State archivist outlines digital preservation, records-management priorities to Senate Government Operations committee

Tanya Marshall, state archivist and chief records officer for the Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, told the Senate Government Operations Committee on Wednesday that the agency is expanding digital preservation and records-management services for the executive branch, judiciary and municipalities.

Marshall said the archives’ mission is “to preserve, promote, protect, and provide accurate, reliable information,” and described a three-part operating model that includes administrative/reference services, technical services (including a state records center and an archives vault) and a digital preservation system.

The nut graf: The committee heard that Vermont’s archives — created by an archives law in 2008 — now handles large digital collections from the legislature and judiciary, runs a state records center that stores what Marshall described as “a hundred thousand boxes,” and is building automated connectors to agency Microsoft 365 tenants so permanent records can move into the digital archives without manual transfer.

Marshall reviewed how the archives works with the branches of state government and local partners. She said the judiciary and the legislature are currently the largest sources of digital records for the archives, and pointed to the courts’ move to a unified court system and electronic filing (Odyssey) as a major digital transition. “Once a case is closed…they don’t have to worry about it in their storage areas,” Marshall said, describing how closed records can be transferred into centralized custody for preservation and public access.

On technical infrastructure, Marshall said the archives uses a cloud-based digital preservation application with redundancy and that it is piloting automated ingestion methods. She described an effort to build a connector from agency Microsoft 365 tenants to the archives’ preservation system so boards’ and commissions’ permanent minutes and records can be preserved automatically while remaining viewable to the agencies in their native environments.

Marshall also explained the office’s records-management work: the target assistance program that consults with executive-branch and judicial agencies (only two agencies have full-time information managers, she said) and a historical and local records program that works with municipalities, historical societies and nonprofits. She said the archives staff numbered about 20 people and that the office is trying to centralize services to reduce duplicate municipal costs for digital preservation.

Committee members pressed on operational issues. Senator Wayne asked whether Vermont needs steps to protect state information if federal websites or data sources become unreliable; Marshall said the archives’ role in authentication and chain-of-custody is increasingly important amid misinformation and disruption, and recommended follow-up work to map critical dependencies and data exchanges. Senator Clarkson asked about cybersecurity; Marshall said the archives receives executive-branch IT services through the Agency of Digital Services and that executive-branch hosting and protections apply.

Marshall also described disaster and local‑records work: the archives’ historical and local records program has been deployed to help museums and nonprofits after flooding and to coordinate with emergency management and town clerks. She noted the archives’ role assigning act numbers under the Administrative Procedure Act and responding to public-records requests under the Public Records Act.

Practical access details were given to legislators: Marshall said legislators and staff can request historical information and legislative research support through the archives reference inbox and provided the office email, s0s.archives@vermont.gov, as the entry point for requests and routed assistance. She encouraged the committee to visit the archives facility in Middlesex for a field trip.

The session included proposals for outreach and exhibits: committee members asked whether the archives would loan or display reproductions at the State House; Marshall said the office could coordinate with the state curator and would not transport original documents for that purpose.

Ending: The committee did not take formal action during the briefing. Members expressed support for the archives’ digital-preservation work and requested follow-up on potential state-level steps to shore up information access and integrity given recent federal disruptions to data availability.