SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
EXPLORE +
  • About infoDOCKET
  • Academic Libraries on LJ
  • Research on LJ
  • News on LJ
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Libraries
    • Academic Libraries
    • Government Libraries
    • National Libraries
    • Public Libraries
  • Companies (Publishers/Vendors)
    • EBSCO
    • Elsevier
    • Ex Libris
    • Frontiers
    • Gale
    • PLOS
    • Scholastic
  • New Resources
    • Dashboards
    • Data Files
    • Digital Collections
    • Digital Preservation
    • Interactive Tools
    • Maps
    • Other
    • Podcasts
    • Productivity
  • New Research
    • Conference Presentations
    • Journal Articles
    • Lecture
    • New Issue
    • Reports
  • Topics
    • Archives & Special Collections
    • Associations & Organizations
    • Awards
    • Funding
    • Interviews
    • Jobs
    • Management & Leadership
    • News
    • Patrons & Users
    • Preservation
    • Profiles
    • Publishing
    • Roundup
    • Scholarly Communications
      • Open Access

May 3, 2011 by Gary Price

Archivist of U.S. Talks to Congress About "Recipe for Lost Docs" & Preserving Social Media From White House Staff

May 3, 2011 by Gary Price

UPDATE 2: Video of Hearing (Runs About 90 Minutes) (via YouTube)

UPDATE: Prepared Testimony By Mr. Ferriero and Brook Colangelo

From Tech Insider:

A current law that gives federal agencies 30 years to turn over all the records that must be permanently retained by the National Archives is a recipe for lost documents and a spotty historical record, the government’s chief archivist told lawmakers Tuesday.

That 30-year window may have been appropriate in a paper era when the only danger to documents came from floods and fires. But in an electronic age, any method of record storage is likely to be obsolete by the time the National Archives gets hold of the records stored on it, Archivist David Ferriero told members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

[Clip]

Ferreiro said only about half a dozen agencies now voluntarily turn over their records early. He recommended a president’s time in office, either a single or a double term, as a reasonable lag time for records to be turned over.

From the Washington Post:

The nation’s archivist said Tuesday he’s uncomfortable with allowing White House staff members to decide whether their tweets, emails and Facebook messages from personal accounts are work-related and must be saved.

David Ferriero, archivist of the United States, told a House hearing that official communications sent from a presidential employee’s personal device, using personal accounts, must be preserved under the law. However, a staff member gets to determine what is official.

Brook Colangelo, the Obama administration’s chief information officer, said there’s no way to automatically capture communications from personal accounts unless they are accessed through a government-issued computer or personal device, such as an iPad or BlackBerry. He said the administration relies on periodic training to help employees make the right decision.

Asked by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., whether he was comfortable with a voluntary system replied, “Any time there is human intervention, then I’m not comfortable.”

The White House automatically captures and retains all communications sent to and from government computers and government-issued personal devices. But only the president and vice president can determine which White House records must be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration when the administration ends.

Holding up an iPad, Issa — chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee — told the White House’s Colangelo: “People carry a product that circumvents your entire system” of preserving records.

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Journal Articles, News, Video Recordings

SHARE:

ArchivesDavid FerrieroDigital PreservationGovernmentLegalNARAPreservationSocial MediaWhite House

About Gary Price

Gary Price (gprice@mediasourceinc.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. Before launching INFOdocket, Price and Shirl Kennedy were the founders and senior editors at ResourceShelf and DocuTicker for 10 years. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com, and is currently a contributing editor at Search Engine Land.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Job Zone

ADVERTISEMENT

Recent Articles on LJ

After the MLIS

Not Neutral | ALA Annual 2022

Tour de France: A Watching, Reading, and Listening Guide | Your Home Librarian

Certified Sustainable | Sustainability

Texas A&M Restructures Library Roles, Rescinds Librarian Tenure

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Infodocket Posts

Not Real News: An Associated Press Roundup of Untrue Stories Shared Widely on Social Media This Week

From the Associated Press: A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were ...

Journal Article: "Public Libraries as Community Health Partners"

The article linked below was recently published by Certified Public Manager® Applied Research Title Public Libraries as Community Health Partners Authors Melinda HodgesLibrary Director, Buda Public Library, City of Buda ...

University of Cincinnati: Lori Harris Named Interim Dean and University Librarian

From the University of Cincinnati: Lori E. Harris has been named interim dean and university librarian of the University of Cincinnati Libraries effective July 1, 2022. Harris initially joined the ...

New Research Article: "How Policies Portray Students: A Discourse Analysis of Codes of Conduct in Academic Libraries"

The article linked below appears in the July 2022 issue of College & Research Libraries. Title How Policies Portray Students: A Discourse Analysis of Codes of Conduct in Academic Libraries ...

Florida International University (FIU) Launches Open-Access Forensic Research Library

From FIU Announcement: Florida International University (FIU) has launched a first-of-its-kind resource for forensic science practitioners, students, researchers, and the general public. The Research Forensic Library provides access to thousands ...

"Book Banning and the First Amendment" (Video Recording of a Freedom Forum Event)

The video recording of Freedom Forum event about about book banning and the First Amendment was recorded at the Library of Congress on June 21, 2022. The discussion features: Suzanne ...

Educopia Partnering with Curtin University and OAPEN to Create a Community Governed OA Book Analytics Service for Publishers

From an Educopia Announcement: With more than AUD $1M in support from the Mellon Foundation, we at Educopia are excited to be working with collaborative partners at Curtin University  and ...

Just Released: U.S. Copyright Office Publishes Report on Copyright Protections For Press Publishers

From the U.S. Copyright Office: On June 30, 2022, the U.S. Copyright Office published a report titled Copyright Protections for Press Publishers. At the request of Senators Leahy, Tillis, Cornyn, ...

U.S. Census Releases 2021 Population Estimates: Nation Continues to Age as It Becomes More Diverse

From the U.S. Census: The last two decades have seen the country grow continuously older. Since 2000, the national median age – the point at which one-half the population is ...

Vision 2030: Library and Archives Canada Releases New Strategic Plan

From the LAC Website: Following two years of consultations, reflection and work, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has unveiled its strategic plan, Vision 2030, defining the institution’s goals until 2030 ...

Journal Article: "The Financial Maintenance of Social Science Data Archives: Four Case Studies of Long-Term Infrastructure Work"

The article linked below was recently published by the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST). Title The Financial Maintenance of Social Science Data Archives: Four Case ...

Library Futures Releases Policy Statement and Draft eBook Legislative Language: Mitigating the Library eBook Conundrum Through Legislative Action...

From a Library Futures Post by Kyle Courtney and Juliya Ziskina: Library Futures is excited to announce that we are launching our policy statement on eBooks. Current eBook licensing practices ...

ADVERTISEMENT

FOLLOW INFODOCKET ON TWITTER

Tweets by @infodocket

ADVERTISEMENT

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • Programs+
  • Design
  • Leadership
  • People
  • COVID-19
  • Advocacy
  • Opinion
  • INFOdocket
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Booklists
  • Prepub Alert
  • Book Pulse
  • Media
  • Readers' Advisory
  • Self-Published Books
  • Review Submissions
  • Review for LJ

Awards

  • Library of the Year
  • Librarian of the Year
  • Movers & Shakers 2022
  • Paralibrarian of the Year
  • Best Small Library
  • Marketer of the Year
  • All Awards Guidelines
  • Community Impact Prize

Resources

  • LJ Index/Star Libraries
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies

Events & PD

  • Online Courses
  • In-Person Events
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Submit Features/News
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Careers at MSI


© 2022 Library Journal. All rights reserved.


© 2022 Library Journal. All rights reserved.