Microfilming Minutes for Local Governments

• All originals must be in the order that they are to be imaged. All minutes will be filmed in the exact order received.
• All staples, post-it notes, and paper clips must be removed and all documents taped together must be separated. This includes attachments to the minutes.
• Unfold all documents. Smooth out corner folds.
• Repair torn pages with document repair tape.
• If signing the minutes is your policy, please make sure signatures are present in all designated areas.

• You must make an appointment before bringing your original minute books to Raleigh for imaging. Alternately, we can schedule a time to pick up your original minutes from your office. Please contact:  

                    Natalie Walker natalie.walker@dncr.nc.gov  Phone: (919) 814-6856

• Complete a Certification of the Preparation of Records for Microfilming form.

• All photocopies must be in the order that they are to be imaged. The photocopies should reflect the order of your minute books. All minutes will be imaged in the exact order received. You may submit minutes in direct or reverse date order, but please be consistent and specify if they are in reverse date order.
• All photocopies sent for imaging should be on the same size paper. Copies can be single-sided or double-sided.
• Do not fold pages.
• Staples must be removed. Post-it notes and paper clips must be removed, unless they mark the end or beginning of a volume. All documents taped together must be separated. This includes attachments to the minutes.
• If signing the minutes is your policy, please make sure signatures are present in all designated areas.
• Complete a Certification of the Preparation of Records for Microfilming form with each shipment sent to Archives and History for filming.
• Photocopies should be packaged in such a way to prevent pages from being damaged during shipment. Photocopies may be mailed to: 

Government Records Section

ATTN: Natalie Walker

State Records Center

4615 Mail Service Center

Raleigh, NC 27699-4615

• Review minutes for accuracy; pages numbers, volume and book numbers, and dates must match the printed records.
• Save minutes as PDF, PDF/A, or TIFF files with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi. (We suggest copying the original files and preparing the copies for filming.)
• If you file your minutes, resolutions, and ordinances separately, create folders for each record type, then folders within those for book number or year. Name the parent folder for the record type (e.g., “Minutes,” “Resolutions,” “Ordinances”). If you file everything together, create one parent folder titled “Minutes.”

H:\Minutes\2013

H:\Minutes\2014

Or

H:\Resolutions\Book06

H:\Resolutions\Book07

• Name the files so that a computer sorts them in correct date and page number order. Consult the State Archives’ Best Practices for File Naming. Create file names that are no more than 20 characters and use only letters, numbers, and underscores with no blank spaces. Format meetings dates in a YYYY_MM_DD or YYYYMMDD pattern and format file names consistently, e.g.:

Vol39_20090104.pdf

Vol38_20090212.pdf

Vol39_20090319.pdf

Not

Vol39_1409.pdf

V39_Feb12009.pdf

V39_MarchMeeting.pdf

• Convert multi-page PDF files into single-page PDF files. (If using Adobe Acrobat: under the “All Tools” tab, click on “Organize Pages.” Navigate to “Page Options” on the left sidebar and click “Split.” Click “Split” on the pop-up. Adobe will automatically save the PDFs in the same location as the parent document, and will change the file names to include part numbers for each page, e.g., Vol39_20090104_Part1.pdf)
• Use Library of Congress’ Bagger software to bag the files for transfer. Refer to the Bagger GUI User Guide for instructions on downloading Bagger and creating a Bag.
• After saving the Bag, note the metadata for the Bag Size and Payload-Oxum fields. The number after the decimal of the Payload-Oxum field indicates the number of files in the bag.
• Complete the Digital Minutes Certification form. On the “Bag Info” table, record the number of files (from the Payload-Oxum field in Bagger) and total file size (Bag Size), i.e.:

• Compress the Bag into a .zip file. (On Windows systems: Right-click on the folder and select “Compress to Zip file.”)
• Email the completed Digital Minutes Certification form to Natalie Walker (natalie.walker@dncr.nc.gov), who will provide a link and instructions to upload your zipped folder to ShareFile for transfer.

Any records not meeting these requirements may not be processed for microfilming. Please reach out for additional assistance. Please complete all items on the following checklist prior to submitting the Digital Minutes Certification form. This checklist is to assist local records managers in the preparation of electronic records to be transferred to the State Archives for imaging. 

• Electronic records are uncompressed, single-page PDF, PDF/A, or TIFF files.
• Electronic records have been reviewed for accuracy. Page numbers, volume and book numbers, and dates match the printed records.
• Electronic records cover at least one year or are complete books.
• File names are no longer than 20 characters and are alphanumeric with no special characters and no blank spaces. Files are named so that a computer sorts the files in the same order as the paper records.
• Electronic records are grouped together in folders by record type (e.g., Minutes, Resolutions, Ordinances), then by volume or year. The parent folder is named for the type of record. Subfolders are named for the year or the volume. The folder structure is no more than 2 levels.
• Electronic records are bagged using Library of Congress’ Bagger software.
• The bagged records are compressed into .zip files.
• A Digital Minutes Certification Form is completed.