NARA’s mission is to safeguard and preserve the records of the U.S. government, ensuring that the people can discover, use, and learn from this documentary heritage. In this way, NARA is to ensure continuing access to the essential documentation of the rights of American citizens and the actions of their government. In carrying out this mission, NARA (among other things) is to provide guidance and assistance to federal officials on the management of records; determine the retention and disposition of records; store agency records in records centers from which agencies can retrieve them; receive, preserve, and make available permanently valuable federal and presidential records; and centrally file and publish federal laws and administrative regulations, the President’s official orders, and the structure, functions, and activities of federal agencies through the daily Federal Register. NARA is organized into six main offices, as well as a number of offices carrying out particular functions. As shown in the organization chart in figure 1, of NARA’s six major offices, two are support offices (the Office of Administration and the Office of Information Services), and four carry out the organization’s primary missions (the Offices of Records Services, Washington, D.C.; Regional Records Services; the Federal Register; and Presidential Libraries). In addition, four independent offices with specialized missions report directly to the Archivist of the United States, and various staff offices (such as General Counsel) provide support. Table 1 shows these organizations, major functions, and the levels of staff in each (expressed as full-time equivalent—FTE). NARA’s operations are dispersed throughout more than 40 facilities in the United States. These facilities include the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. (housing the nation’s founding documents); the nearby Archives II facility in College Park, Maryland; and its nationwide network of regional archives, records centers, and presidential libraries and museums. Two offices share primary responsibility for performing NARA’s mission to safeguard and preserve federal records: the Office of Records Services, Washington, D.C., and the Office of Regional Records Services. These offices also account for more than two-thirds of NARA’s approximately 3,200 FTE employees. The Office of Records Services, Washington, D.C., has custodial responsibility for the historically valuable records of the three branches of the federal government in the Washington, D.C., area. Through its programs, the office appraises, accessions, preserves, describes, and provides access to these records. Besides the head office, it has six main subdivisions, as shown in table 2. The Office of Regional Records Services is organized into nine regions (each headed by a Regional Administrator) plus the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Each region operates records centers, regional archives, and records management programs for the region. In all, the Office of Regional Records Services manages 17 records centers nationwide, which operate on a reimbursable fee-for-service basis. They provide federal agencies with storage of agency records not needed in day-to-day operations, among other services, including records management assistance. The regional archives provide the public with free access to the significant historical records of federal agencies for purposes of education, genealogy, history, and research, as well as to facilitate publications in all media. Of the staff of more than 1,400, about half (745) are assigned to the Federal Personnel Records Center, with the rest allocated to the regions. In addition, the Office of Information Services plays an important role in records management and preservation through two of its components: The Electronic Records Archives Program Office manages the program to develop ERA, a system that is intended to preserve and provide access to huge volumes of all types and formats of electronic records, independent of their original hardware or software. The Center for Advanced Systems and Technologies works to discover and promote archival technologies, including preservation technologies, to NARA’s offices. To coordinate records management activities that are performed in both headquarters and the regions, NARA set up the National Records Management Program, headed by the Director of Modern Records Programs within the Office of Records Services, Washington, D.C. Among the goals of setting up the National Records Management Program was to be more responsive to NARA and agency records management needs and goals, improve internal communications, and help clarify staff roles and responsibilities. The program includes about 100 records management staff working in both the Washington, D.C., office and the regions (each region operates one or more records center facilities, each of which has two to four staff that perform records management work). NARA’s fiscal year 2009 appropriation was about $459 million, while its fiscal year 2010 appropriation is about $470 million. NARA’s budget request for fiscal year 2011 is about $460 million. In addition to annual appropriations acts, NARA’s operations are funded through revenues from the National Archives Trust Fund, Gift Fund, and Revolving Fund (which funds the operations of the regional records centers). NARA’s operations at the presidential libraries are also partially supported by a Presidential Library Trust Fund. Figure 2 provides the reported breakdown of the allocation of budget authority provided to NARA by annual appropriations acts for fiscal year 2009 ($486 million, which includes $26 million carried over in multi-year and no-year funds available for obligation). The Federal Records Act gives NARA responsibilities regarding both federal records management and preservation of permanent records. Thus, NARA supports agency management of records used in everyday operations (both temporary and permanent) and ultimately takes control of permanent agency records judged to be of historic value. Of the total number of federal records, NARA estimates that less than 3 percent are designated permanent. By statute, some of the responsibilities for oversight of federal records management are divided across several agencies. Under the Federal Records Act, NARA shares a number of records management responsibilities and authorities with the General Services Administration (GSA). Under the Paperwork Reduction Act and the E-Government Act, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) also has records management oversight responsibilities. Further, the heads of federal agencies are responsible for their agencies’ records. The Federal Records Act establishes requirements for records management programs in federal agencies. Each federal agency is required to make and preserve records that (1) document the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential transactions of the agency and (2) provide the information necessary to protect the legal and financial rights of the government and of persons directly affected by the agency’s activities. (NARA is assigned responsibilities for assisting federal agencies in this area.) Effective management of these records is critical for ensuring that sufficient documentation is created; that agencies can efficiently locate and retrieve records needed in the daily performance of their missions; and that records of historical significance are identified, preserved, and made available to the public. Records must be managed at all stages of their life cycle, which includes records creation or receipt, maintenance and use, and disposition. Agencies create records to meet the business needs and legal responsibilities of federal programs and (to the extent known) the needs of internal and external stakeholders who may make secondary use of the records. To maintain and use the records created, agencies are to establish internal recordkeeping requirements for maintaining records, consistently apply these requirements, and establish systems that allow them to find records that they need. Disposition involves transferring records of permanent, historical value to NARA for archiving (preservation) and destroying all other records that are no longer needed for agency operations. NARA is responsible for issuing records management guidance; working with agencies to implement effective controls over the creation, maintenance, and use of records in the conduct of agency business; approving the disposition (destruction or preservation) of records; and providing storage facilities for agency records. The Federal Records Act also gives NARA the responsibility for conducting inspections or surveys of agencies’ records and records management programs and practices; conducting records management studies; and reporting the results of these activities to the Congress and OMB. Under the Federal Records Act, disposition of any records (destruction or transfer to the Archives for preservation) requires the approval of the Archivist of the United States. Scheduling is the means by which NARA and agencies identify federal records and determine time frames for disposition. Creating records schedules involves identifying and inventorying records, appraising their value, determining whether they are temporary or permanent, and determining how long records should be kept before they are destroyed or turned over to NARA for archiving. For example, one general records schedule permits civilian agencies to destroy case files for merit promotions (2 years after the personnel action is completed or after an audit by the Office of Personnel Management, whichever is sooner). No record may be destroyed or permanently transferred to NARA unless it has been scheduled, so the schedule is of critical importance. Without schedules, agencies would have no clear criteria for when to dispose of records and, to avoid disposing of them unlawfully, would have to maintain them indefinitely. NARA works with agencies to help schedule records, and it must approve all agency records schedules. It also develops and maintains general records schedules covering records common to several or all agencies. According to NARA, records covered by general records schedules make up about a third of all federal records. For the other two thirds, NARA and the agencies must agree upon agency-specific records schedules. Destruction of records before their scheduled disposition date or without NARA approval is unauthorized and unlawful. Specifically, unlawful destruction occurs when permanent records or records that have not been scheduled are destroyed, temporary records are destroyed before the end of their retention period, or records required to be held for other reasons, such as litigation or Freedom of Information Act requests, are destroyed. Agency heads are responsible for preventing unauthorized destruction of records and must make sure employees are informed about the requirement, implement policies and procedures to ensure that records are protected, and report any unauthorized removal or destruction to NARA.