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

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. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary and Recommendations 1 Ongoing Technology Change and Rising User Expectations 2 Reengineering Processes to Meet the Electronic Records Challenge 3 Partnering with Other Institutions 4 Broadening Research Interactions 5 Record Integrity and Authenticity Appendix A Briefers to the Study Committee Appendix B Summary and Recommendations Chapter from the Committees First Report Appendix C October 16, 2003, Letter Report to the National Archives and Records Administration Appendix D Committee Member and Staff Biographies