National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

Overview

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the Government agency that preserves and maintains documents that record important events in American history and makes them available for research. NARA colllects documents from each branch and agency of the U.S. government. NARA is officially responsible for maintaining and publishing the legally authentic and authoritative copies of acts of Congress, presidential proclamations and executive orders, and federal regulations.

Nara's Office of the Federal Register publishes the Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, and United States Statutes at Large, among others. NARA is also responsbile for administering preservation grants through the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) and for reviewing FOIA policies, procedures and compliance of Federal agencies through The Office of Government Information Services (OGIS).

Many of the records in the National Archives are available on microfilm, and more than 1.8 million digital images of documents can be found in NARA’s online catalog.  NARA is building the National Archives Electronic Records Archives (ERA) to fulfill its mission in the digital age: to safeguard and preserve the records of our government, ensure that the people can discover, use, and learn from this documentary heritage, and ensure continuing access to the essential documentation of the rights of American citizens and the actions of their government.

Type of Organization
Government agency
Provider Role(s)
Aggregator
Content producer
Alternative Names
National Archives
Prior Names
National Archives Establishment
Parent Organization
General Services Administration
Year established
1934
Still in Operation
Yes
Main Address

8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001
United States

Subject Areas
Unclassified
Resource Types
Archival materials
Mission Statement

We drive openness, cultivate public participation, and strengthen our nation's democracy through public access to high-value government records.

Our Mission is to provide public access to Federal Government records in our custody and control. Public access to government records strengthens democracy by allowing Americans to claim their rights of citizenship, hold their government accountable, and understand their history so they can participate more effectively in their government.

History

Congress established the National Archives Establishment in 1934 to centralize federal record keeping, with the Archivist of the United States as chief administrator. The National Archives was incorporated with GSA in 1949; in 1985 it became an independent agency as NARA (National Archives and Records Administration).

NARA's Research Services Electronic Records Division oversees its Electronic Records Archives (ERA) Program. The program is charged with preserving any type of electronic record created on any computing platform anywhere in the United States and providing discovery and delivery for such records to anyone who has an interest and a legal right of access, while obeying all laws and regulations about restrictions on access to federal government information.  The program has used NARA's Electronic Records Archives (ERA) system  since 2008 to accomplish these goals.

Technical Information

NARA's holdings are classed into "record groups" reflecting the governmental department or agency from which they originated.  

 

 

 

Access

Archival descriptions of the permanent holdings of the federal government in the custody of NARA are stored in the National Archives Catalog. NARA's Electronic Records Archives (ERA) system  since 2008 to accomplish these goals.

Other Access Points

Since 2006 NARA and Google have had a joint venture tol digitizing and offering NARA video online. In 2007, the National Archives and Fold3.com (formerly Footnote) launched a pilot project to digitize historic documents from the National Archives holdings.NARA's collection of Universal Newsreels from 1929 to 1967 are available for purchase through CreateSpace, an Amazon.com subsidiary. In 2008, the National Archives and Ancestry.com began a five-year agreement to digitize selected records including the complete U.S. Federal Census Collection, 1790–1930, passenger lists from 1820–1960 and World War I and World War II draft registration cards. Ancestry.com has exclusive use of the digitized records for  five years after which the digital records were turned over to the National Archives.

The National Archives began using YouTube to distribute popular archived films in 2009. Also in 2009, the National Archives launched a Flickr photostream to share portions of its photographic holdings with the general public. The National Archives began a Wikiproject on the English Wikipedia in 2011 to expand collaboration in making its holdings widely available through Wikimedia.

 

Legal Information

Most records at NARA are in the public domain, as works of the federal government are excluded from copyright protection. However, records from other sources may still be protected by copyright or donor agreements.
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