National Archives Website Gets New Look
Press Release · Monday, December 6, 2010

Washington, DC

The National Archives and Records Administration will launch a redesigned Archives.gov website on December 13, 2010, as part of its flagship Open Government Initiative.

• An interactive preview of the redesigned Archives.gov [www.archives.gov/open/redesign/preview/] is available online.

"It's essential for the National Archives to have a user-friendly online presence,” said Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero, (the first Archivist to blog, tweet, and launch a Facebook page). “We hope to reach new audiences while still engaging our long-time users, researchers and visitors. This redesign – part of the National Archives flagship Open Government Initiative – reflects the ongoing effort to engage the public and make records of the National Archives easier to find and use."

The new Archives.gov website will feature:

• A brand new home page voted by the public in July 2010;
   
• A new interactive “Our Locations” map of NARA’s facilities nationwide;
   
• Streamlined access to historical documents and military service records (81 percent of Archives.gov visitors are looking for this information);
   
• Single topically organized sections focused on the needs of both casual browsers and professional researchers; and
   
• Easy links to National Archives’ social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and both the Archivist's AOTUS blog and other National Archives blogs.

The public and National Archives staff participated in the redesign process. A multi-faceted participatory approach, including online card sorts, voting on home page designs, and usability testing was used to gather input to create content organization on Archives.gov.

The interactive preview explains what is and is not changing and gives you the opportunity to walk through the redesign.

• A website is never done and this is the first step in a number of ongoing changes.
   
• We look forward to your input. Share your thoughts on the Archives.gov redesign via the NARAtions Blog or webprogram@nara.gov.

For more information about the Archives.gov website redesign, see http://www.archives.gov/open/redesign/

For more information on Open Government at the National Archives, see: http://www.archives.gov/open

To submit suggestions and feedback to the National Archives Web Staff, e-mail webprogram@nara.gov

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For Press information, contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at (202) 357-5300.

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