More than 5 million documents have now been uploaded to the Wyoming Digital Archives. The 1 millionth document was added in February 2020 and as of last week — less than two years later — the digital archives had grown to contain 5,619,318 documents.

In 2010, the Wyoming State Archives (WSA) and Wyoming Legislature began the search for a solution to the expense of physical storage, the need to increase accessibility and searchability of records, and to aid in managing records with a keen eye to laws, regulations, and best practices, while maintaining the validity and authenticity of electronic records. This journey led the archives and Legislature to create the Wyoming Digital Archives to preserve and manage born digital and digitized records that tell the story of Wyoming’s government and its people.

The Wyoming State Archives added its first document to digital archives in November 2013. Since then, it has grown exponentially.

As of last summer, the digital archives included 189 users and hosted records from 19 different counties. The records originate from three city clerks offices, 12 county clerks offices, one school district and three county treasurers. The most recent partner to the digital archives is the Town of Meeteetse.

The Digital Archive is able to preserve and make accessible files in a multitude of formats, including audio visual materials, PDFs, JPEGs and many other formats. The typical types of records found in the archives are plats, minutes, land and motor vehicle records, city ordinances, zoning records, and licensing board files, to name a few.

One digital archives user commented that “the archiving process has been a dream come true. It has been easy, fast, RELIABLE and the people behind the scenes are so helpful and great to work with... we owe so much of that to the Wyoming State Archives Department and the HP Records Program.”

The Digital Archives is built on the premise of LOCKSS (Lots Of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) with an emphasis on security. The files are backed up daily, weekly and monthly. There are multiple copies, with at least one stored in a geographically diverse location in case of natural disasters. This allows the Archives to quickly recover from any potential data loss. The 99 levels of security controls and privileges are especially important to maintaining the confidentiality of restricted records such as birth certificates or hospital records preserved in the system.

The digital archives also includes the ability to set up notifications and semi-automate the process of records retention. Records can be coded so that they align with the records retention schedules approved by Wyoming State Records Committee; these retention schedules help guide decisions on how long documents are kept and what happens to them after that.

The Wyoming Digital Archives can handle both permanent and non-permanent records. This allows administrators to more easily track the amount of time a record should be kept and when it should be destroyed.

“This natural destruction cycle for short term records is important for risk management and allows more space and resources to be devoted to the preservation of permanent records,” state officials say.

As technology continues to advance, the way society interacts with information evolves.

“The WSA continues to tackle key issues relating to preserving significant documents,” says State Archivist Sara Davis, adding, adding, “We also eagerly anticipate seeing/celebrating the 10 millionth document uploaded in the near future.”

The State Archives is located in the Barrett Building first floor, 2301 Central Ave. in Cheyenne. For further information, contact Davis by telephone at 307-777-8691 or email at sara.davis@wyo.gov.