The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is about to experience a sea change in the way it oversees the management and preservation of government records. This change is a result of a directive from me and the acting head of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). This is our response to the president’s mandate to reform records management for the twenty-first century as delivered in his Memorandum on Records Management. In it, the president outlines his goal to require departments and agencies to manage all of their permanently valuable records in electronic form by the end of the decade to ensure transparency, efficiency, and accountability in government.

This comprehensive directive is important as it places NARA among the first national archival institutions in the world to establish that from a date certain, we will require that agencies transfer newly created permanent records to us in digital form only. Complying with the directive will result in a major overhaul of the way the federal government manages and preserves the records being created today and for years to come. For federal agencies and departments, the directive also sends a strong message about the importance of electronic records. It requires each agency to designate a high-ranking official to oversee its records management programs and to ensure that all appropriate staff receive records management training. And it creates a modern and robust records management framework that will allow reform while complying with existing laws and regulations.

We make clear that all agencies must manage their records, including e-mails, in electronic format by the end of the decade. But we’ll still be taking in traditional, paper records. Regardless of their format, all records, traditional and electronic, are important to our democracy.

“Records are the foundation of open government, supporting the principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration,” Acting OMB Director Jeffrey D. Zients and I say in the directive. “Well-managed records can be used to assess the impact of programs, to improve business processes, and to share knowledge across the government.”

The deadlines for complying with various parts of the directive are spread over the coming years. Overall, the directive lists a dozen actions to be taken by NARA and other agencies to assist federal departments and agencies in meeting the new requirements. Among the highlights of the directive are:

• • Federal agencies must manage all permanent electronic records in an electronic format by December 31, 2019, and must have plans to do so by December 31, 2013.
• • All agencies must manage both permanent and temporary e-mail records in an accessible electronic format by December 31, 2016.
• • NARA will issue updated guidance on managing, disposing of, and transferring e-mail by December 31, 2013.
• • By December 31, 2014, all agencies must have records management training in place for appropriate staff.
• • By November 2012, each agency must designate a senior agency official to oversee its records management program. The Archivist will convene the first-ever meeting of senior agency officials before the end of 2012.

Among the most important directives will be our work with the Office of Personnel Management to establish a formal records management occupational series to elevate records management roles, responsibilities, and skill sets for agency records officers and other records professionals.

For further information and discussion about this directive, please follow Records Express, the blog of NARA’s Office of the Chief Records Officer at http://blogs.archives.gov/aotus and visit the National Archives Web site at http://www.archives.gov