Washington State's Digital Archives Project a model for other states

Despite the economic difficulties and their impact on various state libraries and archives, there is one very bright spot, the State of Washington. A recent blog of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society, once again called my attention to this huge online resource. The main Washington State Archives Website has access to the Digital Archives site with an amazing 83,887,328 total records with 66,904,296 searchable online. The online records include the following collections,

• Audio Records
• Auditor Misc Records
• Birth Records
• Census Records
• Corporation Records
• Court Cases
• Death Records
• E-Publications
• Frontier Justice
• Institution Records
• Land Records
• Marriage Records
• Military Records
• Minute Records
• Minutes/Resolutions/Ordinances
• Miscellaneous Family History
• Naturalization Records
• Oaths of Office
• Ordinance Records
• Photographs
• Plats and Surveys Records
• Power of Attorney Records
• Professional License Records
• Real Property Record Cards
• Recorded Agreements and Contracts
• Resolution Records
• Uniform Commercial Code Recordings

My own state of Arizona, has some of historical birth and death certificates online, but that is about it. There are a few other online indexes and a very limited Arizona Biographical database. Even access to the State Library has been curtailed due to a chaotic budget situation.

Let's hope that other states see the importance of making their records readily available to the public and especially to genealogists.