People may spend several days here and look through cartloads of boxes for the piece of information they need. One woman came with a long list, and she passed out assignments to her kids and her husband so that they could use every minute. Visitors to the archives web site also increased by 50 percent in the last year, and the information available online continues to expand. And every time we make information available in electronic form, we have more visitors who realize they need to see the original documents. Archives staff stay busy helping researchers find the right materials, but they also catalog new materials that arrive daily.
Visitors bring family histories, photographs and other items to help build the archives collection.
The State Archives manages historical records and other research collections for the South Dakota State Historical Society.