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LEWISTON — Dave Cheever, state of Maine archivist, was the presenter at the Friday, Dec. 9, LA Senior College Food for Thought session in Room 170 on the LA USM campus.
The title of his presentation was “How 1-01-0 and 2020 Lead to Maine 2.0,” a discussion on the numerous challenges faced with creating systems to archive the endless paper and digital records created in Maine.
Cheever challenged us all to think about just the vital records each one of us has generated in our life time — motor vehicle, Social Security numbers, financial information, other personal information, etc.
His department, which falls under the oversight of the Secretary of State Office, is mandated through the 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 provides a rich perspective on Maine’s development. Just think about the history connected with B&M Beans or LL Beans (guess he stuck with a “bean” theme)! He left us with these questions: “Is what we have what we really want? How do we set up for the next 200 years? What would we do if we could?”
Please plan to join us for our January 2017 “Food for Thought” presentation when Alan Gregory will discuss appropriate honors rendered to our nation’s deceased armed forces members on Friday, Jan. 13.
