Analyzing archives and finding facts: use and users of digital data records

This article focuses on use and users of data from the NARA (National Archives and Records Administration), U.S. Who is using archival electronic records, and why are they using them? It describes the changes in use and consequently user groups over the last 30 years. The changes in use are related to the evolution of reference services for electronic records at NARA, as well as to growth in the types of electronic records accessioned by NARA. The first user group consisted mainly of researchers with a social science background, who usually expected to handle the data themselves. The user community expanded when electronic records with personal value, like casualty records, were transferred to NARA, and broadened yet again when a selection of NARA’s electronic records became available online. Archivists trying to develop user services for electronic records will find that the needs and expectations of fact or information seeking data users are different from those of researchers using and analyzing data files.     

Making history: The sitting modern president and the national archives

Tradition, law, and the model of the modern Presidential library cement the close institutional ties which bind the nation's chief executive and the chief recordkeeper, a relationship which comes into flourish in the post-presidency. Although existing statute addresses limited formal interaction between an incumbent administration and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), in fact, the day-to-day relationship has evolved to incorporate diverse and expanding activities, particularly under President Bill Clinton. These functions anticipate the eventual transfer of records management responsibility from the Executive Office of the President to NARA upon the conclusion of each administration, and the agency's future role in administering a president's library. In this essay, the current administration's liaison to the National Archives surveys the contemporaneous relationship between NARA and sitting modern Presidents, with emphasis on the Clinton White House.     

Preserving Electronic Government Information

Abstract

Over the last ten years the Government Printing Office has made a massive shift from print to electronic media as the preferred distribution medium for government documents. Federal agencies over the same period have created large numbers of electronic records that require long-term preservation under the law. This article examines how the National Archives and the Government Printing Office are responding to the technical, financial, legal, and political challenges of providing permanent public access to electronic government information. NARA efforts to collect, appraise, and preserve records following the mandates of the courts in the wake of the PROFS litigation in Armstrong v. Executive Office of the President are discussed. The work of the GPO to develop an electronic archive and develop electronic partnerships with depository libraries and federal agencies is also examined.     

政府电子文件协同管理:美国经验及其启示

加强政府电子文件协同管理是促进政府电子文件高效管理和价值实现的有效路径。采用协同创新管理理论框架对近五年美国国家档案与文件署发布的电子文件管理相关政策进行文本分析,并对五个部门工作人员进行访谈,深入了解政策现状,归纳总结出美国在政府电子文高效协同管理方面的措施,揭示其在目标协同、主体协同、客体协同、过程协同、要素协同五个方面的协同经验。最后,结合我国实践需求,提出了借鉴五个方面经验,促进政府电子文件协同管理路径高效的启示。     

美国数字档案资源长期保存战略的分析与启示

美国国家档案与文件管理署2017年8月发布了首个《数字档案资源长期保存策略》,突破了传统长期保存战略制定以图书情报机构为主导的局限,专门针对数字档案资源的长期保存进行了战略规划。本文关注到这一战略在档案长期保存领域中的突破意义,对战略文本和其他相关政策开展文本研究,分析战略的制定背景,并从路线规划、宏观战略与中观策略等方面探析战略的具体内容,以探求美国制定数字档案资源长期保存战略的经验与方法,为我国相关战略的制定提供借鉴。     

Benchmarking: the Search for Peers. A Hybrid Library's Experience

ABSTRACT

Although there are established measurements and metricsfor academic libraries, there are few, if any, for presidential libraries, especially hybrid presidential libraries. The presidential library system, part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), administers and defines metrics for 13 libraries documenting the lives and work of U.S. presidents since Herbert Hoover (1929–1933). There is no equivalent system for the non-NARA Presidential Libraries, such as the ALPLM, that documents the lives of earlier presidents. Can the non-NARA Libraries be considered a peer group for benchmarking? This column examines benchmarking and the attempts of the ALPLM to define a peer group.     

A Tale of Two Outliers: Evidence-Based Management in Non-ARL Research Libraries and Pre-NARA Presidential Libraries

Administrators in libraries of all types face the challenge of managing and planning in times of static or declining funding and rapidly changing technology. What tools do they use to gather and employ data for decision-making and evidence-based management? Are the same tools and techniques useful for all types of libraries? Although there are established measurements and metrics for academic libraries, there are few, if any, for others such as hybrid presidential libraries which are not part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) system. This column identifies the metrics used by the pre-NARA presidential libraries and compares them to metrics used by a subgroup of Carnegie Research 1 and Research 2 libraries, those that do not participate in Association of Research Libraries (ARL) statistics program. It identifies similarities and differences.     

Partners on the net: FDLP partnering to coordinate remote access to internet-based government information

In June 1996, the Government Printing Office (GPO) published a plan for its transition to a more electronic Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). This plan assumes that federal information policy requires that the FDLP provide permanent public access to remotely-accessible electronic government information products and indicates that such access will be provided through a network of partnerships comprised of the GPO, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), federal agencies, and FDLP libraries. GPO has established its first library partnership in this FDLP network with the University of Chicago at Illinois' Richard J. Daley Library and the Department of State (DOS) to ensure that DOS materials will be available for permanent public access through the FDLP. To extend the partnership network to publishing agencies, a partnership has been arranged with the Department of Energy (DOE) to ensure direct FDLP access to technical reports maintained on a DOE World Wide Web site.     

Preservation and Policies in Hellenic Libraries and Archives: A Nationwide Research

The growing interest in the preservation of archival and library collections in Greece and the lack of documentation in this field led to a nationwide survey to explore the preservation status in Hellenic (Greek) cultural institutions, including public, municipal, academic, and bank libraries as well as the General State Archives. This article describes the survey's background and methodology, presents key findings on the preservation management and actions undertaken, provides a sound documentation on the state of the art regarding preservation, and sets future goals.     

Reference Services for Electronic Records in Archives

Abstract

The Center for Electronic Records of the National Archives is the unit of the National Archives and Records Administration responsible for the appraisal, accessioning, preservation, and provision of access to the permanently valuable electronic records of the Federal government. Recent changes in technology, especially the development of global networks of computers, have changed the way some archivists view the role of archives, especially for electronic records. From a reference services perspective, there is a continuing rqle for electronic records archives.     

The proposed National Depository Agency and transfer of the Public Documents Library to the National Archives

The period 1972–1974 saw the establishment of the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) and the Depository Library Council to the Public Printer. This same period also saw the development of the concept of a National Depository Agency, and the transfer to the National Archives of the Public Documents Library which would form the nucleus of the comprehensive retrospective collection of U.S. documents of that proposed agency. This article discusses the origins of the Public Documents Library within the Government Printing Office, its transfer in 1972, and the three subsequent moves ofthat collection. It discusses the role of GODORT in the development of the proposed National Depository Agency, and related Title 44 revision proposals during the 96th Congress. It examines the concerns of GODORT and the Depository Library Council over maintenance and servicing of the Public Documents Library collection by the National Archives, and its relation to a National Depository Agency.     

K-12 Instruction and Digital Access to Archival Materials

Abstract

Providing K-12 schools with digital access to archival materials can strengthen both student learning and archival practice, although it cannot replace direct physical access to records. This article compares a variety of electronic and non-electronic projects to promote teaching with primary source materials. The article also examines some of the different historiographical and pedagogical approaches used in archival Web sites geared for K-12 instruction, focusing on differences between the educational sites sponsored by the Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration.     

Culture and conflict: Defining the National Archives

This article is a revised version of an address given at the Symposium on Presidential Libraries and Historical Scholarship at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1993. While the article focuses on presidential papers, it does so in the context of broader access and information issues still facing the National Archives.     

修订完善《高等学校档案管理办法》的建议

2008年实施的《高等学校档案管理办法》,在指导、推进高校档案工作科学、健康发展等方面发挥了重要作用。然而十八大以来,国家出台、修订了一系列新的档案法规标准,档案信息化建设也进入新阶段,《办法》中部分内容已经不适应新形势下对档案工作的新要求,有必要对其进行修订。本文主要分析了《高等学校档案管理办法》修订完善的必要性和修订原则,并提出一些具体的修订建议。     

历史文献档案数字化实现路径分析

随着信息化技术的发展,历史文献档案转化为数据信息的技术条件已经成熟,需要加快历史文献档案的数字化进程,使历史文献档案能够更好保存的同时让更多人借阅和使用。本文详细阐述了历史文献以及历史文献档案数字化的内涵,具体分析了进行数字化工作的必要性以及实现路径,希望有助于我国历史文献档案的保存和使用。     

The Future of Presidential Libraries: Assessing Alternative Models from a Legal Research Perspective

Presidential libraries—each a unique combination of archival depository and historical museum—offer visitors an invaluable opportunity to examine millions of papers, records, and artifacts from the administrations of our chief executives. In response to a congressional directive to consider means of reducing costs and improving the preservation of and access to presidential records, the National Archives and Records Administration has proposed five alternatives to the current presidential library system. This article analyzes these alternative models from the perspective of the legal research community. After discussing the role of presidential libraries in legal research, this article considers the merits of each model and concludes that a central archival depository would best meet the information needs of legal researchers.