LEWISTON — State of Maine Archivist Dave Cheever was the presenter at the Dec. 9 Food for Thought session at the Senior College of University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College.
The title of his presentation was “How 1-01-0 and 2020 Lead to Maine 2.0.”
Cheever discussed the numerous challenges faced when being charged with creating systems to archive the endless paper and digital records created in Maine.
Cheever challenged participants to think about vital records each person generates in a lifetime, such as their motor vehicle record, social security number, financial information and other personal information.
His department, which falls under the oversight of the Secretary of State Office, is mandated through the state of Maine Constitution to archive all vital records. However, the Constitution does not include information on how this should be done, for how long it needs to be done, or who should have access to this information. These are just some of the ongoing issues his department addresses on a daily basis.
Additionally, technology continues to develop numerous other methods for capturing information that courts are deeming to be vital such as dashboard cams, video cameras or even body cams.
Maine’s 2020 Bicentennial gives the Archives Department a whole new challenge of how to put forth the unlimited historical information that has been maintained to resonant with today’s youth so they will continue to see the value in and the wealth of information provided by these records.
Cheever shared a few stories based on the logo trademarks that his department is must maintain. Each logo has an amazing historical story of how it came about and each story provides a rich perspective on Maine’s development. He left participants with questions: “Is what we have what we really want?” “How do we set up for the next 200 years?” and “What would we do if we could?”
The January 2017 Food for Thought presentation will host Alan Gregory who will discuss appropriate honors rendered to our nation’s deceased armed forces members. The presentation will be held Friday, Jan. 13.
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