Managing Government Records Browse Popular ideas

Keep it seriously simple:

What is the least amount of records management support one may expect (ask, require or mandate) from electronic records creators? Perhaps that they fill out a very simple xml-based web form any time they create a record. I know what you're thinking: Another form, really? But consider this…

Most of the fields in a "Lifecycle Tracking Form" may be filled out automatically based on a user's e-profile... more »

As a professional researcher, access to the documents located both in the Federal Records Center and National Archive are an invaluable source of information. The following recommendations are provided to help with open government and access:

1) Adhere to established records schedules and accession records to the National Archives in a more orderly and timely manner.

2) Create a system by which researchers may access... more »

Date: March 27, 2012

TO: David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Jacob J. Lew, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB); and Tony West, Associate Attorney General (Acting), Department of Justice (DOJ)

RE: MEMORANDUM TO FEDERAL AGENCY HEADS: Presidential Memorandum on Managing Government Records

Gentlemen:

On behalf of the... more »

There is a business proposition and/or opportunity to improve how long-term temporary and permanent technical and R&D records are managed in the Federal Government. Right now very little integration exists for of these types of records horizontally across the Federal Business Lines. This leads to challenges for researchers and limits the ability to leverage the research and technology effectively within the Federal Government.... more »

Background (Why)
During the FY 2013 Strategic Budgeting Event on July 18, 2011 the following agenda was executed to deliver specific brainstorming products utilizing:
• Visioning
• Needs and opportunities
• Strategies and Priorities
Based upon this Executive Level sponsored event, this proposal addresses the following strategies from the event deliverable:
• NARA leads the profession in developing a new records management... more »

An annual and new employee mandatory records management training requirement should be implemented. It would involve civilians, military and contractors. It would consist of a general understanding of their records management responsibilities and requirements. It would be informative but not overwhelming.

The Office of Management and Budget should require records identification and compliance with records policy for all deployments of information technology in the federal government. The Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC) process should do more than pay lip service to the records status of information managed in federal IT systems. Records Management is a requirement similar to the Section 508 requirements... more »

NARA should be tasked with the development, testing, legal validation and dissemination of the innovative records management technologies. Special attention should be paid to the tools for handling huge volumes of unstructured records (including auto-classification), “big data”, new ways of database preservation (SIARD format) etc. NARA might reuse its experience of development new technologies and solutions for declassification... more »

As a representative of a private sector company that supports government agencies with their records management, here are a few ideas for RM reform:
1. OMB should consider providing upfront funding for agencies to digitize their records. Agencies will need help figuring out "what" records to digitize. A short-term capital expense would lead to longer-term ROI for government budgets; 2. Records management programs typically... more »

HAving seen comments submitted by a couple of Agencies, it is apparent they want to see not only RM processes updated, but a total revamp of guidance provided by NARA.

They also see a need for an acknowledgement of the immense cost associated with improving RM at the Federal level. I can guarantee you, they didn't pull their punches.

It is time for many of the ideas being submitted here to be taken seriously. This... more »

Need I say more?
Unfortunately, the answer in Government is probably yes. The whole idea of archiving in the days of inexpensive data storage and bandwith borders on the ridiculous.The fact that the number one idea on this site is appointing another human to head up another program at each agency simply highlights failed Government management techniques and outdated paradigms. There are MANY commercial, off the shelf... more »

Many of these ideas are part of Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles, GARP, and could be implemented following the Information Governance Maturity Model. The first thing each agency needs to do, however, is to perform an assessment and then differentiate among strategic and tactical Principles, as well as identifying which business processes are at greater risk than others. Then business processes, recordkeeping... more »

Government is not a business, because it has so many stakeholder needs to address; many of which are conflicting. For example, there is a whole element of public access that simply does not apply to the private sector - and conflicts between who wants access, and who doesn't. For that reason, facile claims that the federal government should operate like a private corporation fail to recognize the true scope and complexity... more »

A key benefit of applying Information Governance to an enterprise is the ability to delete/destroy records that are not essential to the business process. Therefore by adding "Transitory" as a new Big Bucket record series, agencies can explicitly define what is a non-record, and apply a retention schedule such as 90 or 120 days.

This can save agencies millions in reduced digital and physical storage costs, and reduce... more »

Many original records are in an "unusual" format, i.e., e-mail, paper, etc., and not in a standard electronic record. In some cases, this original format will contain information that cannot be easily captured for digitized storage.
Provision needs to be made to store certain primary records and make them available for future access so that (a) correct generation of secondary digital documents can be verified and (b)... more »