California Historical Resources Information System

The California Historical Resources Information System (CHRIS) includes the State Historic Resources Inventory (SHRI) database maintained by OHP and the records maintained and managed, under contract, by  the regional Information Centers (ICs).

Individuals and government agencies seeking information on cultural and historical resources should begin their research by contacting the regional Information Center which services the county in which the resource is located. The IC Roster identifies the locations, contact information, and counties served by each regional IC.

The State Historic Resources Inventory (SHRI) maintained by OHP includes only information on historical resources that have been identified and evaluated through one of the programs that OHP administers under the National Historic Preservation Act or the California Public Resources Code. The SHRI includes data on:

• Resources identified and evaluated in local government historical resource surveys;
• Resources evaluated and determinations of eligibility (DOEs) made in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act;
• Resources evaluated for federal tax credit certifications;
• Resources considered for listing in the National and California Registers or as California State Landmarks or Points of Historical Interest.

 Information Centers (ICs) 

CHRIS Modernization and Sustainability Plan

The California Historical Resources Information System has developed a CHRIS Modernization and Sustainability Plan to guide efforts to digitize the CHRIS inventory and create a sustainable business model for the CHRIS. We are presenting the plan here in draft form in order to solicit feedback from CHRIS customers and stakeholders. Please send your comments about the draft plan to CHRIS Coordinator Eric Allison at Eric.Allison@parks.ca.gov by June 17, 2013. After comments are received, we will be finalizing the plan and developing a related Action Plan for efforts to be undertaken over the next 18 months.

CHRIS Access and Use Agreements

On January 11, 2013, the CHRIS Information Centers began using new Access and Use Agreements with their customers. CHRIS users should complete and submit a new agreement to one of the following CHRIS Information Centers, so their Information Center services may continue without interruption (this list may be updated, so check periodically):

Central California
Central Coast
Eastern
North Central
Northeast
San Bernardino Archeological
South Central Coastal
South Coastal
Southern San Joaquin Valley

Do not submit your agreement to an IC that is not on this list. If you do so, it may not be processed. Eventually, all ICs will be able to process the new agreements. Regardless of which IC processes it, your agreement will be applicable to all of the CHRIS Information Centers.

As March 1, 2013, the old Access Agreements are no longer valid for conducting CHRIS business. If you need access to CHRIS information, you must have a Access and Use Agreement that has been processed through a CHRIS Information Center, with the following exceptions:

1) Information requests from individuals pertaining to historical resources located on private property which they own; or

2) Requests for summary information about historical resources, prepared by an Information Center; or

3) Information requests for educational or scholarly research only; or

4) Requests for information where the terms of access are specified in an agreement with the Information Center at which the information is being requested, and said agreement specifically excludes the requirement for a CHRIS Information Access and Use Agreement.

For the above exceptions, you must use the new Access Agreement Short form for access to CHRIS information and services.

A CHRIS Access and Use Agreement may apply to an individual, office, company, district, agency, or some other administrative or organizational unit. Make sure this organizational scope is made clear when you are completing the agreement, using the “Region/Office” space on the agreement’s first page. Only one CHRIS Access and Use Agreement should be completed by the agreement holder, and this agreement will apply through the entire CHRIS, at all Information Centers. In other words, if you submit one to an Information Center, once it is processed and accepted, the agreement will apply to all of the Information Centers, and you need not submit another until the current one expires (if it has an expiration date).

Please allow for a processing time of several days during implementation of the new Access and Use Agreements.

For some Information Centers, use of the new agreements will coincide with their initial sale of spatial (GIS) data, non-spatial digital data, and/or electronic resource records and reports as part of their records search products. For other Information Centers that are already selling these digital products, they will simply switch over to the new agreements, and continue providing the same products and services. For more information on digital product availability, check with individual Information Centers.

There are several related forms which will come in to use at the same time as the new Access and Use Agreements. NOTE: These forms are only valid if you have an active Access and Use Agreement.

1) CHRIS Data Request Form – for use with all records searches submitted by holders of active Access and Use Agreements.

2) CHRIS Data Authorized User Form – for identifying each user that will be submitting information requests or conducting records searches under the terms of an Access and Use Agreement. The initial submittal of these forms should occur simultaneously with submittal of the Access and Use Agreement for processing at an Information Center. Any subsequent submittals of this form to add authorized users under an active Access and Use Agreement should be made by an individual who is already an authorized user, and should be made in advance of the new authorized users making CHRIS information requests. Updated to include a “Print Name” space on 1-29-13. Already-completed 1-10-13 versions will still be processed, if submitted, but please use this version after 1-29-13.

3) CHRIS Information Center Conditional Use Agreement – for use when the holder of an active Access and Use Agreement desires to temporarily share CHRIS data with another person or entity who is not covered under that same agreement.

Additionally, there is a new CHRIS Access Agreement Short Form, to be used instead of an Access and Use Agreement, but only when at least one of the four above-listed exceptions applies. This form is very similar to Access Agreements in use by some Information Centers prior to January 11, 2013, and will be the same across all Information Centers as of March 1, 2013.

CHRIS Access and Use Frequently Asked Questions are available here. Please contact your local Information Center if you have more questions about this announcement.

CHRIS Electronic Fee Structure (Adopted 05-03-2012)

This CHRIS Electronic Fee Structure replaces the previously-adopted 11-5-2010 structure. It applies only to computer-based records searches involving digital data or electronic documents. It does not apply to paper-based records searches, where digital data and / or documents are not used or provided. Since each Information Center is at a different stage of digital development, you should contact the relevant IC(s) to determine if any or all of the electronic fees will apply at that IC for your records search. You should also contact the relevant IC if you have questions about the fee structure itself.

CHRIS Historical Resources Consultants List is available

The CHRIS Historical Resources Consultants List is online at  www.chrisinfo.org. The Consultants List is searchable by county, discipline, and consultant name.

The Consultant List is maintained by the Eastern Information Center on behalf of all the ICs. There is a fee for individuals to be listed (but not for users of the List), detailed in the CHRIS Information Center Rules of Operation Manual (2008). To be listed, a consultant must complete the Consultants List Format and Fee Worksheet, plus the appropriate discipline-specific form or forms (below), and submit them to the Eastern Information Center.  The forms may be completed using Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat, and handwritten forms will not be accepted.

North Coastal Information Center Permanently Closed on December 31, 2012.

  The Yurok Tribal Council decided to close the North Coastal Information Center (NCoIC), effective December 31, 2012. The CHRIS Inventory/information for Humboldt and Del Norte Counties has been transferred to the Northwest Information Center (NWIC). The NCoIC portion of the CHRIS Inventory, in-progress records searches, and other NCoIC materials were moved to the NWIC the during the week of December 31, and the inventory information for Humboldt and Del Norte Counties is now available. Information about NWIC hours of operation, appointments for conducting records searches, and other matters, may be found at http://www.sonoma.edu/nwic/.

The decision to move the NCoIC materials to the NWIC was largely due to the small amount of time available between the Yurok Tribal Council’s decision to close the NCoIC and the resulting deadline for relocating the NCoIC portion of the CHRIS Inventory. OHP will coordinate a dialog with stakeholders in the Humboldt and Del Norte County area to consider other possible options for the long-term location of the Del Norte and Humboldt County portions of the Inventory.