Building an Electronic Records Archive at the National Archives and Records Administration

Building an Electronic Records Archive at the National Archives and Records Administration

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2005-07-28

Total Pages: 112

ISBN-13: 0309096960

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The federal government generates and increasingly saves a large and growing fraction of its records in electronic form. In 1998, the National Archives and Record Administration (NARA) launched its Electronic Archives (ERA) program to create a system to preserve and provide access to federal electronic records. To assist in this project, NARA asked the NRC to conduct a two-phase study to provide advice as it develops the ERA program. The first two reports (phase one) provided recommendations on design, engineering, and related issues facing the program. This report (phase two) focuses on longer term, more strategic issues including technology trends that will shape the ERA system, archival processes of the ERA, and future evolution of the system. It also provides an assessment of technical and design issues associated with record integrity and authenticity.


Building an Electronic Records Archive at the National Archives and Records Administration

Building an Electronic Records Archive at the National Archives and Records Administration

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2003-08-18

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13: 9780309089470

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Like its constituent agencies and other organizations, the federal government generates and increasingly saves a large and growing fraction of its records in electronic form. Recognizing the greater and greater importance of these electronic records for its mission of preserving "essential evidence," the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) launched a major new initiative, the Electronic Records Archives (ERA). NARA plans to commence the initial procurement for a production-quality ERA in 2003 and has started a process of defining the desired capabilities and requirements for the system. As part of its preparations for an initial ERA procurement, NARA asked the National Academies' Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) to provide independent technical advice on the design of an electronic records archive, including an assessment of how work sponsored by NARA at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) helps inform the ERA design and what key issues should be considered in ERA's design and operation.Building an Electronic Records Archie at the National Archives and Records Administration provides preliminary feedback to NARA on lessons it should take from the SDSC work and identifies key ERA design issues that should be addressed as the ERA procurement process proceeds in 2003.


Archives for the 21st Century

Archives for the 21st Century

Author: Great Britain: Ministry of Justice

Publisher: Stationery Office

Published: 2009-11-24

Total Pages: 25

ISBN-13: 9780101774420

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Publicly funded archive services have a vital role within the communities they serve to contribute to local democracy, strong and cohesive communities, social policy, education, research, history and culture. This document sets out the strategic vision for the sustainable development of a vigorous, publicly funded archive sector across England and Wales. It replaces the "Government policy on archives" that was issued by the Lord Chancellor in 1999 (Cm. 4516, ISBN 9780101451628)and focuses on actions for publicly funded archives while acknowledging that private archives remain vital to the archival health of the nation. Section 1 outlines how the landscape in which archive services operate has changed: large organisations now keep most, if not all, of their information in electronic form. Section 2 provides a vision of the true potential of publicly funded archives. Section 3 outlines the challenges facing archive services in the delivery of their core task of preserving authentic information and helping people to access and understand the past. Section 4 sets out five key recommendations: develop bigger and better services in partnership; strengthened leadership and a responsive, skilled workforce; co-ordinated response to the growing challenge of managing digital information; comprehensive online access for archive discovery through catalogues and to digitised archive content by citizens at a time and place that suits them; active participation in cultural and learning partnerships promoting a sense of identity and place within the community. Section 5 highlights the need for concerted action by all parties connected with the archive sector to ensure a sustainable future.