2224.01 REV-1

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CHAPTER 2. LEGAL AND ARCHIVAL STATUS OF MICROFILMED RECORDS

2-1 General. The legal status of microforms is governed by Federal and

State statutes. In general, microforms and reproductions made from

microforms are admissible evidence in judicial proceedings, provided

that:

A. The original microform was made in the regular course of business.

B. The microform provides an accurate and durable medium for

reproducing the original record.

C. The microform must provide satisfactory identification of the

records.

1\. The identification will be accomplished by use of a \"certificate

of authenticity\" at the end of each roll of microfilm, or at the

end of each series of records in unitized microforms.

2\. This certificate of authenticity should contain the following

information: (See Appendix 3)

a\. Organization;

b\. Title of the records;

c\. Arrangement of the records;

d\. Starting and ending points of the records;

e\. Disposition of original records; and

f\. Location and date of microfilm creation.

D. Disposition of all source documents must be coordinated with and

approved by the Departmental Records Management Officer in

accordance with current records control schedules and National

Archives and Records Administration (NARA) policy.

2-2 Microfilm Prohibited by Federal or State Statutes. Certain documents

may not be photographically copied, except by authorized activities,

and such reproduction is generally prohibited by Federal or state

statutes, as follows:

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2224.01 REV-1

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A. Automobile registration certificates, automobile titles, and

drivers\' licenses in certain states.

B. Certificates of citizenship or naturalization (18 U.S.C. Section

1426).

C. Government Transportation Requests (18 U.S.C. Section 509).

D. Immigration or nonimmigration visas, permits or other

documents (18 U.S.C. Section 1546).

E. Obligations of any foreign government or bank (18 U.S.C.

Section 481).

F. Obligations or securities of the United States Government,

including: bonds; certificates of indebtedness; national

bank currency; Federal Reserve notes; United States notes;

Treasury notes; gold or silver certificates; certificates of

deposit (18 U.S.C. Section 474).

G. Official badges, identification cards, and other insignia of

the design prescribed by the head of any department or agency

of the U.S. Government (18 U.S.C. Section 701).

H. Copyrighted material without consent of copyright owners (17

U.S.C.).

2-3 Statutes Relating to Legality of Microfilmed Records. These

statutes are cited for general background information on

legality of microfilm and reference. In case of doubt, consult

legal counsel.

A. 44 U.S.C. Section 2116, Legal Status of Reproductions.

B. 44 U.S.C. Section 3312, Admissibility in evidence.

C. 28 U.S.C. Section 1733, Government records and papers.

D. 28 U.S.C. Section 1732, Records made in the regular

course of business, photographic copies.

E. Title 28, Federal Rules of Civil Procedures, Rule 44,

Proof of Official Record.

F. Title 18, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedures, Rule 27,

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2224.01 REV-1

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Proof of Official Record.

2-4 Legal Requirements for Archival Microform Records. A large

percentage of all microfilming relates to the records retention

requirements of the Department. The disposition of the

Department\'s records is governed by policies and

procedures contained in 41 CFR 201 Subtitle E, 36 CFR

Chapter XII Parts 1228 and 1230, and Departmental Handbooks

2225.6 and 2228.2. The establishment and revision of all

retention requirements for all categories of Departmental

records must be coordinated with the Departmental Records

Management Officer (DRMO), in the Headquarters Office of

Administrative and Management Services. The following

additional requirements apply to records in microform:

A. Any microform scheduled for retirement shall be verified

for completeness and accuracy. The microforms shall be

transferred to the National Archives and Records

Administration (NARA), or to an appropriate Federal

Records Center (FRC), at the time prescribed in the

approved records control schedule for the records that

the microforms replace. The retired microforms shall

consist of:

1\. Silver gelatin original or a silver gelatin

duplicate microform record of archival

quality, and

2\. One working copy (silver, diazo or vesicular).

B. The microforms shall be accompanied by information

identifying the Department; the title of the records;

the identifying number on each unit of film; the

security classification, if any; the inclusive dates,

names or other data identifying the first and last

records included on each unit of film; and a

certification that the microforms are produced in the normal

course of Departmental operations and that care was taken to

ensure that the microforms are a complete and accurate copy

of the original records. Recommended guidelines for

information identification are contained in ANSI/AIIM MS19,

Recommended Practice Identification of Microforms.

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