National Archives: Preserving Electronic Records in an Era of Rapidly Changing Technology
GGD-99-94
Published: Jul 19, 1999. Publicly Released: Jul 19, 1999.
Skip to Highlights
Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the preservation of electronic records, focusing on the: (1) challenges that confront the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and federal agencies as a result of their increased reliance on electronic media; (2) status of selected agencies' and NARA's implementation of electronic records management (ERM); and (3) ERM policies and procedures of selected other governments (state and foreign).
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| National Archives and Records Administration | In order for NARA to have the best information to make decisions during its business process reengineering (BPR) effort and, thereby, improve electronic records management in the federal government, the Archivist, NARA, should conduct a baseline assessment survey now and use the information as input into the BPR effort, rather than postpone the survey until after the effort is completed. |
Closed – Not Implemented
In agency comments to the draft report, and also in the September 1999 letter to the Comptroller General that served as the response to 31 USC 720, section 236, and OMB Circular A-50, NARA said it was not going to implement the recommendation. Instead of doing a governmentwide baseline assessment survey as GAO recommended, NARA is going to obtain information from a limited sample of agencies. NARA said that what GAO recommended would not be relevant at this time, but the need for such a survey would be evaluated again later.
|
Full Report
Office of Public Affairs
Topics
ArchivesComparative analysisE-governmentElectronic publicationsElectronic records archiveFederal records managementForeign governmentsManagement reengineeringState governmentsStrategic information systems planningElectronic records