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Vol. 25:2 ISSN 0160-8460 Summer 1997
NHPRC's New Strategic Plan: The Full Text
I. NHPRC
The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) is the grant-making affiliate of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). NARA protects federal records of historical value. NHPRC helps non-federal institutions preserve and make broadly accessible other records of historical value through grants to archival institutions, manuscript repositories, and publications in multiple formats.
The NHPRC was created along with the National Archives in 1934, and has had grant-making authorization since 1964. NHPRC grants help locate, preserve, and provide public access to documents, photographs, maps, and other historical materials. The grants go to state and local archives, colleges and universities, libraries and historical societies, and other non-profit organizations. Currently the NHPRC has statutory authorization to receive up to $10 million in annual appropriations for grants through fiscal year 2001.
The Archivist of the United States chairs the Commission and makes grants on its recommendation. The other fourteen members of the Commission represent the President (two appointees), the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, the Federal judiciary, the Departments of State and Defense, the Librarian of Congress, and six national, professional associations of archivists and historians. A list of current Commission members and a copy of the NHPRC's current statute (25 USC 44) are appended to this plan.
II. Mission
In November of 1996, the Commission unanimously agreed upon this statement: The NHPRC exists to carry out its statutory mission to ensure understanding of our nation's past by promoting, nationwide, the identification, preservation, and dissemination of essential historical documentation.
III. Stakeholders
Our society cannot do without historical documents. Legislators use them to understand the context of laws; lawyers, to find background information in developing cases; judges, to identify precedents and evaluate previous court opinions; officials, to review past policies; journalists, to gather information for articles; business analysts to identify and track trends; environmentalists, to discover where contaminants may have originated; film and television producers, to locate material for documentaries; museum curators and historic preservationists, to interpret buildings and artifacts; genealogists, to trace their families; teachers, to convey the values of our democratic society to their students; and scholars, to make studies of many kinds. Without documents, historians cannot carry forward the continuing evaluation and re-evaluation we need of the experience of our nation, our states, our communities, and the many groups that comprise our society. And documents undergird the accuracy of the history our children are taught in textbooks and schools.
IV. Challenges
Documenting American history is difficult. Wars, fires, and floods have carried many records away. Others are succumbing to the less dramatic ravages of acidic paper, insect infestation, and neglect in damp basements, hot attics, and unprotected warehouses.
Many units of government have no archives or records management program, and in the private sector as well many records are routinely discarded by persons unaware of their value. Even in archival repositories, many records remain unprocessed for public access; and major collections of documents critical to an understanding of our nation's history are only partially published on microfilm or in print, let alone electronically.
Moreover, records of potential value are proliferating both in quantity and form. Government records in particular, at all levels, have mushroomed, and archivists who are overwhelmed with paper are having to cope also with computer-generated records, which are easily deleted or altered, exist on tapes and disks that do not last long, and depend for readability on hardware and software that quickly become obsolete. Records managers struggle to assure the retention of electronic records in particular long enough even to be able to appraise what is and is not of long-term value.
However, funds appropriated to the NHPRC for grants with which to help appraise, protect, and provide access to America's historical documents have not grown in real dollars for nearly two decades. Clearly the Commission must concentrate on a few major goals and plan carefully to get the greatest public benefit out of the public dollars available to it.
V. Goals
Beginning in fiscal year 1999, the Commission will concentrate its efforts and its resources on three equal strategic goals within its broader mission:
- The NHPRC will provide the American public with widespread access to the papers of the founders of our democratic republic and its institutions by ensuring the timely completion of eight projects now in progress to publish the papers of George Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and papers that document the Ratification of the Constitution, the First Federal Congress, and the early Supreme Court.
- The NHPRC will promote broad public participation in historical documentation by collaborating with State Historical Records Advisory Boards to plan and carry out jointly funded programs to strengthen the nation's archival infrastructure and expand the range of records that are protected and accessible.
- The NHPRC will enable the nation's archivists, records managers, and documentary editors to overcome the obstacles and take advantage of the opportunities posed by electronic technologies by continuing to provide leadership in funding research-and-development on appraising, preserving, disseminating, and providing access to important documentary sources in electronic form.
The Commission will commit up to 60 percent of its appropriated funds each year to grants for soundly conceived projects of value in reaching these goals. The Commission will reserve at least 40 percent of its appropriated funds each year for grants for other projects eligible for support within the Commission's statutory mission, including projects to protect and otherwise make accessible historically significant records, to publish documentary editions other than the eight founding-era projects judged to be of critical importance, and to improve the methods, tools, and training of professionals engaged in documentary work.
The Commission will consider grant proposals related to its three strategic goals at its first meeting (usually in November) in each fiscal year, and will consider all other proposals at its second meeting (usually in February) in each fiscal year. Therefore the Commission's intent to implement this strategic plan in fiscal year 1999 means that the first grant proposals to be considered under the plan will be due at a date to be specified in the summer of 1998 for consideration at the Commission's meeting in November 1998.
VI. Performance Measurements
The Government Performance and Results Act requires that federal agencies' strategic plans contain performance measurements following guidelines specified in the act. The NHPRC staff is working with the GPRA-compliance committee of the National Archives and Records Administration to devise and receive approval for GPRA-compliant performance goals for this plan. Because the performance measurements must be completed by August 15, the staff will circulate the performance goals in draft for comment before that date and secure approval for the final versions from the NHPRC Executive Committee before submitting the final plan containing performance measurements to the White House Office of Management and Budget.
