Mims Releases Technical Bulletins

AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken recently announced the publication of fifteen technical bulletins by Dr. Julian L. Mims, III, a former USC Aiken student and professor and the project editor. A National Historic Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) grant enabled the publications.

The technical bulletins will assist city and county officials in maintaining proper records and information. USC Aiken’s Gregg-Graniteville Library served as the site for the work by Dr. Mims. The bulletins include the following topics:

  • Archives for Local Governments
  • Considerations for Content Management Systems
  • Daily Management of Records and Information
  • Developing a Records Storage System
  • Email Management
  • Establishing Records Retention
  • Funding Your Records Management Project
  • Identifying and Locating Your Records
  • Making Your Records Management Program Successful
  • Managing Electronic Records
  • Managing Records with Limited Resources
  • Protecting Vital Records
  • Selection and Development of Local Government Records Storage Facilities
  • Starting a Records Management Program
  • Using and Storing Microfilm

The effort to produce the technical bulletins was sponsored by the National Association of State Archives and Government Administrators (NAGARA) and the International Institute of Municipal Clarks (IIMC).

Dr. Julian Mims is a career archivist, records manager and educator. He directed the local records program at the South Carolina Archives from its inception. He was in charge of the Long Island office of the New York State Archives and Records Administration (NYSARA). As a Vice President and Award of Merit winner of ARMA International, he helped to found a record ten ARMA chapters. Dr. Mims is the author of the International City/County Managers Association (ICMA) best-seller, Records Management: A Practical Guide for Counties and Cities, and was editor of ICMA’s Electronic Records Management. He has taught at six colleges and universities. Dr. Mims is a graduate of Newberry College and earned his MA in history and a Ph.D. in secondary education from the University of South Carolina. He is a Certified Archivist and Certified Records Manager.

“These technical bulletins impact everywhere, for counties, cities, school districts and other local governments are word-wide and must have full use of their information in order to operate. This effort was local, yet global,” said Dr. Julian Mims. “When former USC Aiken history professor Ray Wilson – – whose tutelage nurtured me while a Banksia student – – jumped behind enemy lines as a paratrooper during the Normandy invasion, there were international consequences; so it is also with this project.”

Dr. Mims expressed gratitude to the USC Aiken administration and Gregg-Graniteville Library staff for their support of the project in addition to local technical assistance from James Dunovant, James Ironsides, Byron Reams, John Zurlo, and Julian Mims IV.

Dr. Mims grew up in Edgefield, was schooled there, and is named for his grandfather, the late Julian Landrum Mims, former editor of The Edgefield Advertiser.