We are pleased to announce the release of a report on open source tools for records management. This report was produced in response to item A3.2 in the Managing Government Records Directive (M-12-18) and is available here. This item actively encourages NARA to work with agencies to review and identify open source tools for records management tasks. To start this discussion, we’ve compiled a selection of open source tools that could be used for various records management functions. The list is a “snapshot” of available tools as of October 2014. We haven’t tested the tools, nor do we endorse them.
We will now be moving this discussion to the ERM Automation Working Group wiki. The wiki provides a space for federal employees to contribute to the list and share their experiences with the tools. Members of the wiki are encouraged to describe how they have used tools and share additional recommendations.
Note that this project only focuses on currently available open source tools. NARA will not be developing any new records management solutions in the scope of this project. However, NARA will explore building relationships with the open source community to identify gaps in tools and identify opportunities for external involvement to develop new solutions. The intended audience for this document is not only records management and IT staff in Federal agencies, but also developers in the open source community and any other interested parties.
Please contact Beth Cron (bethany.cron@nara.gov) or Lisa Haralampus (lisa.haralampus@nara.gov) with any feedback.
We look forward to continuing this discussion!