"Building the Archives of the Future"
National Archives and Records
Administration
The Electronic Records Archives (ERA) Program Video,
August 2005
NARRATOR:
An American poet once observed that "all history is modern history". For at any given time that which is past, may inform our present knowledge and our future actions.
Imagine losing the documents that are most important to you:
- Your home deed and title
- Letters your father wrote to you while at war
- Photos of past generations of your family
- And videos of your newborn babies
Now imagine losing knowledge about an entire society and the impact that would make on an entire nation. It would be a tragedy of epic proportions.
Since 1934, the National Archives or NARA has been a public trust on which our democracy depends. NARA enables people to personally inspect the record of what the American Government has done by preserving valuable records of business conducted by the Unites Federal Government.
This evidence documents
- The rights of American citizens
- The actions of federal officials
- And the national experience
This enormous responsibility is shouldered by the women and men of the National Archives.
RITA CACAS - Communications Officer, ERA Program:
We're preserving the story of our nation day by day in all its entirety. There's
a rich variety of information in the data we receive, but also a complexity
in the formats in which they've been documented. Our mission and our challenge
is to find the best way to preserve these records.
NARRATOR:
Through the years, national archivists have battled mold, mildew, fire and water damage to preserve materials related to our nation's history The machines used to create records in the late 20th century have long been replaced by technologies that are faster better and cheaper And the technology that is used today is expected to be obsolete within the next 18 months.
KEN THIBODEAU - Director, ERA Program:
When you're preserving paper, you really want to hold on to what you've got.
In the digital environment if you hold onto what you've got you've probably
lost it. One fundamental problem is digital media doesn't last very long; it
self destructs over time, or is destroyed by environmental contaminants or other
factors.
When the medium starts wearing out, you copy the stuff to newer media. The more difficult problem is 20-25 years from now computers will not recognize the formats that we're storing stuff in today. That's a moving target because the software industry is constantly changing the formats as they improve their products.
NARRATOR:
The issue of thousands of data formats is only part of the challenge
KEN THIBODEAU:
Within 20 years we need to be able to manage easily 10 trillion objects, a thousand times greater than we estimated a few years back.
NARRATOR:
NARA's first step in solving this complex problem was to establish a network of partnerships with:
- World class computer scientists,
- Engineers and
- Information management professionals.
In addition, it conducted research with a number of
- Archivists,
- Private and public sector industry experts, and
- Professionals at many federal agencies.
NARA asked, "Fifty years from now how will researchers be able to access the digital records we create today?
Research and expert counsel pointed the way to the answer:
The archives of the future will require the development of an extraordinarily innovative tool, a fully operational and fully deployed Electronic Records Archives. Using the ERA system NARA will be able to preserve and provide access to any type of record created anywhere in the federal government.
RITA CACAS:
The ERA system will enable NARA to improve its services to Federal Agencies,
and the public and make it easier for these agencies, congress and the courts
to transfer electronic records to the National Archives.
MICHAEL KURTZ - Assistant Archivist for Records Services, Washington DC:
The goal for ERA - when it comes to accessing the electronic records of the Federal Government, and the relationship with other federal agencies - is the key component to the success of ERA.
NARRATOR:
It will also be designed to handle any future changes in file reading software and storage hardware all in a secure technological environment
ROBERT CHADDUCK - Director of Research, ERA Program:
This collaborative lab that we have set up that basically enables the National
Archives, Government officials, and visitors to interact with world class researchers
that we work with through our external partners where we're actually able to
bring in scientists and engineers and their technologies to begin the process
of testing and evaluating their use for NARA's ERA Program.
FYNNETTE EATON - Change Management Officer, ERA Program:
The ERA System will enable NARA to accept any type of electronic record created
anywhere in the Federal Government and make it available for research. ERA will
enable people to discover use and trust the information held at the National
Archives.
REYNOLDS CAHOON - Special Assistant to the Archivist for
Electronic Records:
This is an exiting time for the National Archives and its partners. Together
we're creating a capability that doesn't exist today. A capability that will
ensure for our great, great grandchildren they'll have access to the records
of our time. While ERA presents significant challenges, we have extraordinary
staff both archivists, technologists, contractors and partners to help us meet
the challenges and we will.
