The next time you attempt to organize your inbox, imagine if you had approximately 1.5 million emails. That was the dilemma faced by the Library of Virginia when Governor Timothy M. Kaine, Virginia’s 70th governor, left office in 2010. The Kaine Email Project (www.virginiamemory.com/collections/kaine) provides unprecedented access to the email records of the Kaine Administration, shedding light on the challenges of modern government and society in early 21st-century Virginia. Users can search and view email records from the Governor’s Office and those of his Cabinet Secretaries, learn about other public records from his administration, go behind the scenes to see how the Library is making the email records available, and read what others are saying about the collection. With outgoing Virginia governors transferring increasing numbers of electronic records to the Library, it is crucial for us to find a new approach to archival processing. In partnership with scholars, we have been exploring the use of artificial intelligence to process electronic records more efficiently. Our goal is to empower citizens with the resources they need to understand their government.
The Kaine Email Project is made possible by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.