**GAO-08-742**                      Published: Jun 13, 2008. Publicly Released: Jul 08, 2008.                  

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## Highlights

Federal agencies are increasingly using electronic mail (e-mail) for essential communication. In doing so, they are potentially creating messages that have the status of federal records, which must be managed and preserved in accordance with the Federal Records Act. Under the act, both the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and federal agencies have responsibilities for managing federal records, including e-mail records. In view of the importance that e-mail plays in documenting government activities, GAO was asked, among other things, to review the extent to which NARA provides oversight of federal records management, describe selected agencies' processes for managing e-mail records, and assess these agencies' e-mail policies and key practices. To do so, GAO examined NARA guidance, regulations, and oversight activities, as well as e-mail policies at four agencies (of contrasting sizes and structures) and the practices of selected officials.

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## Topics

Information Management

Agency proceedingsData transmissionE-mailElectronic recordsElectronic records managementEvaluation criteriaFederal agenciesFederal records managementFederal regulationsGovernment informationInformation managementInformation resources managementInformation storage and retrievalInformation systemsInspectionInternal controlsPolicy evaluationProgram evaluationProgram managementRecordsRecords managementRecords retentionReporting requirementsStrategic planning