Archives West Finding Aid

Although the bulk of the Bureau of Public Affairs Research Records were in labeled folders, the received order did not lend itself to a series arrangement, therefore the folders, but not their contents, were rearranged during processing. Original folder headings were retained.

The Bureau of Public Affairs Research was, for the most part, a self supporting organization which depended on federal or state grants to support its activities. The first series, Grant Applications and Reports, 1959-1979, contains applications to such organizations as the Association for the Humanities in Idaho, the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, the Law Enforcement Planning Commission, the National Science Foundation, and the Idaho State Commission for Higher Education Facilities which administered the Title I grants of the Higher Education Act of 1965. In addition to the applications, the folders also contain periodic reports, correspondence, and some financial accounts related to the grants.

The second series, Seminars, Workshops, etc., 1967-1981, contains information about the activities funded by the grants in Series I. The seminars, which were held at various locations throughout the state, included budget presentation institutes, programs for city clerk and county assessor certification, commissioners and clerks workshops, law enforcement institutes and an institute for newly elected city officials. Included in the seminar and workshop papers are programs, records of attendance, notes used in presentations, and summaries of evaluations. Also included in this series are notes and other classroom material for Political Science 400.

As part of its mission the bureau also issued a number of publications. Series III contains correspondence, financial accounting material, input from reviewers of chapters, and drafts of several bureau publications and handbooks. Also included are the situation and character sketches for the Idaho Tomorrow game, an innovation role-playing activity developed by Sydney Duncombe, director of the bureau from 1973 to 1988. The University of Idaho funded STAR 17 grant (Short Term Applied Research), was used to prepare a report to the Idaho Legislative Fiscal and Budget Committee on public assistance programs in Idaho. Each section contains a draft of the report, notes, and information supplied by the agency concerned.

The final series contains general bureau correspondence, financial records including grant ledgers and budgets, minutes of bureau research meetings, project plans and progress reports, results of a national survey investigating the use of volunteers in county government, and finally, the script, slides, and taped narrative of the 1987 County Night program, which described the origin, history, services, and functions of counties in the United States, using Latah and Nez Perce counties as examples.

Printed material from states other than Idaho collected by the Bureau was discarded. Other types of material not retained include printed legislative bills, telephone bills and other invoices, store room orders, out of state county or city newsletters, and duplicates of printed material. Also discarded were University BTRs (Budget Transaction Reports). This reduced the quantity of material by 6 cubic feet.