39186 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 139 /Tuesday, July 21, 1998 / Notices

NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS

ADMINISTRATION

Electronic Records Work Group Draft

Report; Introductory Information

AGENCY: National Archives and Records

Administration (NARA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of

materials for public review and

comment; request for comment.

SUMMARY: In this separate part, NARA is

publishing five notice documents that

invite public comment on draft products

developed by the Electronic Records

Work Group relating to the disposition

of Federal records previously authorized

for disposal under General Records

Schedule (GRS) 20, including those

created or received on electronic mail

(e-mail) and word processing

applications, or other office automation

software. This notice provides an

overview of the documents on which

comments are sought and other

background information to assist in your

review.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before August 20, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent

electronically to the e-mail address

<grs20@arch2.nara.gov>. We ask that

lengthy attachments be sent in ASCII,

WordPerfect 5.1/5.2, or MS Word 6.0

format. If you do not have access to email, comments may be mailed to

Electronic Records Work Group (NPOL),

Room 4100, 8601 Adelphi Rd., College

Park, MD 20740–6001, or faxed to 301–

713–7270.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael Miller at 301–713–7110, ext.

229.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Electronic Records Work Group is

an interagency group formed by the

Archivist of the United States on

November 21, 1997, to review the 1995

version of General Records Schedule

(GRS) 20. GRS 20 provided agencies

with the disposition authority to destroy

(delete) electronic records on word

processing and electronic mail (e-mail)

systems after the records were copied to

a recordkeeping system. GRS 20 also

provided agencies with the authority to

destroy certain specified temporary

records created and used in computer

operations, such as system test files,

back-up files, and input/source files,

when those records were no longer

needed to conduct agency business.

On October 22, 1997, GRS 20 was

declared null and void by the U.S.

District Court for the District of

Columbia in Public Citizen v. Carlin. In

an April 9, 1998 Order, the District

Court authorized the Archivist to state

that a Federal agency may continue to

follow its present disposition practices

for electronic records until: (1)

September 30, 1998; (2) the agency has

submitted and received approval from

NARA on a Request for Records

Disposition Authority; (3) notification

by NARA that the Government’s appeal

in the case has been resolved and NARA

has provided further guidance as a

result of the appellate court’s decision;

or (4) further Order of the District Court.

The October and April Orders have been

appealed by the Government.

The draft products presented in this

Federal Register part reflect the effort of

the Electronic Records Work Group to

develop workable alternatives for

providing agencies authority to dispose

of two types of records previously

authorized for disposal under GRS 20:

(1) The electronic source record (i.e. the

electronic record that is made or

received using word processing, e-mail

or other office automation software and

that is used to produce the record filed

in a recordkeeping system) and (2)

computer management and operations

records usually maintained by agency

offices with responsibility for managing

information systems. Recommendations

1 and 2 in the Work Group’s draft report

address the first type of record and

recommendation 3 addresses the

second. Records generated with office

automation software, like other Federal

records, can be destroyed (deleted) only

with NARA’s authorization.

GRS 20 itself only provided for the

disposition of a small portion of the

electronic records created by the Federal

Government on a daily basis. It did not

provide authority for disposition of

major program-related information

systems, data files used to support

agency programs, records in electronic

recordkeeping systems, records in

document management systems, or

similar program records managed

electronically. The documents in this

Federal Register notice also do not

cover those types of electronic records.

As before, Federal agencies must

develop individual dispositions for

those records and submit them for

approval by NARA. The guidance for

doing so is provided in other existing

NARA issuances.

Nor is this document meant to

provide guidance on the development of

electronic recordkeeping systems,

appropriate procedures for managing

records electronically, specifications or

requirements for electronic

recordkeeping systems, or other aspects

of electronic recordkeeping. NARA will

work with Federal agencies over the

next 18 months to develop appropriate

guidance in these areas. NARA

recognizes that such guidance is crucial

to the effective implementation of

electronic recordkeeping. However, this

notice is intended to address several

extremely pressing issues brought about

by the Court’s decision to declare GRS

20 null and void. From a Government

operations standpoint, the most crucial

issue is the process by which agencies

can obtain appropriate disposition

authority for the electronic source

records formerly authorized for disposal

under GRS 20.

The Work Group’s recommendations

do not require agencies to establish

electronic records management systems

in order to schedule electronic source

records. There may be important

considerations, such as the

completeness of files or the authenticity

of records, that makes a paper

recordkeeping system the best choice.

Regardless of whether the agency’s

recordkeeping system is paper or

electronic, because the electronic

document previously authorized for

destruction (deletion) by GRS 20 is a

record, the agency must schedule it and

obtain disposition authority from NARA

in order to delete it.

The computer has changed and

continues to change the way the Federal

government conducts public business.

Information technology offers potential

for substantial improvements in the

creation, retention and management of

records, as well as in the delivery of

Government services. Some of this

potential can be realized today, such as

in economical storage and rapid

retrieval of data. The future offers even

greater possibilities.

Although electronic recordkeeping

offers many potential benefits, current

capabilities to implement it are limited

by a number of factors. First, the

recordkeeping capabilities of many of

the most widely used software packages

such as electronic mail and word

processing are extremely limited. They

must be supplemented with specific

records management applications to

provide the functionalities necessary to

keep business quality records. Second,

technology has made electronic records

easier to create and transmit than to

preserve for the periods of time

necessary for recordkeeping. Finally, the

Federal government is still developing

key pieces of guidance in areas such as

system requirements for electronic

recordkeeping and authentication of

electronic records. The Work Group also

proposes to recommend, therefore, that

the Archivist of the United States

establish a follow-on group to examine

electronic recordkeeping issues and to
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 139 /Tuesday, July 21, 1998 / Notices 39187

build on the work done by this Work

Group.

Electronic Records Work Group

Products for Comment

In addition to this introductory

notice, this separate part contains the

following Work Group products for

which we seek your comments:

1. Appendix C—Proposal for Developing

Agency Records Schedules That Include

Electronic Source Records Generated

With Office Automation Applications.

Appendix C addresses the first Work

Group recommendation, that agencies

must schedule their program and

unique administrative records in all

formats. It proposes guidance that

NARA should issue on the revision of

existing records disposition schedules

to provide disposition authority for

records created using office automation

applications, which were covered by the

1995 GRS 20, items 13, 14 and 15. It

outlines what agencies must do to

schedule these records and how NARA

will provide the public the opportunity

to submit comments on the schedules as

required by 44 U.S.C. 3303a.

2. Appendix D—Proposal to Revise the

Entire GRS To Cover All Formats of the

Administrative Records Included

Therein.

Appendix D addresses the second

Work Group recommendation, that

NARA modify the GRS to authorize the

destruction of copies of administrative

records covered by those GRS that are

not needed for recordkeeping purposes

after a recordkeeping copy has been

produced. This appendix proposes a

new item to be added to General

Records Schedules 1–16, 18, and 23 to

provide the disposition authority

previously provided by GRS 20, items

13, 14 and 15.

3. Appendix E—Proposed General

Records Schedule, Information

Technology Records

Appendix E addresses the Work

Group’s third recommendation. It

proposes a new General Records

Schedule to provide disposition

authorities for certain specified

temporary records specifically related to

systems management and operations.

The new GRS would not cover

temporary records documenting

development and management of

agency systems for the agency’s

mission-related functions.

4. Draft Electronic Records Work Group

Report to the Archivist of the United

States

This notice contains the text of the

Work Group’s draft report to the

Archivist, which is due to be submitted

to the Archivist with the appendixes in

September, and Appendix A. The draft

report published here has been modified

slightly from the June 15 version posted

on the NARA GRS 20 web page (http:/

/www.nara.gov/records/grs20/). The

final report will reflect further changes

that the Work Group makes as a result

of the comments received, and will

contain an Appendix B that discusses

the comments received on the draft

report and other work products.

Availability of Reference Sources Cited

The notice documents reference

various materials that may be useful in

your review of the documents. The

following table shows where these

documents are available for review on

NARA’s web site or in this separate part:

Cited document Availability Where cited

General Records Schedules 1–23, including GRS 20 (1995 edition) ... http://ardor.nara.gov/grs/index.html This notice; Appendix D; Draft Report.

NARA Bulletin 98–02 .............................................................................. http://www.nara.gov/records/grs20/

bltn–grs.html OR Appendix C.

Appendix C; Draft Report.

NWM 06–98 ............................................................................................ Appendix C .................................... Appendix C.

1995 Agency Recordkeeping Requirements: A Management Guide .... gopher://gopher.nara.gov:70/00/ma

nagers/federal/publicat/adequacy.txt.

Draft Report.

Questions and Issues

In each of the following notices, we

have identified specific questions and

issues that we would like you to

consider and comment on as part of

your review of those documents.

Future Steps

The Work Group must present its

final report and implementation strategy

to the Archivist of the United States in

September. Consequently, we may not

be able to consider any comments

received after the comment deadline,

August 20, 1998. The Work Group will

review all comments received on the

report and appendixes during the June

Federal Register comment period before

preparing its final report.

The Work Group intends to submit its

report to the Archivist in time for his

review and action on it by September

30. The Archivist will communicate his

decisions to Federal agencies and the

public.

Dated: July 16, 1998.

Lewis J. Bellardo,

Deputy Archivist of the United States.

[FR Doc. 98–19465 Filed 7–20–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7515–01–P

NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS

ADMINISTRATION

Electronic Records Work Group Draft

Report; Appendix C

AGENCY: National Archives and Records

Administration (NARA).

ACTION: Request for comment.

SUMMARY: This notice contains the

Electronic Records Work Group’s

proposed strategy for Federal agencies

to implement the Work Group’s

proposed recommendation that agencies

must schedule their program and

unique administrative records in all

formats. It proposes guidance that

NARA should issue on the revision of

existing records disposition schedules

to provide disposition authority for

electronic source records created using

office automation applications, which

were covered by the 1995 General

Records Schedule (GRS) 20, items 13, 14

and 15. Your comments are requested

on the proposed Appendix C which

follows this notice and in response to

the questions posed in the

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before August 20, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent

electronically to the e-mail address

<grs20@arch2.nara.gov>. We ask that

lengthy attachments be sent in ASCII,

WordPerfect 5.1/5.2, or MS Word 6.0

format. If you do not have access to email, comments may be mailed to

Electronic Records Work Group (NPOL),

Room 4100, 8601 Adelphi Rd., College

Park, MD 20740–6001, or faxed to 301–

713–7270.