access tools, such as the Historical Document Inventory; development and support for training and advisory programs and services for historical repository staff; and administrative support for the State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB) in its role in planning statewide archival strategy.

The DHP, enacted in 1988 to strengthen New York's historical records programs, improves the collection, care, and management of historical records programs, improves the collection, care, and management of the State's historical records, and increases their availability and use by researchers. The DHP awards competitive grants to historical records programs and aid to the Reference and Research Library Resources Systems (3Rs) for advisory services to programs in their regions. A small amount of aid is also authorized for the central administrations of SUNY and CUNY to assist in the development of university-wide archival programs. In the years of its existence, the DHP has provided direct advisory and program development services to hundreds of historical records repositories, facilitated the identification and preservation of historically valuable records of over 800 underdocumented organizations and groups, supported many workshops on techniques for managing historical records, fostered greater use of historical records, and encouraged the development of new programs and closer cooperation among existing programs. Through direct grants to historical records programs, the DHP has supported projects to improve the documentation of New York, and the arrangement and description of historical records to make them more readily available for research and other projects to improve their care and management.

Federal Statute: Federal Regulation:
State Statute: Arts and Cultural Affairs Law & Education Law ' 140
State Regulation: Executive Order No. 63

Local Assistance: Special Revenue-100%
Total-$.5m

State Operations: Included in overall Office of Cultural Education funding

The New York State Legislature established the New York State Archives Partnership Trust to insure the survival and availability of the archival records of New York’s colonial and State government that were created prior to the opening of the New York State Archives in 1978. The purposes of the New York State Archives Partnership Trust are to establish an endowment fund to help preserve such archival records or the information in them and to make them accessible through research, exhibits and public programs; make possible special projects regarding such archival records; inform the citizens of New York about the status, availability, and potential uses of the State government archives; and create a partnership among the three branches of government and the broader community for continuing advice and support on State government records of enduring value to the people of the State, the nation, and the World. Under statute, $300,000 is transferred on an annual basis from the Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund to the Archives Partnership Trust, chiefly to support the development campaign and related operations of the Trust.

State Statute: L. 1992, c.758, § 1[consisting of §§ 1 to 7] and § 2; amended L. 1993, c. 57, § 292; L. 1993, c. 497, §§ 1,2; L. 1995, c. 82, § 75; L. 1996, c. 474, § 117, eff. Aug. 8, 1996, retroactive to Apr. 1, 1995; L. 1998, c. 399
State Regulation:

State Operations: Included in overall Office of Cultural Education funding

Special Projects: $ .27m
Endowment: $ 2.1m Total: $2.37m

The State Museum is the single largest tourist attraction for the Capital Region, attracting almost 1.0 million visitors yearly. The Museum provides public and educational services to adults, families, children, and school groups through its Public and Educational Services Programs.

Exhibit Programs – The Museum has approximately 120,000 sq. ft. of gallery space devoted to permanent and temporary exhibits. The exhibit halls are open every day, except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. The major permanent exhibits are New York Metropolis Hall, Adirondack Hall and the Native Peoples of New York Hall. An active temporary exhibit program supplements the permanent displays by highlighting collection strengths of the Museum, and bringing in other exhibits on topics in history, natural science, and art. The Museum also has a small set of exhibits which it circulates across the State and nationally. A major renovation of the long-term exhibits is about to begin. A master plan will be completed in 1999, and the project will proceed unit-by-unit, as funding becomes available.

Public Programs – The Museum offers a full slate of over 200 programs to the public each year. These range from our innovative summer day camp, Time Tunnel, to lecture series, to overnight camp-ins at the Museum, to trips, which visit important historical and natural sites. A calendar of current programs and exhibits is published quarterly. A current listing is also available through the Museum's Website at http://www.nysm.nysed.gov.

School and Youth Programs -- The State Museum’s school programs integrate museum discovery learning with classroom education. Drawing upon its collections, scientists, historians, and educators, the Museum offers a variety of structured on-site learning programs in history and natural science to school groups from around the State. In addition, the Museum has formed partnerships with schools to do in-depth programming. The partnership with Albany's Thomas O'Brien Academy for Science and Technology Magnet School helped that school win a 1996 Federal Blue Ribbon School Award. The community-supported Museum Club and Discovery Squad provide after school youth programs for neighborhood children and teens during the school year. A new initiative, a partnership with the Education Enterprise Zone, has established the Museum as a distance learning site.

Federal Statute: Federal Regulation:
State Statute: Education Law ' 233, ' 233.1, ' 235, ' 235-a; and Arts and Cultural Affairs Law ' 57.03.3
State Regulation:

The State Museum was founded in 1836 as a research arm of State government, and since then has been engaged in research in the fields of Biology, Geology, Anthropology, and History. It has also been the principal custodian of the State’s collections that are worthy of being placed in a museum.

Collections -- On behalf of the people of New York State, the Museum cares for nearly 6 million specimens and artifacts, including many voucher and type specimens, that reflect over 150 years of research in the earth sciences, biology, and human history. These collections are the single most significant record of New York State's natural and human history, and their curation by the Museum ensures that these irreplaceable parts of New York's heritage will be preserved. By law, all significant State-owned specimens and artifacts not specifically placed in other custody are entrusted to the State Museum. Researchers from more than 100 universities, museums, and government agencies throughout the world use the Museum collections.

Research -- The Museum conducts comprehensive, statewide and State-focused research in areas of biology, geology, anthropology and history not undertaken by other agencies, museums, or the State universities. The results of this research have provided and continue to provide accurate, impartial information to decision- makers on a broad range of issues important to the State. The Museum has investigated the effects of acid rain, developed biological controls for insect pests and zebra mussels, documented the changing distribution of plants and animals over long periods of time, and the location of prehistoric and early historic settlements. As such, Museum research often provides baseline data for continuing studies and development. The Museum is also the home of the New York State Biodiversity Research Institute, an interagency effort with the private sector to provide critical information on biodiversity resources to decisionmakers.

Research Services -- The Museum provides research services on a contractual basis. The premier research service provided is the Cultural Resource Survey Program (CRSP), a model program helping State agencies comply with Federal and State Historic Preservation Laws. CRSP conducts over 190 projects annually for the NYS Department of Transportation and other State agencies, at a fraction of commercial costs. The work also benefits the people of New York by ensuring that the collections and data resulting from the work become public property to be used for future research.

Federal Statute: Federal Regulation:
State Statute: Education Law ' 233 and ' 234 State Regulation:

The Museum provides a number of statewide services to related institutions.

Chartering -- The Museum is the principal advisor to the State Education Department in matters relating to the chartering of museums, historical societies, zoos, aquaria, botanical gardens, science centers, and other similar organizations. Chartering is the way in which these groups incorporate as nonprofit education corporations under New York Education law. Such incorporation, in turn, allows these organizations to seek tax-free status with Federal and State authorities, and to exercise the other privileges accorded to nonprofit organizations. The Museum's Office of External Services oversees this important activity, and assists organizations with processing the material necessary for receiving a charter.

Oversight and reporting -- The Museum receives annual reports from all museums, historical societies, zoos, aquaria, botanical gardens, science centers, and other similar educational corporations, thereby assuring their compliance with Estates and Public Trusts Law regarding Educational Corporations. These reports also assure that the organizations are maintaining their assets for the public benefit.

Local Government Historians -- The Museum provides direction, training, and consultative services to the network of 1,627 Local Government Historians statewide. This network consists of 62 county historians (including the five borough historians of New York City), 61 city historians, 938 town historians, and 566 village historians. Local Government Historians research and interpret the history of their communities; they work with teachers and the schools to enhance the curriculum in local history; they sponsor or initiate historic preservation projects; they support the promotion of heritage tourism, organize local historic commemorations and celebrations, and generally act, at the direction of their appointing authority, as a resource person for local history in their communities.

Federal Statute: Federal Regulation:
State Statute: Education Law ' 233, ' 216-223, ' 226; Executive Law ' 172; Estates and Public Trusts Law ' 8-14
State Regulation: