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

August 20, 2018 by Gary Price

NARA OIG Special Report: “NARA’s Plans to Make Electronic Records Archives-Congressional Instance Records Available to the Public”

August 20, 2018 by Gary Price

From the NARA Inspector General:

The purpose of this Special Report is to inform you [David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States] of the results of our review of the National Archives and Records Administration’s (NARA) actions to make electronic records in the Electronic Records Archives-Congressional Records Instance (ERA-CRI) available to the public. We primarily focused on determining if NARA is adequately planning for the public release of ERA-CRI records based on relevant access rules.
[Clip]

NARA’s Center for Legislative Archives (Center) serves as the repository for the official records of the United States (US) House of Representatives (House) and the US Senate, which remain in the permanent legal custody of the House and Senate, respectively. House and Senate records are exempt from the Federal Records Act and, reflecting their status as records of independent institutions in a separate branch of government, are governed solely by House and Senate rules, respectively. The Center also holds records of legislative branch agencies and commissions such as the 9/11 Commission, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Congressional Budget Office, Government Accountability Office, and the Government Publishing Office.
[Clip]

The Center also operates the ERA-CRI, which stores over 160 terabytes1 of data. The ERA-CRI is a preservation system that contains the electronic records of congressional committees, held by, but not in the legal custody of NARA. The system holds Unclassified and some Sensitive records due to the nature of the records discussed in committee, which can include Personally Identifiable Information. The ERA-CRI also includes congressional web harvest data. The
[Clip]
The Center also operates the ERA-CRI, which stores over 160 terabytes1 of data. The ERA-CRI is a preservation system that contains the electronic records of congressional committees, held by, but not in the legal custody of NARA. The system holds Unclassified and some Sensitive records due to the nature of the records discussed in committee, which can include Personally Identifiable Information. The ERA-CRI also includes congressional web harvest data. The Center preserves the content and appearance of congressional websites by capturing snapshots of websites once at the end of each two-year Congress. These web harvests produce a public reference copy of the websites for the purpose of continual availability to the public, and also produce a record copy to be retained in NARA’s holdings. Access to the ERA-CRI is restricted to internal authorized NARA staff.

At the conclusion of each Congress, the Center typically receives significant increases in electronic records transfers. That trend continued with the conclusion of the 114th Congress on January 3, 2017, albeit at a slightly lower pace than in the past. The Center’s electronic holdings grew approximately 44 percent from 2016-2017. At the end of the 113th Congress, the volume growth of electronic holdings was 98 percent, while the end of the 112th Congress showed an increase of 70 percent.

[Clip]
With the increase in the volume of electronic records from the last few Congresses, and an increase going forward in the number of records in ERA-CRI that will cross the 20 and 30 year thresholds under the relevant access rules, the Center will need to start planning on how it will fulfill NARA’s goal of making access happen as it relates to electronic congressional records. The planning may include the need for additional resources, as well as updating the roles and responsibilities of current staff members, along with updating policies and procedures. It will also include incorporating the ERA-CRI into the upgraded ERA 2.0 system. We will continue to monitor NARA’s work related to the public release of records in the ERA-CRI.
Read the Complete NARA OIG Special Report

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Data Files, News, Open Access, Preservation, Publishing

SHARE:

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

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

DEI Audits: The Whole Picture | Equity

Prince George’s County Memorial Library System Targeted by Anti-LGBTQIA+ Vandalism

Proud Boys Disrupt Drag Queen Story Time at San Lorenzo Library

From the Top: Library Leaders Talk EDI | Equity

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Infodocket Posts

Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to Become a Public-Interest Non-Profit Organization

From a W3C Release: The World Wide Web Consortium is set to pursue 501(c)(3) non-profit status. The launch as a new legal entity in January 2023 preserves the core mission ...

Julie Mosbo Ballestro Appointed University Librarian at Texas A&M University

Full Text of a Texas A&M University Libraries Announcement: We are pleased to announce the appointment of Julie Mosbo Ballestro as University Librarian and Assistant Provost of University Libraries at ...

New Report From EBLIDA: "First European Overview on E-Lending in Public Libraries"

From an EBLIDA (European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations) Post: EBLIDA is laying the foundation for “sustainable copyright” in public libraries through the publication of the “First European ...

New Video Recording From Rare Book School: "Making and Reading Indigenous Archives"

The Rare Book School (U. of Virginia) video embedded below (a National Endowment for the Humanities-Global Book Histories Initiative Lecture by Kelly Wisecup) was recorded on June 15, 2022. From ...

New Funding: Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) Awarded $850,000 by Mellon Foundation to Support the Advancement of...

From a DPLA Announcement: Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is pleased to announce an $850,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation to support its effort to advance racial justice in ...

Roundup (June 27, 2022)

Coherent Digital Launches South Asia Archive on the Coherent Commons Platform The Longest-Running Queer News Radio Show Is Headed to the Library of Congress (via NPR) University of Cambridge Now ...

Report: "The Important Role Libraries Play in Building a Creative and Innovative Society"

From ArchDaily: As gateways to knowledge and culture, libraries play a fundamental role in society. Foundational in creating opportunities for learning, as well as supporting literacy and education, the resources ...

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 ...

Statement: American Library Association (ALA) Condemns Threats of Violence in Libraries

Full Text of ALA Statement (6/24): In response to the alarming increase in acts of aggression toward library workers and patrons as reported by press across the country, the American ...

Roundup (June 24, 2022)

FCC and IMLS Sign Agreement to Promote Broadband Access Library Impact Research Report: Impact of Archival Collections and Services on the Western University Department of History (via ARL) More Than ...

Report: "Vatican Releases Thousands of Holocaust-Era Letters and Requests Online"

From the Associated Press (via Times of Israel): Pope Francis orders the online publication of 170 volumes of its Jewish files from the recently opened Pope Pius XII archives, the ...

The New York Public Library Opens a ‘Virtual Branch’ on Instagram and Launches a Reading Recommendation Project Using...

From NYPL: The virtual branch— a custom designed interactive AR (Augmented Reality) Effect accessible via Instagram Reels is the centerpiece of #NYPLSummerBookshelf, a new initiative to spark a love of ...

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.