ON THE INTERNET:
THE NEW YORK STATE ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION
The New York State Archives and Records Administration (SARA)
is now using the Internet to make information about State Archives
holdings, exhibits, and grant programs for records in New York
State instantly and easily accessible. Researchers, teachers,
public policy analysts and any citizen can quickly learn about what
records are in the State Archives and how they can be used, as well
as about other services provided by SARA. SARA established its
presence on the Internet by launching the SARA Gopher on July 29.
Gopher is a very popular software tool that organizes information
and makes it available through the Internet. Since the Gopher was
established, more than 3,700 people have used it to obtain
information about SARA.
SARA preserves and makes available for research the
permanently valuable records created by New York's colonial and
state government. SARA also provides records and information
management services for New York's state and local government
agencies. SARA is capitalizing on the rapidly growing use of the
Internet to help meet the information needs of researchers,
genealogists, New York State and local government officials, and
the general public.
Anyone with access to the Internet can view lists of all of
the records preserved in the State Archives and find out how to
gain access to State archival records. The gopher has the full-
text of guides for military history records, women's history
sources, genealogical records, vital records, records of the Erie
Canal, and other materials held by the archives. The SARA gopher
is also an easy and convenient way to connect to the on-line public
access catalog of holdings of the State Archives. The Archives
contains over 100 million policy and administrative documents of
New York State government agencies from the 17th century to the
present. Items of current interest such as exhibit announcements,
lists of new accessions and information on upcoming events at SARA
will also be available through the Gopher. SARA plans to expand
the Gopher to provide additional resources to anyone using the
Internet.
The SARA Gopher can be accessed by "gophering" to
UNIX6.NYSED.GOV. The service is available 24 hours a day.
For further information about the SARA Gopher contact:
New York State Archives and Records Administration
State Government Records Programs
Cultural Education Center Room 9C71
Albany, NY 12230
e-mail: gosys@unix6.nysed.gov