Documenting Your Public Service

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

Making Use of GRS Crosswalks

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  Crosswalks provide temporary bridges to help agencies understand what has changed in the GRS and how to convert superseded authorities to new authorities.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

Widespread Flooding May Threaten Records

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

Agency Participants Needed for Electronic Messages Research

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

Update on FAR and GRS

In AC 31.2015, we discussed the fact that the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) had not yet caught up with General Records Schedule (GRS) 1.1, published September 2014 in GRS Transmittal 23.  This resulted in the FAR and the GRS stating different retention periods for records. We are pleased to announce that these necessary alterations to … Continue reading Update on FAR and GRS

Release of 2014 SAO Report Summary

We are pleased to announce we have completed a review of the 2014 Senior Agency Official (SAO) Reports. The results have been issued in a Summary Report available here (.pdf). These reports cover activities in agencies during calendar year 2014. Acting Chief Records Officer for the U.S. Government, Laurence Brewer, said “The report provides important information on the … Continue reading Release of 2014 SAO Report Summary

Chief Records Officer Position Posted

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

Expiration Date Bulletin 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

Open Government National Action Plan 3.0

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