Maximizing NARA’s Value to the Nation: Wide Scale Use of NARA’s Data

The National Archives Strategic Plan for FY 2018-2022 contains a goal to “Maximize NARA’s Value to the Nation.” One of the performance measures of this goal is to collaborate with external platforms and organizations to use NARA’s digitized holdings, or data sets, from the Catalog as a primary source. In fulfilling our mission to drive … Continue reading Maximizing NARA’s Value to the Nation: Wide Scale Use of NARA’s Data

Digital Preservation Framework Released for Public Comment

Today NARA is releasing the entirety of our digital preservation framework for public comment. This digital preservation framework consists of our approach to determining risks faced by electronic files, and our plans for preserving different types of file formats. The public is encouraged to join the discussion, September 16 through November 1, 2019, on GitHub. … Continue reading Digital Preservation Framework Released for Public Comment

White House Transformation Plan

Last week President Trump released his plan to reform and reorganize the Federal government. I am pleased to announce that the President’s plan includes NARA’s reform proposal, “Transition to Electronic Government.” The Summary of Proposal states: “This proposal would transition Federal agencies’ business processes and recordkeeping to a fully electronic environment, and end the National Archives … Continue reading White House Transformation Plan

Bold Updates to Our Strategic Plan

The new administration has required agencies to create strategic plans covering 2018-2022. Our updated Strategic Plan was circulated for public comment over the past couple of months. We asked for input and you gave it.  You can see the history of comments on our GitHub page.  With updates informed by those comments, we provided OMB … Continue reading Bold Updates to Our Strategic Plan

Draft National Archives Strategic Plan

The National Archives, like all other Federal agencies, is required to produce a new Strategic Plan every four years. Our Strategic Plan establishes our Mission, Strategic Goals, and Objectives, and describes how NARA will meet our ambitious vision. We have posted a new, draft Strategic Plan and invite feedback from public and government customers, stakeholders, and … Continue reading Draft National Archives Strategic Plan

Join us for an Archives Hashtag Party!

Last month we kicked off a new social media campaign. The Archives Hashtag Party is a way for our colleagues in the archives community to highlight the diversity of their holdings around a fun topic. We invite you to bring your own collections and join in! The new surprise theme in our Archives Hashtag Party … Continue reading Join us for an Archives Hashtag Party!

What’s New in the National Archives Catalog: Photographs from the Battle of the Bulge

The National Archives’ Strategic Plan includes the bold initiative to digitize our analog records and make them available for online public access. Our new digitization strategy outlines the many approaches we will use to achieve this goal, and I am proud share with you the results of some of our recent digitization work. Recently digitized … Continue reading What’s New in the National Archives Catalog: Photographs from the Battle of the Bulge

Be Bold. Build Our Future Through Our People

Our fourth strategic goal, our most important goal, focuses on the real treasures of the National Archives--our staff. Photograph of Female Statue, The Future, Located near the Pennsylvania Avenue Entrance to the National Archives Building, 06/30/1936. National Archives ID: 7657960   This goal highlights our commitment to provide our staff with the training, tools and opportunities necessary … Continue reading Be Bold. Build Our Future Through Our People

Be Bold: Maximize NARA’s Value to the Nation

In this goal we recognize that public access to government information creates measurable economic value, which adds to the enduring cultural, historical, and evidentiary value of our records. National Archives Identifier: 196401 When we talk about economic value, we are not talking about the appraised value or the replacement value of our records. Historically, we … Continue reading Be Bold: Maximize NARA’s Value to the Nation

Be Bold: Connect with Customers

State Fair, 10/1972. National Archives Identifier 545457 The second of our new strategic goals is to “Connect with Customers.” Having spent most of my career working with the public, customer service is a passion of mine. In my personal life I am always looking for exemplars—places where I am dazzled by attention to service, places which … Continue reading Be Bold: Connect with Customers