Annual Histories

[ajames]

I was going through some of the records in the stake clerk's office recently, and noticed there are (I think) all the stake's annual histories since its inception (approx. 10 years). Are we supposed to keep a copy locally, or is it sufficient to send our annual history to SLC only? I do not see any guidance on lds.org or on the wiki concerning local unit retention of annual histories.

[jdlessley]

There is no requirement to maintain historical records locally. What is kept locally is the prerogative of the stake president.

[russellhltn]

How much space are we talking about? I'd think there would be some local interest in the reports.

[simonawright]

We had a 50 year anniversary and the organisers wanted to look at the annual histories. Unfortunately we hadn't kept any copies and we had no access to those that were sent to SLC.
The need to look at the old histories is probably a rare event but there are some occasions when it is desirable.

[mlh78]

If space is an issue, you might consider storing them electronically.

[ajames]

Since there's only about 10 of them, space really isn't much of an issue-- yet. I was mostly just surprised to see that we did keep a copy of the histories. It may be prudent, however, to start scanning them in now, so it doesn't being an issue in the future.

[kisaac]

Are we supposed to keep a copy locally, or is it sufficient to send our annual history to SLC only?

The need to look at the old histories is probably a rare event but there are some occasions when it is desirable.

I guess that would depend on two things...

1) If what you save in your histories is relevant, both as a record of the past, and an inspiration to the future
2) If stake members know that relevant items are kept in those histories, and they are accessible.

For example, I don't believe we need to "re-invent" every stake activity. In our stake, many items happen every two or three years, like a stake youth conference, or a "parade float committee." When they roll around again, they are generally "big" deals. The people who worked on it last time are often released and a new bunch of people are called. How nice it is for the "new" planning committee to look at what was done in the past from the histories. The more detailed info that was saved, and pictures that were saved, the better....

Even looking backward at yearly items such as a relief society dinner, or more frequent items like stake conference, or leadership training meetings, are valuable as we look at past topics, speakers and insights as we plan new ones.

It works on a ward level, too. Perhaps we look at histories to often as an archive only, and not a document more like the scriptures, that can continue to give inspiration and guidance from events in the past. If we lock them away, or send them away, or don't collect them with an eye to the future uses, we lose an opportunity.

[russellhltn]

If space is an issue, you might consider storing them electronically.

The question is where would you store it where you would remember and find it again? If you stuff a hard copy in a office, it will surface again. An electronic copy can be lost on a computer swap out, or if stored on-line due to account inactivity.

I'm still wondering how big this is. Especially at 10 years, I'd imagine that I could easily hold the whole stack in one hand. There's a lot of other junk that accumulates in a clerk's office that could be cleared out to make space.

[mlh78]

The question is where would you store it where you would remember and find it again? If you stuff a hard copy in a office, it will surface again. An electronic copy can be lost on a computer swap out, or if stored on-line due to account inactivity.

Burn it on a disc and keep it in the office.

[russellhltn]

Burn it on a disc and keep it in the office.

I've not been impressed with the life time of a disk. I don't know as I'd trust it for archiving unless you buy a blank that says it's specifically for archiving.