National Archives: Preserving Electronic Records in an Era of Rapidly Changing Technology

摘要

Under the Federal Records Act, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is responsible for providing guidance and assistance to federal agencies on the creation, maintenance, use, and disposition of government records. Records generated electronically, such as electronic mail (E-mail) messages, word processing documents, CD ROMs, and World Wide Web site pages, present an archival challenge for NARA and agencies because these technologies are new and changing very rapidly. At your request, we undertook an effort to identify issues that relate to electronic records management (ERM), focusing specifically on the preservation of electronic records. This report documents our oral briefing and provides additional information on (1) the challenges that confront NARA and federal agencies as a result of their increased reliance on electronic media; (2) the status of selected agencies' and NARA's implementation of ERM; and (3) the ERM policies and procedures of selected other governments (state and foreign).