[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 139 (Tuesday, July 21, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39186-39187]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-19465]
[[Page 39185]]
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Part V
National Archives and Records Administration
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Electronic Records Work Group Draft Report; Introductory Information,
Appendixes C, D, E and Comments Requested; Notices
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 139 / Tuesday, July 21, 1998 /
Notices
[[Page 39186]]
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION
Electronic Records Work Group Draft Report; Introductory
Information
AGENCY: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
ACTION: Notice of availability of materials for public review and
comment; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: In this separate part, NARA is publishing five notice
documents that invite public comment on draft products developed by the
Electronic Records Work Group relating to the disposition of Federal
records previously authorized for disposal under General Records
Schedule (GRS) 20, including those created or received on electronic
mail (e-mail) and word processing applications, or other office
automation software. This notice provides an overview of the documents
on which comments are sought and other background information to assist
in your review.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 20, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent electronically to the e-mail address
<[email protected]>. We ask that lengthy attachments be sent in
ASCII, WordPerfect 5.1/5.2, or MS Word 6.0 format. If you do not have
access to e-mail, comments may be mailed to Electronic Records Work
Group (NPOL), Room 4100, 8601 Adelphi Rd., College Park, MD 20740-6001,
or faxed to 301-713-7270.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Miller at 301-713-7110, ext.
229.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Electronic Records Work Group is an interagency group formed by
the Archivist of the United States on November 21, 1997, to review the
1995 version of General Records Schedule (GRS) 20. GRS 20 provided
agencies with the disposition authority to destroy (delete) electronic
records on word processing and electronic mail (e-mail) systems after
the records were copied to a recordkeeping system. GRS 20 also provided
agencies with the authority to destroy certain specified temporary
records created and used in computer operations, such as system test
files, back-up files, and input/source files, when those records were
no longer needed to conduct agency business.
On October 22, 1997, GRS 20 was declared null and void by the U.S.
District Court for the District of Columbia in Public Citizen v.
Carlin. In an April 9, 1998 Order, the District Court authorized the
Archivist to state that a Federal agency may continue to follow its
present disposition practices for electronic records until: (1)
September 30, 1998; (2) the agency has submitted and received approval
from NARA on a Request for Records Disposition Authority; (3)
notification by NARA that the Government's appeal in the case has been
resolved and NARA has provided further guidance as a result of the
appellate court's decision; or (4) further Order of the District Court.
The October and April Orders have been appealed by the Government.
The draft products presented in this Federal Register part reflect
the effort of the Electronic Records Work Group to develop workable
alternatives for providing agencies authority to dispose of two types
of records previously authorized for disposal under GRS 20: (1) The
electronic source record (i.e. the electronic record that is made or
received using word processing, e-mail or other office automation
software and that is used to produce the record filed in a
recordkeeping system) and (2) computer management and operations
records usually maintained by agency offices with responsibility for
managing information systems. Recommendations 1 and 2 in the Work
Group's draft report address the first type of record and
recommendation 3 addresses the second. Records generated with office
automation software, like other Federal records, can be destroyed
(deleted) only with NARA's authorization.
GRS 20 itself only provided for the disposition of a small portion
of the electronic records created by the Federal Government on a daily
basis. It did not provide authority for disposition of major program-
related information systems, data files used to support agency
programs, records in electronic recordkeeping systems, records in
document management systems, or similar program records managed
electronically. The documents in this Federal Register notice also do
not cover those types of electronic records. As before, Federal
agencies must develop individual dispositions for those records and
submit them for approval by NARA. The guidance for doing so is provided
in other existing NARA issuances.
Nor is this document meant to provide guidance on the development
of electronic recordkeeping systems, appropriate procedures for
managing records electronically, specifications or requirements for
electronic recordkeeping systems, or other aspects of electronic
recordkeeping. NARA will work with Federal agencies over the next 18
months to develop appropriate guidance in these areas. NARA recognizes
that such guidance is crucial to the effective implementation of
electronic recordkeeping. However, this notice is intended to address
several extremely pressing issues brought about by the Court's decision
to declare GRS 20 null and void. From a Government operations
standpoint, the most crucial issue is the process by which agencies can
obtain appropriate disposition authority for the electronic source
records formerly authorized for disposal under GRS 20.
The Work Group's recommendations do not require agencies to
establish electronic records management systems in order to schedule
electronic source records. There may be important considerations, such
as the completeness of files or the authenticity of records, that makes
a paper recordkeeping system the best choice. Regardless of whether the
agency's recordkeeping system is paper or electronic, because the
electronic document previously authorized for destruction (deletion) by
GRS 20 is a record, the agency must schedule it and obtain disposition
authority from NARA in order to delete it.
The computer has changed and continues to change the way the
Federal government conducts public business. Information technology
offers potential for substantial improvements in the creation,
retention and management of records, as well as in the delivery of
Government services. Some of this potential can be realized today, such
as in economical storage and rapid retrieval of data. The future offers
even greater possibilities.
Although electronic recordkeeping offers many potential benefits,
current capabilities to implement it are limited by a number of
factors. First, the recordkeeping capabilities of many of the most
widely used software packages such as electronic mail and word
processing are extremely limited. They must be supplemented with
specific records management applications to provide the functionalities
necessary to keep business quality records. Second, technology has made
electronic records easier to create and transmit than to preserve for
the periods of time necessary for recordkeeping. Finally, the Federal
government is still developing key pieces of guidance in areas such as
system requirements for electronic recordkeeping and authentication of
electronic records. The Work Group also proposes to recommend,
therefore, that the Archivist of the United States establish a follow-
on group to examine electronic recordkeeping issues and to
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build on the work done by this Work Group.
Electronic Records Work Group Products for Comment
In addition to this introductory notice, this separate part
contains the following Work Group products for which we seek your
comments:
1. Appendix C--Proposal for Developing Agency Records Schedules That
Include Electronic Source Records Generated With Office Automation
Applications.
Appendix C addresses the first Work Group recommendation, that
agencies must schedule their program and unique administrative records
in all formats. It proposes guidance that NARA should issue on the
revision of existing records disposition schedules to provide
disposition authority for records created using office automation
applications, which were covered by the 1995 GRS 20, items 13, 14 and
15. It outlines what agencies must do to schedule these records and how
NARA will provide the public the opportunity to submit comments on the
schedules as required by 44 U.S.C. 3303a.
2. Appendix D--Proposal to Revise the Entire GRS To Cover All Formats
of the Administrative Records Included Therein.
Appendix D addresses the second Work Group recommendation, that
NARA modify the GRS to authorize the destruction of copies of
administrative records covered by those GRS that are not needed for
recordkeeping purposes after a recordkeeping copy has been produced.
This appendix proposes a new item to be added to General Records
Schedules 1-16, 18, and 23 to provide the disposition authority
previously provided by GRS 20, items 13, 14 and 15.
3. Appendix E--Proposed General Records Schedule, Information
Technology Records
Appendix E addresses the Work Group's third recommendation. It
proposes a new General Records Schedule to provide disposition
authorities for certain specified temporary records specifically
related to systems management and operations. The new GRS would not
cover temporary records documenting development and management of
agency systems for the agency's mission-related functions.
4. Draft Electronic Records Work Group Report to the Archivist of the
United States
This notice contains the text of the Work Group's draft report to
the Archivist, which is due to be submitted to the Archivist with the
appendixes in September, and Appendix A. The draft report published
here has been modified slightly from the June 15 version posted on the
NARA GRS 20 web page (http://www.nara.gov/records/grs20/). The final
report will reflect further changes that the Work Group makes as a
result of the comments received, and will contain an Appendix B that
discusses the comments received on the draft report and other work
products.
Availability of Reference Sources Cited
The notice documents reference various materials that may be useful
in your review of the documents. The following table shows where these
documents are available for review on NARA's web site or in this
separate part:
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Cited document Availability Where cited
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General Records Schedules 1-23, http:// This notice;
including GRS 20 (1995 edition). ardor.nara.gov/ Appendix D; Draft
grs/index.html. Report.
NARA Bulletin 98-02............. http:// Appendix C; Draft
www.nara.gov/ Report.
records/grs20/
bltn-grs.html OR
Appendix C.
NWM 06-98....................... Appendix C........ Appendix C.
1995 Agency Recordkeeping gopher:// Draft Report.
Requirements: A Management gopher.nara.gov:7
Guide. 0/00/ma nagers/
federal/publicat/
adequacy.txt.
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Questions and Issues
In each of the following notices, we have identified specific
questions and issues that we would like you to consider and comment on
as part of your review of those documents.
Future Steps
The Work Group must present its final report and implementation
strategy to the Archivist of the United States in September.
Consequently, we may not be able to consider any comments received
after the comment deadline, August 20, 1998. The Work Group will review
all comments received on the report and appendixes during the June
Federal Register comment period before preparing its final report.
The Work Group intends to submit its report to the Archivist in
time for his review and action on it by September 30. The Archivist
will communicate his decisions to Federal agencies and the public.
Dated: July 16, 1998.
Lewis J. Bellardo,
Deputy Archivist of the United States.
[FR Doc. 98-19465 Filed 7-20-98; 8:45 am]
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