How To Utilize NARA’s
Resources
For Your Organization
Donna Read, CRM
Senior Records Analyst
NARA-Southeast Region
FGCARMA
March 2006
What is NARA?
In 1985, NARA became an independent agency under
the Executive Branch of the Federal government.
The National Archives and Records Administration is a
public trust on which our democracy depends.
We ensure continuing access to essential evidence that
documents:
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The rights of American citizens
The actions of federal officials
The national experience
www.archives.gov
What Does NARA Do?
Preserve and make available documents and
materials created by the United States Federal
government.
Some of our holdings:
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Charters of Freedom
Declaration of Independence
Constitution
Bill of Rights
Emancipation Proclamation
Louisiana Purchase Treaty
www.archives.gov
Where Is NARA?
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Archives I in Washington, DC
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Archives II in College Park, MD
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21 Regional records and archive facilities located across the
country
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3 Satellite offices - Florida, Texas and New Mexico
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12 Presidential Libraries
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8 Affiliated Archives in 7 states
www.archives.gov
What Does NARA Have in Common With
Non-Federal Entities?
We’re all governed by laws that pertain to records.
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Federal Records Act of 1950
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Florida Sunshine Law of 1967
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Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002
www.archives.gov
How can we help each other?
From NARA’s Strategic Plan:
“We will partner with Federal agencies and others to develop, adapt, or
adopt products and practices that support good records management. Our
experience shows that we are more effective in partnerships than working
alone. Potential partners include standards organizations, state and local
governments, other countries, and the private sector.”
www.archives.gov
The Elephant in the Room………
Electronic Records
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Decline in number of staff specializing in filing
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Investment in software functionality that creates records is growing
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Mission critical records often not shareable, retrievable, or useable
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Copies proliferate: data conflicts or is unreliable
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Email replaces phone conversations and meetings
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Litigation and discovery costs skyrocketing
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Authenticity is questioned
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Premature destruction or extended retention
www.archives.gov
Several Elephants in the Room with Multiple
Personality Disorders!
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Variety - Over 16,000 formats for e-records
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Complexity – Increasingly sophisticated formats
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Volume – Vast quantities of records
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Obsolescence – Constantly changing technology
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User Expectations – Evolving, unrelenting
www.archives.gov
Anybody Else Having Problems
with E-Records????
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Aerospace
Pharmaceuticals
Energy
Transportation
Electronics
Services
Actually, every enterprise and individual who has need
to access electronic materials beyond 5-10 years.
www.archives.gov
What is NARA Doing about
Electronic Records?
The ERA!!!
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“The Electronic Records Archives (ERA) will
be a comprehensive, systematic, and
dynamic means for preserving virtually
any kind of electronic record, free from
dependence on any specific
hardware or software.”
www.archives.gov
Government and Private Sector
Partners
National
Science
Foundation
Global Grid
Forum
San Diego Super
Computer Center
National Computational
Science Alliance
Army Research
Laboratory
NIST
National Institute of Standards
& Technology
National Partnership for
Advanced Computational
Infrastructure
www.archives.gov
ERA Requirements
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Persistent
To manage and access the records over time.
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Authentic
To ensure that these are the original records
Records that are created with attached
documentary information
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Scalable
To grow and adapt to increasing volumes and
evolving types of electronic records
To serve a variety of user groups
www.archives.gov
Tapes
Accessioning
Workbench
Archival
Repository
Reference
Workbench
Accession
Collection
Query
Collection
Verify
Disks
Internet
Collection
Transform,
Wrap &
Containerize
Metadata
Rebuild
Present
Describe
Records
Schedules
Archival Research Catalog
www.archives.gov
Order
Fulfillment
System
What Will The System Do?
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Protect the system and the records with
state-of-the-art security.
Accommodate substantial growth in volume & variety.
Support the collection, integration, and sharing of
information about records.
www.archives.gov
And….
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Support the workflow associated with business
processes.
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Interoperate with other systems.
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Maintain a complete audit trail.
www.archives.gov
Architecture Requirements
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Open Event Driven Architecture
Evolvable
Integrated COTS
Central Business Rule Repository
Distributed / Grid Centric / Self-managing
Secure / Classified As Well As Unclassified
Highly Scaleable In All Dimensions
HW / SW Independent Component Intermediation
Highly Reliable
www.archives.gov
Where Are We Now on ERA?
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On September 8, 2005 NARA announced the selection of
Lockheed Martin Corporation to build the Electronic
Records Archives.
Lockheed Martin Corporation was selected based on the
following best value factors: 1) best technical
solution, 2) system and software engineering
methodology, and 3) management.
http://www.archives.gov/era/
www.archives.gov
Additional Contact Info for ERA
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Fynnette Eaton in College Park, MD
fynnette.eaton@nara.gov
1-301-837-2007
www.archives.gov
How Does All This Help You?
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NARA has issued guidance for dealing
with electronic records
………………………..lots of it!!!
www.archives.gov
Guidance Bulletins
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http://www.archives.gov/recordsmgmt/bulletins/index.html
Guidance for Building an Effective Enterprise-wide Electronic
Records Management (ERM) Structure
Evaluating Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Electronic Records
Management Applications
Transfer of Permanent E-records to NARA
Federal Enterprise Architecture Records Management Profile
Methodology for Determining Agency-unique Requirements
Coordinating the Evaluation of Capital Planning & Investment
Control Proposal for ERM Applications ……and more
www.archives.gov
Guidance for Building an Effective Enterprisewide Electronic Records Management (ERM)
Governance Structure
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19 page document
Defines governance
Tips for good ERM project governance
Essential Elements
Illustrative Model of Governance Bodies at
Work
Lessons Learned
www.archives.gov
Evaluating Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS)
Electronic Records Management Applications
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32 page document with attachments
Methodology for evaluation
ERM Development process
Analyzing requirements
Setting criteria
Sample product scoring profile
Presenting analysis
Functional requirements
Lessons learned
www.archives.gov
Transfer of Permanent E-records to NARA
Transfer Instructions for:
 Existing E-mail Messages with Attachments
 Scanned Images of Textual Records
 Permanent E-records in Portable Document Format
(PDF)
 XML schema for RM and archival metadata
 Digital Photographic Records
 Digital Geospatial Data Records (GIS)
 Web Content Records
www.archives.gov
How Can NARA’s Transfer Instructions Help Me?
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They include technical specifications for transfer
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Definitions of what is to be included
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Documentation that needs to accompany transfers
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Formats accepted
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Security settings that will allow future access
www.archives.gov
For Example
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Technical Review of Potentially Permanent Digital
Geospatial Data – System Information, Data
Construction, Technical Documentation…..
Image Quality Specification for Digital Photographic
Records – Records created using digital cameras
must be captured as 2 megapixel files or greater with
a minimum pixel array of 1,600 pixel by 1,200 pixels.
www.archives.gov
ETC.
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For transfer of scanned images of textual records
NARA will accept TIFF, GIF, BIIF, and PNG formats.
Bitonal (1-bit) scanned at 300-6– ppi, Gray scale (8bit_ scanned at 300-4– ppi, Color (24-bit RGB [Red,
Grenn, Blue]) scanned at 300-4– ppi.
www.archives.gov
Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA)
Records Management Profile
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72 page document
Framework that overlays 5 other Reference Models
How to use the RM Profile to improve records
management
How RM is integrated in the SDLC (Systems
Development Lifecycle)
NARA’s endorsement of records management
applications
www.archives.gov
Methodology for Determining
Agency-unique Requirements
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15 page document
Requirements classification
Best practices when customizing 5015.2certified RMA software
Review of existing systems
Review of Infrastructure/It architecture
Stakeholder review
www.archives.gov
Coordinating the Evaluation of Capital
Planning & Investment Control Proposal for
ERM Applications
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11 page document
Management technique used to review and
evaluate large federal IT investments
3 steps to assist with management of an
enterprise-wide ERM
www.archives.gov
Fast Track Guidance
http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/policy/fast-track.html
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Overview: Context for Electronic Records Management[ERM]
What is Electronic Recordkeeping [ERK]?
Why Federal Agencies Need to Move Toward Electronic Recordkeeping
Preliminary Planning for Electronic Recordkeeping: Check list for IT Staff
Preliminary Planning for Electronic Recordkeeping: Checklist for RM Staff
Typical Records Management [RM] Functions and Typical RM Program Activities
Examples of System Functions for Electronic Recordkeeping (ERK) and Electronic
Records Management (ERM)
Survey of Baseline Organizational Information
Analysis of Costs and Benefits for ERM/ERK Projects
Long version of customizable Electronic Recordkeeping Powerpoint Presentation
Short version of customizable Electronic Recordkeeping Powerpoint Presentation
User's Guide for Electronic Recordkeeping Powerpoint Presentation
www.archives.gov
General Records Schedule
http://www.archives.gov/recordsmgmt/ardor/records-schedules.html
25 Schedules for commonly generated records from
Payroll to Information Technology Operations
www.archives.gov
Frequently Asked Questions About Records
Management
http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/faqs/
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FAQs About Records Management in General
FAQs About Federal Records Management
FAQs About Records Management Training
FAQs About Scheduling and Disposition
FAQs About Records Inventories
FAQs About Optical Media
FAQs About Imaged Records
FAQs About Irradiated Mail
Additional Records Management Assistance
www.archives.gov
Miscellaneous Guidance
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Guidance for flexible scheduling
Technical Guidelines for Digitizing Archival
Materials for Electronic Access: Creation of
Production Master Files – Raster Images
Records Storage Facility Standards
www.archives.gov
Training
http://www.archives.gov/recordsmgmt/training/
6 Knowledge Areas of Records
Management
www.archives.gov
If you are a Federal Entity
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Targeted Assistance is available to you.
A customer driven, problem-solving
approach to records management
www.archives.gov
Other Resources
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www.arma.org
www.aiim.org
www.saa.org
www.frma.org
ISO 15489
DoD 5015.2
MoReq
www.archives.gov
Thank you very much
Donna Read, CRM
Senior Records Analyst
NARA-Southeast Region
Palm Harbor, Florida
727-781-0568
Donna.read@nara.gov
www.archives.gov