INFORMATION ABOUT THE CENTER FOR ELECTRONIC RECORDS Center for Electronic Records National Archives and Records Administration Washington, DC 20408 Access to Government information is essential in a democratic nation. It depends, to a large degree, on good recordkeeping by Government agencies, on the preservation of important records, and on public access to those records. The information in records has considerable value in documenting the vast scope and great diversity of Federal Government activities and functions. Federal records often are the best available sources of information for various kinds of research, including research in history, sociology, economics, and the natural sciences. What is the National Archives? The National Archives, a part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), is the statutorily authorized repository for "those official records which have been determined by the Archivist of the United States to have sufficient historical or other value to warrant their continued preservation by the Federal Government, and which have been accepted by the Archivist for deposit in his custody" (44 U.S.C. 2901). Since its creation in 1934 the National Archives has retained noncurrent Federal records for the protection of public and private rights and for research use. The holdings of the National Archives span 200 years of American history and document an immense range of activities of Federal agencies. These archival records also reveal much about the lives and opinions of Americans, individually and collectively, throughout our nation's history. They contain vast quantities of information about our nation's economy and resources and about natural phenomena. Records available in National Archives facilities across the United States include those created by the courts, Congress, the President, Presidential commissions, and components of numerous Federal agencies and bureaus. The National Archives promotes the fullest possible public use of the records in its custody, while protecting personal, restricted, or classified records and information against unauthorized disclosure. What is the Center for Electronic Records? The Center for Electronic Records is the organization within the National Archives that appraises, collects, preserves, and provides access to records in a format designed for computer processing. Where do records in the Center come from? Originally, these electronic records are created or received by agencies of the Federal Government. They may concern virtually any area or subject in which the Government is involved. They may be from any type of computer application, such as data processing, word processing, computer modelling, or geographic information systems. How does the Center determine what records it will accept? A. Inventorying Identifying permanently valuable records for retention by the National Archives begins with an effective records management program, as outlined in 36 CFR 1234. The agency's records management staff and the program personnel responsible for the records inventory both the electronic records and the related documentation created and maintained by that agency and/or its contractors. Using this inventory, these officials determine how long to retain the records for agency business and identify series of records (both unique data sets and on-going electronic records systems) that may have enduring value. B. Scheduling Records management personnel assemble information on content, retention, and disposition and the availability and extent of documentation and related reports or other products from the data in a records control schedule. They submit the proposed schedule to NARA for approval on a Standard Form 115, Request for Records Disposition Authority. Records schedules ensure that records are retained by the agency for as long as they are needed for current business. Schedules also remove the inefficiency that would result from keeping records longer than needed for current business. If the records have continuing value, the schedule ensures their preservation by providing for transfer to the National Archives for preservation and research use. C. Appraising NARA must approve all schedules for Federal records prior to their implementation by an agency. NARA bases its approval on an appraisal of both the current and long term value of the records. If NARA judges that the records have continuing value, the Center for Electronic Records makes specific agreements with the agency to stipulate when the files will be transferred to the National Archives. The identification and selection of permanent electronic records is a complex process. Appraisal requires a content analysis (an evaluation of the informational value of the data) and a technical analysis (an evaluation of the useability of the data) to determine whether and how the records can be transferred from the agency's system to the archival environment. Although some records obviously have current or future research interest, others do not. Appraisal archivists consider the value of data in the context of past, present, and probable future research trends, keeping in mind the data's origin and current use and its impact on Federal programs and policy. Administrative and legal value, as well as the potential for linkage with other data, may bear on the appraisal decision. Generally, only a small percent (less than 5%) of all electronic records have enduring value. Unaggregated microlevel data - data in its original form before aggregation, summarization, or masking - has the greatest potential for future secondary analysis. Once the Center determines that certain electronic records have enduring value, it then determines whether the records should be preserved in electronic format. The decision often rests on whether it is important to preserve the capability of processing the records by computer. For example, computer processing is highly valuable for large collections of data that may be subjected to statistical analysis. When computer processing is not necessary, the Center may recommend that the records be preserved only in hard copy (paper or microform). If the Center decides the records have continuing value in electronic format, it then must perform a technical analysis. The technical analysis considers the organization of files and data, the medium, and other technical characteristics of the records to determine whether and how the records can be transferred. The analysis identifies those points in the system life-cycle at which records can be extracted for transfer to the National Archives. It also establishes requirements for technical documentation necessary to permit reading and interpreting records transferred to the Archives. System and software dependencies are analyzed to determine whether they prevent or impede transfer, preservation, or retrieval of the records. Additional information about inventorying, scheduling, and appraising electronic records is available in Managing Electronic Records, part of NARA's Instructional Guide series. The appendices in Managing Electronic Records include relevant portions of the Code of Federal Regulations, sample standard forms to be used for describing systems and files, a glossary, and General Records Schedules 20 (covering electronic records created in central ADP facilities) and 23 (covering office automation). The booklet can be obtained using the Request for Further Information at the end of this pamphlet or by contacting NARA's Office of Records Administration at (202) 501-6000. What technical documentation is necessary for the use of electronic records? Documentation adequate to access, process, and interpret simple electronic records can consist of just a record layout with appropriate field definitions and codes. For more complex data sets additional documentation might include sample data collection forms, instructions to data collectors, methodology statements, weighting factors, reports and analyses of the data, and related bibliographies. Are Federal agencies required to transfer electronic records to the Center? The Federal Records Act of 1950, as amended, (44 U.S.C. Chapter 21) mandates that the National Archives preserve Federal records with continuing value and make them available to the public. Other repositories may acquire copies of these and other Federal data files, but they have no statutory responsibility to retain them. While some Federal agencies have designated institutions to be the repository (and distributor) for specific data files and have provided grants to underwrite their efforts, NARA must be consulted regarding the disposition of these files. In accordance with 44 U.S.C. 2107, the Archivist of the United States may direct and effect the transfer of any record determined to have permanent value that is more than 30 years old and no longer needed for regular current agency business. In some instances the Center has arranged with other repositories to acquire and store Federal data sets that do not meet the National Archives' criteria for permanent retention. The National Archives occasionally approves long-term retention of electronic records in the agency that created the records or in a facility under that agency's direction. When and how does an agency transfer electronic records to the Center? All transfers to the Center for Electronic Records should take place in accordance with 36 CFR 1228.188 and with the disposition instructions in the NARA-approved records schedule for those records. The instructions indicate both how the records are to be organized and when they should be transferred. Electronic records are "transferred to the National Archives on one-half inch 7-track or 9-track magnetic tape reels, written in ASCII or EBCDIC, with all extraneous control characters removed from the data (except record length indicators for variable length records, or marks designating a datum, word, field, block, or file), blocked no higher than 30,000 bytes per block, at 800, 1600, or 6250 bpi. Given the short life cycle of electronic records, the Center acquires them as soon as possible after the agency writes them in definitive form (preferably within five years of creation) to ensure adequate documentation and proper maintenance, environment, and security. Under current regulations (36 CFR 1228.188) all electronic records should be transferred in a software-independent format. The research potential and utility of some electronic records, however, would be significantly diminished if they were transferred in such a format. In such cases the Center will work with the agency to determine the best mode of transfer. Agencies preparing to transfer electronic records to the Center should call (202) 501-5565 or (FTS) 241-5565 for current instructions on preparing Standard Forms 258 and 277, which accompany the records, and to arrange for delivery of the records. When the Center has completed processing the records it will return the original computer tapes to the agency. What services does the Center provide for electronic records? Timely deposit of permanent electronic records in the National Archives has several benefits for the creating agency. Foremost among these is assumption by the Center of responsibility for fulfilling the requirements of 36 CFR 1234.28. These requirements include creation and maintenance of a master and a backup copy of the records, adherence to prescribed environmental standards, annual statistical sampling to identify any loss of data, and copying of the data onto technologically current media every ten years. For those permanent electronic records in which the agency has an ongoing program interest, timely deposit with the Center provides no-cost backup storage of the data and the documentation. Upon request of the creating agency's records officer, the Center normally will provide an agency, free of charge, one copy of any of its records that have been accessioned into the Center. Federal agencies also receive a discount on any other data they purchase from the Center. To ensure future access to all electronic records transferred to its custody, the Center validates all data received and works with the agency to resolve any discrepancies. The Center supplements agency-created documentation as necessary with an introduction that discusses the origin, creation, and administrative uses of the records and lists related records that are or will be available. The documentation package may specify all known cases of missing data. It may indicate any characteristics of the records that could cause problems for researchers. The package also may include a record layout, a sample printout, an explanation of the process used to examine the records, and copies of all manuals, codes, and input documents or data collection forms necessary for secondary users to understand and use the records. Will the Center maintain restrictions on access imposed by the originating agency? Some permanently valuable electronic records contain information that the Freedom of Information Act exempts from public disclosure. These records contain information relating to national security, individual privacy, proprietary interests, or matters protected by specific statute. The National Archives protects against unwarranted invasion of individual privacy, in general, for 75 years. Statutory restrictions on electronic records transferred to the National Archives remain in force until the records are 30 years old, unless extended by the Archivist of the United States after consultation with the originating agency. The National Archives protects restricted records with appropriate physical and procedural controls. Where possible, the Center produces a disclosure-free version of the file. In other cases it provides extracts of unrestricted information from the records. When necessary, the Center withholds the entire contents of a file. In a limited number of cases, biomedical researchers, after agreeing in writing to certain conditions and restraints, may be granted access to restricted records for the purpose of statistical or quantitative research. Such information is available only in accordance with the procedures outlined in 36 CFR 1256.4. What access and reference services does the Center provide for electronic records? The reference service staff is available to assist researchers between 8:45 a.m. and 5:15 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Center's research room is in Room 18E of the National Archives Building, Pennsylvania Avenue, between Seventh and Ninth Streets, NW, Washington, DC 20408. The telephone number is (202) 501-5579 or FTS 241-5579. The reference service staff of the Center provides information about the Center's holdings and assists researchers in finding those records that would be most useful for their projects. A number of finding aids describe the holdings, including a Partial and Preliminary Title List of Holdings, are available. A general information leaflet, "Information About Electronic Records in the National Archives for Prospective Researchers," also is available. Copies of records in the Center's custody are available for purchase on open reel magnetic tape. Federal agencies are entitled to a ten percent discount and may acquire the records using a purchase order. Electronic records preserved by the Center are maintained in a format compatible with current technology. Most of these records can be processed without reliance on any specific computer hardware or software, except that access to a 9-track tape drive is needed. The physical format of the 9-track tape - in terms of encoding (EBCDIC or ASCII), internal labels (EBCDIC only), block size, and recording density (1600 or 6250 bpi) - is created in accordance with the user-specified technical requirements of the computer installation at which the data set(s) will be processed. Are there any limitations on the services provided by the Center? The Center is not equipped to provide onsite access to, or manipulation of, its electronic data sets. Printouts (or dumps) of data sets, copies of data sets onto electronic media other than computer tape (i.e. floppy disks, CD-ROM, etc.), and extracts of data sets onto any media, generally are not available. While the Center does not routinely produce extracts, tabulations, or formatted printouts, it has created them for a limited number of data sets related to records of casualties of the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. Information on these can be requested using the form on the inside back cover. For further information about the services offered by NARA's Center for Electronic Records contact the Center: Center for Electronic Records (NNX) National Archives and Records Administration Washington, DC 20408 (202) 501-5565 (FTS) 241-5565 REQUEST FOR FURTHER INFORMATION I would like to receive the following information about NARA's Center for Electronic Records: ___ Managing Electronic Records: Instructional Guide Series ___ Information About Electronic Records in the National Archives for Prospective Researchers ___ Assistance in scheduling electronic records ___ Assistance in transferring electronic records ___ Preliminary and Partial Title List of Holdings ___ Information about an area of research: _______________ ___ Other assistance: _________________________ NAME: ____________________________ ADDRESS: ____________________________ ____________________________ TELEPHONE: (____)____________________ _________ | | | Place | | Stamp | | Here | | | |_______| Reference Service Staff Center for Electronic Records (NNX) National Archives and Records Administration Washington, DC 20408 National Archives and Records Administration General Information Leaflet 1991