Kerry Barbour is taking the reins of the state’s Digital Archives office in Cheney, bringing with her nearly 20 years of information technology experience.

“I am excited that Kerry Barbour has agreed to join our Digital Archives team,” said Washington State Archivist Jerry Handfield. “Kerry has managed many successful technology projects in state government. She will take us to the next level in our mission to preserve Washington’s legal and historical records and make our documents of democracy accessible to our citizens.”

In her role as digital archivist, Barbour will manage the operations of the state Digital Archives, located at Eastern Washington University in Cheney. Digital Archives is a branch of the Olympia-based Washington State Archives. Regional branches are found in Bellevue, Bellingham, Cheney and Ellensburg.

“I’m thrilled and excited to become the digital archivist,” Barbour said. “My initial goal is to educate state agencies about digital archives and our infrastructure. I want to let them know we are here and what we can do for them.”

Before starting her new job, Barbour was the information services director for the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission in Olympia the past three years. Before that, she was an information technology manager with the Department of Social and Health Services for about 12 years.

The mission of Digital Archives is to collect, index, store and make accessible electronic records created by state and local government agencies of Washington State.

Since launching in October 2004 as the first of its kind in the nation, Washington’s Digital Archives is the lead partner in a multi-state project funded by the Library of Congress to demonstrate the requirements of building a digital archive system in states around the country.

More than 74 million items can be accessed online at the Digital Archives. Visit http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov for more details.