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 the publication of the Criteria for Managing Email Records in Compliance with the Managing Government Records Directive (M-12-18). The criteria was developed to provide clarification of the existing requirements directly related to email management. It is a synthesis of the statutory, regulatory, and NARA guidance requirements. Agencies should use this … Continue reading Criteria for Managing Email Records
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?
This week is Sunshine Week - the time of year when we celebrate openness and transparency in the Government. Towards that goal, NARA has committed to posting the 2015 Senior Agency Official for Records Management (SAO) reports online. It is our expectation that we will have every agency’s report available on our web site. On a related … Continue reading Open Government: 2015 Senior Agency Official (SAO) Reports
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
The following post is from the GRS Team. New schedules published in General Records Schedule (GRS) Transmittals are not one-to-one replacements of old schedules. Crosswalks provide temporary bridges to help agencies understand what has changed in the GRS and how to convert superseded authorities to new authorities. Once the new GRS is completed and in place … Continue reading Making Use of GRS Crosswalks
Once again nature is threatening large parts of the country. This time large areas, including the Midwest and California but other areas as well, are experiencing unprecedented flooding. We remind Agency Records Officers that NARA posts records emergency information and other useful guidance in order for them to pass along this information to other agency … Continue reading Widespread Flooding May Threaten Records
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
