Section 3000.
§ 3000. Department; commissioner. There shall be a department of
records and information services which shall include, but not be limited
to, municipal archives, a municipal reference and research center and
municipal records management division. The head of the department shall
be the commissioner, who shall be appointed by the mayor.
Section 3003.
§ 3003. Powers and duties. The commissioner: 1. shall be the chief
archivist of the city and shall advise the mayor, borough presidents and
council on those matters concerning the preservation of the city's
historical documentation:
2. shall act as the chief reference and research librarian for the
mayor, borough presidents and council and shall ensure that all
significant research material pertaining to the operations of the city
as well as other municipalities shall be preserved and readily available
for use;
3. shall act as the chief public records officer for the mayor,
borough presidents and council and shall, except as otherwise provided
by law, establish standards for proper records management in any agency
or government instrumentality funded in whole or in part from local tax
levy monies, and
4. shall have the power to exercise or delegate any of the functions
and duties vested in such commissioner by law, subject to the provisions
of subdivision five of this section.
5. In addition to the above duties, the commissioner shall ensure the
city's custody and control of city records as follows:
a. Pursuant to an approved records disposition schedule as set forth
in section eleven hundred thirty-three of this charter, the commissioner
shall ensure that the records of any city officer or agency that are of
historical, research, cultural or other important value shall be
delivered directly to the department's municipal archives. Upon
delivery, the department shall begin to review such records and publish
a survey of such records with appropriate specificity, and, to the
extent practicable, the contents of such records. Where the commissioner
has certified in writing as to its necessity, under extraordinary
circumstances, such records may be transferred to an archival
establishment to be organized and prepared for archival preservation,
provided that such establishment meets the specific requirements
specified in paragraph b of this subdivision.
b. If the commissioner decides that it is necessary to enter into an
agreement or contract with another archival establishment outside the
department, to organize and prepare records for archival preservation,
it may not be with a private entity as defined by this chapter, and may
not be with any entity outside the city. The commissioner shall include
with the agreement or contract a plan for strictly monitoring the status
and progress of the archiving operations. The commissioner shall devise
and publish such plan, which shall include at least the following: (i) a
list of the tasks to be conducted and a timetable for the completion of
each such task; (ii) a description of the resources, staffing and
training dedicated by the archival establishment to carrying out such
tasks; (iii) allowances for direct supervision by department archivists;
and (iv) an agreement by the archival establishment to issue, at a
minimum, quarterly reports of its activities to the commissioner. The
commissioner shall also include with such agreement and publish a
schedule, where applicable, for the municipal archives to send original
records to such archival establishment and to receive such records when
processing is completed. To the extent practicable, such schedule shall
take into account that original records should be sent in a limited and
controlled manner and that no new such original records should be sent
until receipt of any previously sent under such schedule. Any such
agreement, contract, plan and schedule must be approved by the law
department for compliance with this subdivision. The commissioner will
at all times remain responsible for the proper handling and archiving of
records, notwithstanding any agreement with an archival establishment
outside the department.
c. No agreement provided for in subdivision five of this section shall
be entered into during the term of office of any elected official of the
city with regard to whose records such agreement applies.
d. Nothing in this subdivision shall prevent officers or members of
such officer's administration from donating money to the department's
municipal archives or other archival establishment so long as such
officers or members are not involved in the supervision, control or
management of the archival processing pertaining to their respective
administrations.
e. Nothing in this subdivision should be construed to limit access by
the public to city records. The department shall be responsible for
granting access to records in accordance with applicable provisions of
law. Additionally, agencies of the city shall have free access to such
records as needed.
Section 3004.
§ 3004. Department; duties. 1. The department shall operate a
municipal archives, the head of which shall be a professional archivist.
The archives shall perform the following functions:
a. develop and promulgate standards, procedures and techniques with
regard to archives management;
b. make continuing surveys of existing records to determine the most
suitable methods to be used for the creating, maintaining, storing and
servicing of archival material;
c. preserve and receive all city records of historical, research,
cultural or other important value;
d. appraise, accession, classify, arrange and make available for
reference all records which come into the possession of the archives;
and
e. establish and maintain an archives depository for the storage,
conservation, processing and servicing of records.
2. The department shall operate a municipal reference and research
center, the head of which shall be a professional librarian. The center
shall perform the following functions:
a. provide information and assistance to the mayor, the board of
estimate, members of committees thereof and administrative officers of
the city in connection with problems of municipal administration and
proposed legislation;
b. provide legislative reference assistance to the council, its
members and committees and maintain, in a legislative reference section,
such records and papers as the council and city clerk may remand to its
custody;
c. maintain facilities which shall be open to the public wherein,
subject to such reasonable regulation as may be prescribed, all books,
reports, documents and other materials shall be available for public
inspection;
d. ensure that at least one copy of each report, document, study or
publication of the city or any of its administrations, departments,
boards or other agencies shall be available at the center at all times;
e. collect, compile and maintain data and information pertaining to
the operation of the city as well as other municipalities, governmental
bodies and public authorities and arrange for the exchange, sale,
purchase and loan of information materials from and with legislative and
research services, libraries and institutions in other municipalities,
governmental bodies and public authorities; and
f. ensure that each report, document, study or publication that is
electronically transmitted to the department of records and information
services pursuant to section 1133 of the charter is made available to
the public on or through the website of the department, or its
successor's website, within ten business days of publication, issuance,
release or transmittal to the council or mayor.
3. The department shall:
a. provide for the distribution of publications of the city, where
such authority is not vested in another city agency, and issue at
regular intervals, no less than quarterly, a bulletin describing its
facilities and resources;
b. institute actions in replevin to recover any historical and/or
other documents properly owned by, or originating from, the city of New
York;
c. report annually by the thirtieth day of September to the mayor and
city council on the powers and duties hereinmentioned including, but not
limited to, the cost savings effectuated by the department during the
preceding fiscal year. This report shall further include an evaluation
of compliance with the requirements of subdivision a of section 1133 of
the charter.
4. The department shall operate a municipal records management
division, the head of which shall be a professional records manager. The
center shall perform the following functions:
a. develop and promulgate standards, procedures and techniques in
relation to records management;
b. make continuing surveys of operations relating to records and
recommend improvements in current records management practices,
including the use of space, equipment and materials employed in the
creation, maintenance, storage and servicing of records;
c. establish standards for the preparation of schedules for the
disposition of records, providing for the retention of records and
archives of continuing value, and for the prompt and orderly disposal of
records no longer possessing sufficient administrative, legal or fiscal
value to warrant their further retention; and
d. establish, maintain and operate facilities for the storage,
processing and servicing of records for all city agencies pending their
deposit in the municipal archives or their disposition in any manner as
may be authorized by law.
Section 3005.
§ 3005. Archival review board. There shall be in the department an
archival review board which shall consist of five members; two of whom
shall be appointed by the speaker, two of whom shall be appointed by the
mayor, and one of whom shall be the commissioner, who shall serve ex
officio as chairperson of the board. At least one such appointment shall
be a professional archivist and at least one other such appointment
shall be a professional historian. The members of the commission, other
than the chair, shall be appointed within 30 days of the effective date
of this section and shall be entitled to reasonable expenses. All
appointed members of the commission shall be residents of the city.
Members shall serve for terms of four years from such date of
appointment. Vacancies in appointed membership of the board shall be
filled by appointment by whosoever was responsible for such original
appointment. The board shall meet once every 90 days or upon the request
of any of its members. Any member of such board shall have complete
access, during work hours, to inspect and review any appraisal,
organization, processing or archiving of city records in the custody of
an entity with which an agreement has been entered into for the purposes
specified in subdivision five of section 3003. Such board may request
and receive, from the department, assistance and data as may be
necessary for the proper execution of its powers and duties. Such board
shall render annually to the mayor a report reviewing the archival
processing of any city papers during the year for which the report has
been written.
Section 3007.
§ 3007. Departmental libraries. The commissioner shall analyze the
needs of each city agency, except the law department, with respect to
the establishment and maintenance of any library or research facility
therein, and make such recommendations as may be appropriate in the
circumstances.
Section 3008.
§ 3008. Rules and regulations. The commissioner shall promulgate
rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this chapter, except
that rules and regulations relating to the disposal of records pursuant
to section eleven hundred thirty-three shall be issued by the
commissioner after consultation with the corporation counsel and the
comptroller.
Section 3009.
§ 3009. Archives, reference and research advisory board. There shall
be in the department an archives, reference and research advisory board
which shall consist of fifteen members who shall be appointed by the
mayor and which shall consult with the commissioner with respect to the
functions referred to in subdivisions one and two of section three
thousand four of this chapter to advise such commissioner in matters at
his or her request and render annually to the mayor a report regarding
the development of municipal archives, reference and research services
in the government and administration of the city.
Section 3010.
§ 3010. Municipal archives reference and research fund. 1. There is
hereby established a municipal archives reference and research fund,
which shall be credited with all sums appropriated therefor, donations
made thereto, and proceeds from the disposition of personal property
which is in the custody of the department and which the commissioner has
determined is not a record which must be retained pursuant to law and is
not necessary for archival, reference, or research purposes. Interest
accruing on principal from all aforementioned sources also shall be
credited to the fund.
2. The municipal archives reference and research fund established by
this section shall be used, subject to the approval of the director of
management and budget, by the department for purposes related to its
library and archival research programs including, but not limited to,
purchasing and conserving books and other records, financing lecture
series and commissioning studies and articles.
Section 3011.
§ 3011. Definitions. As used in this chapter 1. "Archives" means those
official records which have been determined by the department to have
sufficient historical or other value to warrant their continued
preservation by the city;
2. "Records" means any documents, books, papers, photographs, sound
recordings, machine readable materials or any other materials,
regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received
pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of
official city business. Library and museum materials made or acquired
and preserved solely for reference or exhibition purposes, extra copies
of documents preserved only for convenience of reference and stocks of
publications are not included within the definition of records as used
in this chapter;
3. "Records management" means the planning, controlling, directing,
organizing, training, promoting and other managerial activities involved
in records creation, records maintenance and use and records
disposition, including but not limited to, the management of
correspondence, forms, directives, reports, machine readable records,
microfilms information retrieval, files, mail, vital records, equipment
and supplies, office copiers, word processing and source data automation
techniques, records preservation, records disposal and records centers
or other storage facilities;
4. "Records management practices" means any system, procedure or
technique followed with respect to effective records creation, records
maintenance and use and records disposition;
5. "Records disposition" means: a. The removal by a city agency, in
accordance with approved records retention schedules, of records no
longer necessary for the conduct of business by such agency through
removal methods which may include: (1) the disposal of temporary records
by destruction or donation;
(2) the transfer of records to the department, and
(3) the transfer to the department of records determined to have
historical or other sufficient value to warrant continued preservation
and
b. the transfer of records from one city agency to any other city
agency;
6. "Records creation" means any process involved in producing any
recorded information necessary to conduct the business of a city agency;
7. "Records management division" means an establishment maintained by
the department primarily for the storage, servicing, security and
processing of records which must be preserved for varying periods of
time and need not be retained in office equipment or space and
8. "Servicing" means making information in records available to any
city agency for official use or to the public.
9. "Private entity" means a for-profit or not-for-profit corporation,
or non-governmental organization, but shall not include the City and
State Universities of New York, public libraries, including the New York
Public Library, and any college or university in the city.
To the extent possible under law, Friends of Devin Balkind for Public Advocate has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to New York City Administrative Code. This work is published from: United States.
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