We are pleased to announce the appointment of Laurence Brewer as the new Chief Records Officer for the U.S. Government effective May 1, 2016. Laurence has been acting in this role since Paul Wester’s departure in October 2015. Since joining NARA in 1999, Laurence has held a number of positions in our records management program working … Continue reading New Chief Records Officer Named
In the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Flexible Scheduling, NARA states that agencies must create a crosswalk when preparing records schedules with big bucket schedule items. We are now providing a crosswalk template (.xls) and instructions (.pdf) that agencies may use for this purpose. Agencies are not required to use the template, although it is recommended … Continue reading Instructions and template for big bucket crosswalks
We are pleased to announce that we have submitted proposed rules affecting records management regulations to the Office of the Federal Register. We are proposing these regulation changes to reflect the Managing Government Records Directive and updates to the Federal Records Act. We also want to account for changes in technology, practice, and NARA’s organization … Continue reading Proposed Rules for Records Management Regulations
During the last two years, we published both NARA Bulletin 2015-04: Metadata Guidance for the Transfer of Permanent Electronic Records and NARA Bulletin 2014-04: Revised Format Guidance for the Transfer of Permanent Electronic Records. These Bulletins are related and complement each other. Following this guidance ensures permanent electronic records transferred to NARA will remain sustainable for as … Continue reading What is the relationship between NARA’s Metadata and Format Guidance?
We are pleased to publish an update to Documenting Your Public Service. This guide provides information describing the responsibilities all government employees must follow for managing federal records. It is important for agencies to ensure employees are aware of their records management responsibilities, especially as we approach the upcoming Presidential transition. We will be developing … Continue reading Documenting Your Public Service
A team within the Office of the Chief Records Officer is in the process of conducting follow-up research to NARA Bulletin 2015-02: Guidance on Managing Electronic Messages. The Bulletin provides records management guidance for electronic messages, including text messaging and chat/instant messaging. Has your agency begun discussing how you are approaching the management of electronic … Continue reading Agency Participants Needed for Electronic Messages Research
We wanted to alert the records management community that the Chief Records Officer (CRO) position has been posted on USA Jobs. From the position description: "The CRO leads records management throughout the Federal Government, with an emphasis on electronic records, and assesses the effectiveness of Federal records management policies and programs." The position is open until Tuesday, … Continue reading Chief Records Officer Position Posted
We are pleased to announce that the 2014 Records Management-Self Assessment (RMSA) report is now available from our website (.pdf). Acting Chief Records Officer for the U.S. Government Laurence Brewer said, "This is our sixth RMSA and we are very pleased to see real progress being made by agencies. We expect this improvement to continue, … Continue reading RMSA 2014 released
We have released NARA Bulletin 2016-01: Guidance on NARA Bulletin Expiration Dates. This administrative bulletin announces a change to our policy regarding the expiration date of bulletins. Every bulletin used to have an expiration date of three years. We would regularly review the bulletins to determine whether the policies were still relevant, accurate, and useful. Then, we would … Continue reading Expiration Date Bulletin Released
The White House announced the release of the Third Open Government National Action Plan for the United States of America earlier this week. The release of the Plan was timed to coincide with the Open Government Partnership (OGP) global summit taking place in Mexico City. You may recall that earlier this year, a call went out for public … Continue reading Open Government National Action Plan 3.0
