2001 Performance Plan
Revised Final Plan, January 2001
Table of Contents
Strategic Goal 1: Essential evidence
Target 1.1: Targeted assistance
Target 1.2: Schedule new records
Target 1.3: Close out schedule items
Target 2.1: Customer service
Target 2.2: On-line service
Target 2.3: On-line catalog
Target 2.4: ISOO
Target 2.5: Declassification
Target 2.6: Presidential records
Target 2.7: NHPRC grants
Strategic Goal 3: Space and Preservation
Target 3.1: Holdings in appropriate space
Target 3.2: Preservation of at-risk holdings
Target 3.3: Preservation of electronic records
Strategic Goal 4: Infrastructure
Target 4.1: Performance and development plans
Target 4.2: Equal employment opportunity
Target 4.3: Federal Register production
Target 4.4: Computers and communications
Preface
The National Archives and Records Administration is a public trust on which our democracy depends. We enable people to inspect for themselves the record of what Government has done. We enable officials and agencies to review their actions and help citizens hold them accountable. We ensure continuing access to essential evidence that documents:
- the rights of American citizens,
- the actions of Federal officials,
- the national experience.
To ensure ready access to essential evidence, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) establishes policies and procedures for managing U.S. Government records. We assist and train Federal agencies in documenting their activities, administering records management programs, scheduling records, and retiring non-current records to regional records services facilities for cost-effective storage. We appraise, accession, arrange, describe, preserve, and make available to the public the historically valuable records of the three branches of Government. We manage a nationwide system of Presidential libraries, records centers, and regional archives. We administer the Information Security Oversight Office and make grants to non-Federal institutions to support historical documentation through the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. We publish the Federal Register, Statutes at Large, Government regulations, and Presidential and other public documents.
We serve a broad spectrum of American society. Genealogists and family historians; veterans and their authorized representatives; academics, scholars, historians, and business and occupational researchers; publication and broadcast journalists; the Congress, the Courts, the White House, and other public officials; Federal Government agencies and the individuals they serve; state and local government personnel; professional organizations and their members; supporters' groups, foundations, and donors of historical materials; students and teachers; and the general public—all seek answers from the records we preserve.
To be effective, we must determine what evidence is essential for documentation, ensure that Government creates such evidence, and make it easy for users to access that evidence regardless of where it is, or where they are, for as long as needed. We also must find technologies, techniques, and partners worldwide that can help improve service and hold down costs, and we must help staff members continuously expand their capability to make the changes necessary to realize the vision.
Our Mission:
NARA ENSURES, FOR THE CITIZEN AND THE PUBLIC SERVANT, FOR THE PRESIDENT AND THE CONGRESS AND THE COURTS, READY ACCESS TO ESSENTIAL EVIDENCE.
Our Strategic Goals:
- One: Essential evidence will be created, identified, appropriately scheduled, and managed for as long as needed.
- Two: Essential evidence will be easy to access regardless of where it is or where users are for as long as needed.
- Three: All records will be preserved in an appropriate environment for use as long as needed.
- Four: NARA's capabilities for making the changes necessary to realize our vision will continuously expand.
These goals and the strategies to achieve them are detailed in Ready Access to Essential Evidence: The Strategic Plan of the National Archives and Records Administration, 1997-2007, issued September 1997 and updated and reissued September 2000. This annual performance plan is based on the goals, strategies, and long-range performance targets in our Strategic Plan, and builds on performance in FY 2000. It details the actions and outcomes that must occur in FY 2001 for us to move forward on meeting the goals and targets in our Strategic Plan. In addition to listing performance goals and measures for evaluating our performance, the plan describes the processes, skills, and technologies, and the human, capital, and informational resources needed to meet the year's performance goals. Also our budget is linked to the plan's performance goals. We received no aid from non-Federal parties in preparing this plan.
Following is a summary of the resources, by budget authority, we received to meet our FY 2001 objectives.
This is a high-level summary of NARA's resource requirements. The numbers are linked to strategic goals in the pages that follow.
We continue to use four mechanisms to measure actual performance: (1) periodic management reviews, (2) formal audits of operations, (3) expansion and refinement of our performance measurement system, and (4) systematic sampling of measurement system effectiveness. In FY 1999, with contract support from Acton Burnell, Inc., we deployed our agency-wide Performance Measurement and Reporting System. This system allows us to define and consistently measure data critical to the analysis of our performance objectives. Every year we integrate and expand the system further so that our strategic performance is measured using a balanced scorecard approach for tracking cycle times, quality, productivity, cost, and customer satisfaction for our products and services.
Furthermore, we review customer surveys, comments, and complaints concerning our performance and take action to respond to customer service needs identified by this feedback. We continue to support this agency-wide plan with detailed performance plans at the office level and below. Taken together, the program evaluations, audits, measurement system, customer feedback, and office-level plans and reports enable us to identify program areas that need attention, analysis, and possible re-engineering.
We must succeed in reaching our goals because the National Archives and Records Administration is not an ordinary Federal agency. The records we preserve document the rights of American citizens, the actions of Federal officials, and the national experience. We serve not just today's citizens, but all who are yet to come. We must not only preserve past documents already in our care, but also prepare to manage tomorrow's records in new and challenging forms. This plan is our 2001 road map for making that a reality.
FY 1999 Resources Available to Meet This Goal: $12,075,000; 127 FTE
FY 2000 Resources Available to Meet This Goal: $14,524,000; 149 FTE
FY 2001 Resources Required to Meet This Goal: $16,590,000; 161 FTE
Budget Linkage: pages 13-17
Long Range Performance Target 1.1. By 2007, 100 percent of targeted assistance partnership agreements deliver the results promised.
Outcome Records are kept long enough to protect rights, assure accountability, and document the national experience; and records are destroyed when they are no longer needed and it is practical to do so.
Significance To ensure essential evidence is created, identified, appropriately scheduled, and managed for as long as needed, we must take the initiative with Federal agencies to ensure their recordkeeping practices are in accordance with our guidelines.
Means and Strategies In the past we provided general outreach and technical assistance, promulgated policy, and evaluated agency records management programs to compel Federal agencies to comply with our guidance. This resulted in a list of records management problems that agencies had to resolve on their own and reached very few agencies. Through targeted assistance we now emphasize partnerships, not compliance.
In contrast to audits, which were often perceived negatively by agencies, targeted assistance means we work together with agencies to resolve long-standing or significant records management issues by:
- increasing direct contact with agencies and really understanding what they need from us
- increasing agency awareness of records management responsibilities through tailored training and outreach
- extending outreach initiatives beyond records officers to program managers
- resolving specific records management problems for records in all media, especially electronic records
- emphasizing problem resolution and customer service
- expediting disposition requests that result from partnerships
- developing new measures to verify that agency records management programs are being carried out effectively.
With the help of senior records analysts hired during FY 1999-2001, we have established partnership agreements with many agency headquarters and field components. As we make targeted assistance the basis of the way we do records management, we expect to see significant improvements in the way Federal agencies manage their records.
Key external factor Federal agencies must implement their part of the partnership agreements.
Data source Performance Measurement and Reporting System and quarterly reports to the Archivist.
Long Range Performance Target 1.2. By 2007, 60 percent of approved new records schedule items cover records created within the last 2 years.
Outcome Records are kept long enough to protect rights, assure accountability, and document the national experience; and records are destroyed when they are no longer needed and it is practical to do so.
Significance We must protect records from the time of their very creation to ensure their accessibility for as long as they are needed to meet the needs of Government agencies and the public. In particular, if we are to ensure that essential evidence is created, identified, appropriately scheduled, and managed, we must address realistically a future in which most Government recordkeeping will be electronic and develop practical solutions for dealing with electronic records. Otherwise, records needed to document citizens' rights, actions for which Federal officials are responsible, and the historical experience of our nation will be at risk of loss, deterioration, or destruction.
Means and Strategies Approving the disposition of records is the most critical statutory responsibility of the Archivist of the United States because it determines how long records must be kept to protect individual rights, provide accountability in government, and document the national experience. When Federal agencies create new functions (and hence, new kinds of records), we must determine the disposition of those records as soon as possible.
This work is especially important for electronic records, the bulk of the records being created today. In the past two decades, there has been an explosion in the quantities and types of electronic records generated by the Federal Government as agencies have turned increasingly to information technology to improve and extend Government services. Both electronic mail and the Internet have come into widespread use. And while agencies are creating, using, and storing records electronically, they are not necessarily managing them in electronic recordkeeping systems because developments in technology for creating records have not been matched by technological developments for managing them.
We must develop both long-term strategies for managing and scheduling electronic records and practical short-term solutions that can be implemented now. Following the recommendations of our Electronic Records Work Group, (1) we issued guidance to all Federal agencies on scheduling electronic copies of program records and administrative records, (2) we drafted a new general records schedule for administrative records that document the management of information technology, and (3) we promulgated changes to other general records schedules that authorize the disposal by Federal agencies of certain administrative records, regardless of physical format. In addition, we endorsed a standard developed by the Department of Defense for design criteria for electronic records management software applications and are reviewing the Department of Defense certification process for commercial software that meets this standard. We also created the Fast Track Guidance Development Project to identify currently available "best practices" and provide guidance quickly on electronic records issues that urgently confront Federal recordkeepers now. Agencies can use this guidance while work proceeds on developing more complete and long-term solutions to the problems of electronic recordkeeping.
Carrying out a records management application (RMA) pilot project and a business process improvement study of our own recordkeeping processes will contribute findings toward the development of long-term solutions. We will examine all aspects of our own records management - how we create and maintain our records, and how we create records schedules and implement them. We will make recommendations as to how we can improve our records management functions, including the appropriateness of implementing an electronic recordkeeping system. In addition to improving our records management program, we will be creating products that can be used by other agencies for improving their records management programs. The study will give us the experience necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of our regulations and guidance to the Federal Government to ensure the proper management of essential evidence.
Key external factors We are dependent on partners for funding and technological expertise, and in need of available partners willing to conduct pilots to test the feasibility of draft requirements.
Data source Performance Measurement and Reporting System and quarterly reports to the Archivist.
Definitions Records schedule: a document, having legally binding authority when approved by NARA, that provides mandatory instructions (i.e., disposition authority) for what to do with records no longer needed for current business; Schedule item: records subject to a specific disposition authority that appear on a records schedule; Close out: schedule items have been approved by the Archivist of the United States or withdrawn by the agency submitting the schedule.
Long Range Performance Target 1.3. By 2007, the median time to process records schedule items is 120 calendar days or less.
Outcome Records are kept long enough to protect rights, assure accountability, and document the national experience; and records are destroyed when they are no longer needed and it is practical to do so.
Significance We must make the records scheduling process more effective and efficient, and decrease the time it takes to get schedules approved. Taking a long time to process schedules delays action on the disposition of records and discourages agencies from submitting schedules, potentially putting essential evidence at risk.
Means and Strategies Our planned redesign of the scheduling and appraisal process will result in dramatic improvements in the timeliness and quality of the process. We will identify and eliminate unnecessary steps in the scheduling process and make as many steps as possible concurrent rather than sequential.
We must undertake this redesign in large part because the scheduling and appraisal policies, standards, and procedures developed by the Federal Government during the 20th century were primarily for recordkeeping systems of paper records. Now, however, most records are created electronically and may be maintained in a variety of media. Other changes in the office environment also may be having a significant impact on agency recordkeeping. Traditionally, filing and other records management responsibilities were handled centrally by professional records management staff. In today's office environment, individual employees who carry out the programs of their agency also bear a large responsibility for managing the documentation they create. In addition, outsourcing of agency program functions may be significantly affecting agency recordkeeping.
The evolution of the modern Federal office and the transformation of work brought about by the spread of computer technology require that we rethink how we conduct the management and disposition of Federal records. To do this, we are beginning this redesign project by developing a better understanding of the current Federal recordkeeping and records use environment.
We have engaged a contractor to identify and document the perceptions and views in selected Federal offices concerning the creation, maintenance, use, and disposition of Federal records. Our staff is analyzing selected Federal agency business processes and the records they generate. Together, this information will help us analyze current policy relating to the scheduling and appraisal of Federal records and lead to our redesign of the scheduling and appraisal process.
Until any recommendations from the redesign are implemented, we will not be able to make improvements in the scheduling and appraisal process. Recommendations resulting from the redesign may be difficult and time-consuming to implement. They also may result in significant changes to this target and target 1.2.
Key external factors If changes in statute or legislation are recommended as part of the redesign of the scheduling and appraisal process, delays in implementation could result.
Verification and Validation
Data source Performance Measurement and Reporting System and quarterly reports to the Archivist.
Definitions Records schedule: a document, having legally binding authority when approved by NARA, that provides mandatory instructions (i.e., disposition authority) for what to do with records no longer needed for current business; Schedule item: records subject to a specific disposition authority that appear on a records schedule; Close out: schedule items have been approved by the Archivist of the United States or withdrawn by the agency submitting the schedule; Life cycle of records: the stages in the existence of records, from creation to final disposition. Stages include creation or receipt, maintenance, scheduling and appraisal, transfer to a records center or archives, destruction or archival processing, preservation, and continuing use.
Long Range Performance Targets
2.1. By 2007, access to records and services and customer satisfaction levels meet or exceed NARA's published standards.
2.2. By 2007, 70 percent of NARA services are available online.
2.3. By 2007, 95 percent of NARA archival holdings are described at the series or collection level in an online catalog.
2.4. By 2003, ISOO will develop a uniform sampling system for collecting information about classification activity within the executive branch.
2.5. By 2004, NARA will review and declassify 100 percent of archival holdings more than 25 years old for which NARA has been granted declassification authority and responsibility for their review by the originating agency.
By 2007, 10 percent of records of a two-term President or 15 percent of records for a one-term President are open and available for research at the end of the 5-year post-Presidential period specified in the Presidential Records Act.
By 2007, 90 percent of all NHPRC-assisted projects produce results promised in grant applications approved by the Commission.
FY 1999 Resources Available to Meet This Goal: $130,873,000; 1,988 FTE
FY 2000 Resources Available to Meet This Goal: $98,383,000; 2,153 FTE
FY 2001 Resources Required to Meet This Goal: $115,542,000; 2,188 FTE
Budget Linkage: pages 17-22
Long Range Performance Target 2.1. By 2007, access to records and services and customer satisfaction levels meet or exceed NARA's published standards.
Outcome Our customers are satisfied.
Significance Our customers deserve the best service we can deliver. Through the measurement of performance against customer service standards, development of customer service teams and customer service training, and process redesign efforts in areas that traditionally had high backlogs, we are coordinating our efforts to ensure that our customer service meets our customers' needs.
Means and Strategies To better serve our customers nationwide, we are focusing on two critical areas:
- reducing the response time for requests for veterans' records
- improving our research room services.
One of our biggest challenges is to reduce the response time for requests for veterans' records. At the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis we are in the midst of a multi-year business process re-engineering project to bring the average response time on requests for modern military service records from several weeks to six days. We also have implemented a new order fulfillment and accounting system, which will help improve service on 18th- and 19th-century military service records at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC.
We continue to make process improvements in our research rooms, train staff in customer service principles, employ customer service teams, modernize and upgrade research room equipment, and add research room staff and adjust hours of service to make it easier for more people to use our services. Many of these improvements are critical for us to be able to meet customer service expectations for the opening of the 1930 census in April 2002. We release a decennial census every 10 years - 72 years after the original census was completed. This requires at least four years of preparation so that all microfilm rolls, available indexes, and adequate equipment and staff are available on opening day and during the years of increased research activity that typically follow. By distributing the rolls of microfilm and procuring the necessary equipment by the end of FY 2001, we ensure that we will be prepared for the April 2002 opening.
Key external factors Unexpected increases in records holdings or public interest in groups of records can significantly increase workloads, response times, and wear and tear on public use equipment. Construction at the National Archives Building may result in a temporary decrease in the number of public programs and services offered there.
Data source Performance Measurement and Reporting System and quarterly reports to the Archivist.
Definitions Written requests: requests for services that arrive in the form of letters, faxes, emails, and telephone calls that have been transcribed. Excludes Freedom of Information Act requests, personnel information requests at the National Personnel Records Center, Federal agency requests for information, fulfillment of requests for copies of records, requests for museum shop products, subpoenas, and special access requests; Federal agency reference request: a request by a Federal agency to a records center activity requesting the retrieval of agency records. Excludes personnel information requests at the National Personnel Records Center.
Long Range Performance Target 2.2. By 2007, 70 percent of NARA services are available online.
Outcome More people have access to our services.
Significance For citizens and the Government to take full advantage of the resources we have to offer, we must make those services available regardless of the user's physical location. With the advent of the Internet and other electronic forms of communication, we now have the means to offer services remotely. Visiting or writing one of our facilities is no longer the only way for people to get ready access to essential evidence. By broadening the availability of our services, we ensure that citizens everywhere have access to their National Archives.
Means and Strategies Our web site is the most widely available means of electronic access to our services and information, including directions on how to contact us and do research at our facilities; descriptions of our holdings in an online catalog; digital copies of selected archival documents; electronic mailboxes for customer questions, comments, and complaints; an automated index to the John F. Kennedy assassination records collection; electronic versions of Federal Register publications; online exhibits, and classroom resources for students and teachers. We are expanding the kinds and amount of services and information available on our web site and evaluating and redesigning the site to make it easier to use.
We also have two electronic request systems for Federal agencies—the Centers Information Processing System, for requesting and tracking Federal agency recalls of records center holdings, and an Online Registry System for requests from the National Personnel Records Center.
Data source Performance Measurement and Reporting System and quarterly reports to the Archivist.
Long Range Performance Target 2.3. By 2007, 95 percent of NARA archival holdings are described at the series or collection level in an online catalog.
Outcome Researchers will find the descriptive information they need about our archival holdings in one convenient location.
Significance The Archival Research Catalog—an online card catalog of all our holdings nationwide—will allow the public, for the first time, to use computers to search our vast holdings, including those in the regional archives and Presidential libraries. Moreover, anyone can perform these searches through the Internet rather than having to travel to one of our facilities.
Means and Strategies In FY 2001 we will complete the development and testing of the Archival Research Catalog (ARC). While ARC is being completed, we also will install public access terminals in all our research rooms nationwide to enable the public to view online copies of our most popular and significant manuscripts, photographs, sound recordings, maps, drawings and other documents through the NARA Archival Information Locator (NAIL). The prototype system for ARC, NAIL allows users to search records descriptions by title, subject, date, or other keywords. Once ARC is operational, we will migrate NAIL descriptions and other existing records descriptions to ARC and roll out the system to our staff and the public. We also will implement a program to train staff in the fundamentals of the records life cycle and descriptive standards and build our data administration program.
One of our description and access challenges is the high-volume and high-demand electronic records from the Department of State, the Executive Office of the President, and other agencies that we soon will be accessioning. We would like to make these records available through ARC, but our capability to make electronic records accessible to researchers online has been extremely limited. Generally, researchers must access electronic records by purchasing copies of physical files. In FY 2000 we developed a prototype system to enable researchers to access electronic records online. In FY 2001, we will install the prototype system in an operational environment, providing researchers the opportunity to access selected electronic files via ARC.
Data source Performance Measurement and Reporting System and quarterly reports to the Archivist.
Definitions NAIL: NARA Archival Information Locator, prototype for ARC; ARC: Archival Research Catalog, future NARA-wide online catalog.
Long Range Performance Target 2.4. By 2003, ISOO will develop a uniform sampling system for collecting information about classification activity within the executive branch.
Outcome More reliable and credible data are available about classification decisions.
Significance The Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), which is administered within NARA, annually reports to the President on the status of the Government-wide security classification program. ISOO collects data from executive branch agencies that create or handle classified national security information to assess the state of the Government's overall security classification program as well as individual agency programs. Credible data are essential to making these assessments.
Means and Strategies One element that has been particularly troublesome for the larger classifying agencies is the number of classification decisions made by classifiers in a fiscal year. Three agencies use sampling methods to determine this number. These agencies represent more than 90 percent of all classification activity in the executive branch. The results from their sampling methods tend to vary significantly from year to year because the methods lack uniformity in content and application. Consequently, the reliability and credibility of the data are questioned. A uniform sampling method would result in more reliable and credible data.
Key external factors Agencies who sample their number of classification decisions must cooperate in the development of the uniform methodology.
Data source Quarterly reports to the Archivist.
Definitions Classified document review: a review by ISOO of an executive branch agency to identify inconsistencies in the application of classification and marking requirements of Executive Order 12958. The results of the review along with any appropriate recommendations for improvement are reported to the agency senior official for the program or the agency head. Program review: an evaluation of selected aspects of an executive branch agency's security classification program to determine whether an agency has met the requirements of Executive Order 12958. The review may include security education and training, self-inspections, declassification, safeguarding, and classification activity. The results of a review, along with any appropriate recommendations for improvement are reported to the agency senior official or agency head.
Long Range Performance Target 2.5. By 2004, NARA will review and declassify 100 percent of archival holdings more than 25 years old for which NARA has been granted declassification authority and responsibility for their review by the originating agency.
Outcome More records are declassified and made available to the public.
Significance Executive Order 12958 requires the declassification of material 25 years old unless specifically exempt. The Government protects millions of classified documents at great expense, including more than 455 million pages in our Washington, DC, area facilities and 24 million pages in Presidential libraries. The majority of these documents more than 25 years old no longer require classified protection and can and should be accessible to citizens.
Means and Strategies To handle the reviews required by Executive Order 12958, and the extra work required by the Kyl and Lott Amendments, we propose to hire experienced contract personnel to survey, review, and prepare records for release. The contractors would work on both Federal agency records and Presidential materials from the Eisenhower through Carter Administrations.
We expect to improve our internal ability to track information about our classified and declassified records by installing a new database management system for tracking withdrawn items with scanning and storage capabilities. This will allow us to electronically scan requested documents, input data about the documents, redact documents, and provide redacted copies of scanned documents to researchers. Ultimately, other agencies may be able to use the image files of the documents in question to check for their own equities.
For classified materials in the Presidential library system for which we have no delegated declassification authority, we hope to continue our partnership with the Central Intelligence Agency to scan classified materials for distribution to agencies with equities in the documents. The program is at risk because CIA has indicated they cannot continue to fund the program without resources or contributions from other agencies for both the scanning and the declassification review. It is likely that NARA will have to depend on agency-led declassification review teams (funded by the individual equity-holding agencies) visiting the Ford and Carter Libraries if the requirements of the Executive Order are to be met. Presidential library staff at Ford and Carter have limited guidance for making NARA-based declassification decisions. The majority of classified materials will require direct agency review.
Key external factor The Kyl and Lott Amendments require that we re-review, page-by-page, up to 200 million pages of records already released to the public to ensure that no Restricted Data and Formerly Restricted Data was inadvertently released.
The Nazi War Crimes Act and other special declassification projects also will reduce the amount of declassification that can be accomplished with existing resources. Instead of examining entire records series for declassification, many of our declassification staff are required to examine individual withdrawn classified documents to determine their relevance and coordinate their declassification with the appropriate agencies under the Nazi War Crimes Act.
We have partnered with several agencies that are providing declassification support. The CIA must continue to provide technical support to enable the review of documents by other agencies. The State Department and other agencies must take prompt action on reviewing and declassifying documents in Presidential libraries.
Data source Performance Measurement and Reporting System and quarterly reports to the Archivist.
Definitions Equity-holding agency: the agency that classified information in a document, whether or not it created the document. Without declassification guidelines, only the equity-holding agency can declassify information in the document.
Long Range Performance Target 2.6. By 2007, 10 percent of records of a two-term President or 15 percent of records of a one-term President are open and available for research at the end of the 5-year post-Presidential period specified in the Presidential Records Act.
Outcome We improve ready access to Presidential records.
Significance The Presidential Records Act (PRA) requires Presidential records to be available for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests five years after the President leaves office. Five years after the last two Presidents left office, well under 10 percent of their records had been opened, largely because of the absence, on the Presidents' departures, of NARA staff trained to accomplish the exacting reviews required under the PRA and FOIA. We must ensure that Presidential records are available in accordance with the Act in a more timely fashion. Also, the inventory of Presidential and Vice Presidential records will provide basic intellectual control and facilitate access to the records in the immediate post-Presidential period and enable the transfer of the records from the White House to a NARA-operated storage facility.
Means and Strategies To ensure the preservation of Clinton Administration records and artifacts for informational, historical, evidentiary, and administrative purposes and to prepare for the transfer of Presidential and Vice Presidential records to our custody, we will work with White House and Vice Presidential staff to account for Presidential records in all media held in Presidential, First Lady, and Vice Presidential staff offices and other file locations. With the approval of Presidential and Vice Presidential representatives, we will prepare some inventories, define requirements, and facilitate preparation of other inventories by White House staff, and gather inventories prepared throughout the Administration by White House staff. We also will continue to provide archival guidance and advice to the Presidential and Vice Presidential staffs on the recordkeeping and disposition requirements of the PRA. With assistance from the Department of Defense we will complete the transfer of Presidential and Vice Presidential records to NARA-operated sites in FY 2001. We have established and are staffing a Clinton Presidential Materials Project. The staff we have hired and trained in the requirements of the PRA and FOIA will begin processing Clinton Administration records and artifacts as part of this Project.
Key external factors We do not have legal custody of the records of the President and Vice President until the end of the Administration. Our access to current Presidential and Vice Presidential records to prepare them for transfer to the Clinton Project is at the approval of the incumbent President and Vice President. Once the records are in our custody, progress in processing and inventorying the records may be hindered by an unusually large number of special access requests or subpoenas.
Data source Performance Measurement and Reporting System and quarterly reports to the Archivist.
Definitions Intellectual control: the acquisition and creation of documentation required to access the informational content of records; Inventory: a listing of the volume, scope, and complexity of an organization's records.
Long Range Performance Target 2.7. By 2007, 90 percent of all NHPRC-assisted projects produce results promised in grant applications approved by the Commission.
Outcome The public gains wider access to the entire range of records on which the understanding of American history depends.
Significance National Historical Publications and Records Commission grants help archivists, editors, and historians nationwide broaden public access to non-Federal records, thus complimenting NARA's own mission. Toward this end, the NHPRC works to ensure completion of documentary projects on America's founding era, strengthens the nation's archival infrastructure through collaboration with the states, and funds research and development on preserving and making accessible important documentary sources in electronic form.
Means and Strategies The Commission achieves its goals largely through a competitive grants program open to non-profit organizations, state, local, and tribal governments, and (in a limited number of cases) individuals. Grants projects are submitted and supported by applicant institutions and organizations that provide a significant portion of the total project costs (usually 50 percent or higher). Each grant application includes general goals and specific objectives, a detailed budget, a work plan with project schedule, and a list of products that will be produced. Grants are evaluated by peer reviewers, staff, and the Commission (and in some cases by state historical records advisory boards) and are awarded usually on an annual competitive basis. Each grant recipient must submit regular narrative and financial reports and a final report with copies of products generated by the project. Commission staff monitor the projects through this regular reporting as well as through individual contact. Commission staff also monitor relevant professional reviews of the products of its grants as found in professional journals and reports to professional meetings. Projects also are evaluated at the close of the grant period to determine if they have submitted evidence of the satisfactory completion of the project along with the necessary copies of products.
Because some of the projects are experimental, they may not produce expected results. In these cases, however, finding out what does not work may be just as valuable as finding out what does work.
Key external factor The NHPRC rigorously evaluates grant applications on the basis of the relevance of projects to the NHPRC's strategic objectives and the ability of applicants to produce promised results. Nonetheless, results ultimately depend on the grantees rather than on the NHPRC.
Data source Performance Measurement and Reporting System.
Long Range Performance Targets
3.1. By 2007, 90 percent of NARA holdings are in appropriate space.
3.2. By 2007, 50 percent of NARA's at-risk archival holdings are appropriately treated or housed so as to retard further deterioration.
3.3. By 2007, 97 percent of NARA's electronic holdings are preserved and accessible, regardless of their original format.
FY 1999 Resources Available to Meet This Goal: $82,950,000; 307 FTE
FY 2000 Resources Available to Meet This Goal: $61,537,000; 347 FTE
FY 2001 Resources Required to Meet This Goal: $71,177,000; 365 FTE
Budget Linkage: pages 15-17, 22-25
Long Range Performance Target 3.1. By 2007, 90 percent of NARA holdings are in appropriate space.
Outcome We greatly increase the chances of records being available for use by Federal officials and the public for as long as needed. In addition, for the first time in America's history, all the Charters of Freedom are fully accessible to the public and their continued preservation is ensured.
Significance Providing appropriate physical and environmental storage conditions is the most cost-effective means to ensure records preservation.
Means and Strategies While our state-of-the-art facility in College Park, MD, provides appropriate storage conditions for the archival headquarters records of most Federal agencies as well as modern records of national interest, several of our regional facilities have severe quality problems, including backlogs of needed repairs and renovations, and existing Presidential libraries need upgrades in environmental conditions. We are taking a multi-pronged approach to ensuring our holdings are in appropriate space. Based in part on our experience with our College Park facility, we are developing storage standards for all NARA archival records holdings. We published new standards to safeguard Federal records in records centers and other records storage facilities. These standards will ensure Federal records are protected whether they are stored by NARA, another Federal agency, or the private sector.
On January 20, 2001, we will take custody of the records of the Clinton Administration. We must lease, staff, and equip a temporary facility in Little Rock, Arkansas, to house all the Presidential materials, safely transport the records there, begin processing the records, and prepare for the opening of the Clinton Presidential Library. For this and future Presidential libraries, we are developing new facility standards to ensure Presidential records and artifacts are appropriately housed. In addition, many older libraries are undergoing renovations and upgrades.
In our regions we are focusing first on facilities with the worst storage conditions (Atlanta, St. Louis) for archival records and on those which are out of space (Atlanta, Anchorage).
And in Washington, D.C., we are renovating the grand, old National Archives Building and re-encasing America's Charters of Freedom. We are legally entrusted with the care and preservation of this country's founding documents—the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights. Having been encased nearly fifty years ago, the technology that was used then is now out of step with modern conservation practices. Our conservators and outside experts have concluded that the deteriorating encasements must be replaced to ensure the continued preservation of the documents for the American people.
We have partnered with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and our Advisory Committee on Preservation to design the most technologically advanced and safest encasements for the Charters of Freedom. The design addresses issues of security, strength of the encasement, temperature, humidity, light, air pressure, and flexibility for incorporating new protective measures in the future. The plan to re-encase the Charters of Freedom offers us the opportunity to evaluate the condition of the current encasements, to perform any necessary document conservation measures, and to fully document the condition of the Charters. A sample of the interior gas will be extracted before the old encasements are opened and the old encasement components will be retained for further analysis. Before re-encasement, each page will be examined to ensure its stability for long-term exhibit. Finally, each page will be photographed to facilitate the preparation of facsimiles and publications, and to add to the permanent conservation files. The prototype encasement was developed and tested in FY 1999 and fabrication of encasements is scheduled for completion this year.
The Charters of Freedom cannot be displayed in their new encasements, however, unless we renovate the National Archives Building. The renovation of the National Archives Building is essential to the preservation and protection of the Charters of Freedom and the other holdings in the building. The current HVAC system requires upgrading to meet archival standards for the preservation of the textual holdings in the building. The renovation also will modernize the mechanical, electrical, and fire safety systems so that they meet current regulations and standards. It will retrofit the Rotunda area so that the Charters of Freedom can be displayed in their new encasements. Renovation will bring the building and the document displays into full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, enabling all Americans to view the Charters of Freedom and use the research rooms. Adding chemical filtration of the air and tighter temperature and humidity controls will upgrade the records storage areas to meet archival standards for textual records. Finally, renovation will add sufficient exhibit and public use space to accommodate the increasing number of visitors to the building.
Key external factors Public, Administration, and congressional support for our space planning activities is vital to develop and implement proposed plans. The plans for moving Clinton Presidential materials to temporary space rely on the cooperation and assistance of the Department of Defense.
Data source Performance Measurement and Reporting System and quarterly reports to the Archivist.
Definitions Appropriate space: storage areas that meet physical and environmental standards for the type of materials stored there.
Long Range Performance Target 3.2. By 2007, 50 percent of NARA's at-risk archival holdings are appropriately treated or housed so as to retard further deterioration.
Outcome The most at-risk materials are appropriately preserved according to degree of risk, value, and use for current and future generations of researchers.
Significance Providing public access to records for as long as needed requires that we assess the preservation needs of the records, provide storage that retards deterioration, and treat or duplicate and reformat records at high risk for deterioration. The records currently identified as being most in need of preservation attention are textual records documenting military service of 20th-century veterans, as well as those that provide a broad audiovisual history of the United States from the 1930s to the 1960s.
Means and Strategies We must preserve paper records and motion pictures, audio recordings, video tapes, still photography, aerial photography, microfilm and other microforms, and maps and charts in a variety of formats in our holdings. We implemented a risk assessment program to identify at-risk records among new accessions and among previously accessioned textual (paper) holdings. We also will retard further deterioration of the large quantities of acetate-based motion pictures, still photos, aerial films, and microfilms in the Washington, DC, area by housing them in cold storage. In addition to putting acetate-based records in cold storage, we are identifying other nontextual records at risk outside the Washington, DC, area and developing a long-term, nationwide plan for their preservation.
At our National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis the records of the service of our 20th-century military veterans require immediate preservation attention. Because these records have such great value to current veterans now trying to document their rights and to future researchers documenting the military history of the 20th century, NARA will accession the majority of these records. To ensure both short-term and continuing access to these records, we are establishing a comprehensive preservation program for these records with a professional staff. The staff initially will focus on completing the preservation duplication of Air Force flight records from 1911-1974. In addition, they will begin the preparation of Final Pay Vouchers and Payrolls for a reformatting contract. These are just the first of thousands of feet of microform and paper records that will receive preservation treatment over the next several years.
Key external factors Unusually large increases in new at-risk records, increases in cost of leasing cold storage space, and growing or shifting public demands for the use of at-risk records could delay achievement of performance objectives. Limitations on the availability of appropriate cold storage facilities and commercial treatment labs will affect the Presidential libraries' ability to address audiovisual holdings' requirements.
Data source Performance Measurement and Reporting System and quarterly reports to the Archivist.
Definitions At-risk: records that have a media base near or at the point of deterioration to such an extent that the image or information in the physical media of the record is being or soon will be lost, or records that are stored on media accessible only through obsolete technology; Accession: archival materials whose legal custody is transferred to NARA.
Long Range Performance Target 3.3. By 2007, 97 percent of NARA's electronic holdings are preserved and accessible, regardless of their original format.
Outcome Electronic records are preserved for future generations of researchers.
Significance We have accessioned and are preserving more electronic records than any other government archives in the world. All citizens count on us to ensure that our heritage in electronic form is preserved for as long as needed. But even as the world leader we still lack the capacity to accommodate our current backlog of files and the exploding volume of electronic data files that Federal agencies transfer to us. We must expand the capacity of our current preservation system, research options with public and private sector partners to establish a more robust system, and accommodate an increasing number of routine electronic accessions in a variety of media and in a number of file formats.
Means and Strategies To deal with the complex challenges we face in preserving and managing electronic records we are taking a short- and long-term approach. In the short-term, we must extend and expand our existing systems that handle electronic records processing because that is the only means we have currently of controlling these records. For the future, however, we have research and development partnerships with the National Science Foundation, the San Diego Supercomputer Center, and others to discover new ways to look at preserving and providing access to electronic records within a comprehensive and stable architecture that will be infrastructure independent, scalable, modular, and extensible. More research and development must occur, but we believe we can develop and build an Electronic Records Archives that will preserve any kind of electronic record in a format that frees it from the computer system that created it and will allow us to respond to reference requests in ways that meet customer needs. We plan to complete the research, development, prototype, and pilot by 2004. Once the Electronic Records Archives are operational, we will assess the need for continuation of our existing electronic records preservation systems.
Key external factors The results of existing and future research and development into electronic records preservation may change the requirements for an electronic records preservation system.
Data source Performance Measurement and Reporting System and quarterly reports to the Archivist.
Definitions Preserved: (1) the physical file containing one or more logical data records has been identified and its location, format, and internal structure(s) specified; (2) logical data records within the file are physically readable and retrievable; (3) the media, the physical files written on them, and the logical data records they contain are managed to ensure continuing accessibility; and (4) an audit trail is maintained to document record integrity; Accessible: NARA is able to make a copy of the electronic holdings available.
Long Range Performance Targets
4.1. By 2003, 100 percent of employee performance plans and 100 percent of staff development plans are linked to strategic outcomes.
4.2. By 2007, the percentages of NARA employees in underrepresented groups match their respective availability levels in the Civilian Labor Force.
4.3. By 2007, NARA will accept 100 percent of the legal documents submitted electronically for publication in the Federal Register.
4.4. By 2007, NARA will have a 95-percent effective computer and communications infrastructure.
Resources Required to Meet This Goal: Goal 4 supports goals 1 through 3. Resources required are included in the totals for those goals.
Long Range Performance Target 4.1. By 2003, 100 percent of employee performance plans and 100 percent of staff development plans are linked to strategic outcomes.
Outcome We are motivated and given the skills to successfully implement our Strategic Plan.
Significance A new agency performance appraisal system that links employees' individual performance with our performance as an agency will demonstrate to staff their importance to the success of our Strategic Plan. To achieve that success, however, we also must give our staff the tools, training, and development necessary to meet these expectations.
Means and Strategies To ensure that our employees are prepared to carry out the responsibilities in their performance plans, we must help them learn new skills, refresh old skills, and make use of emerging technologies. We will develop, test, refine, and implement career development programs focusing on instruction in supervisory, universal, supplemental, and job-specific competencies that are linked to accomplishment of our strategic goals. Supervisors and managers will be trained in developing new performance plans and staff development plans for their employees. All staff must be actively engaged in fulfilling their new plans or our workforce will stagnate, and we will not be able to take advantage of new ideas and opportunities to achieve our strategic vision.
Data source Performance Measurement and Reporting System and quarterly reports to the Archivist.
Long Range Performance Target 4.2. By 2007, the percentages of NARA employees in underrepresented groups match their respective availability levels in the Civilian Labor Force.
Outcome Our workforce will reflect the diversity of American society as a whole.
Significance A diverse workforce enhances our agency by ensuring that we can draw on the widest possible variety of viewpoints and experiences to improve the planning and actions we undertake to achieve our mission and goals. By promoting and valuing workforce diversity, we create a work setting where these varied experiences contribute to a more efficient and dynamic organization and employees can develop to their full potential.
Means and Strategies Training in diversity is a critical step for creating an understanding of the value of diversity and ensuring its integration into our organization. We also are focusing on improving our performance in hiring and promoting people in underrepresented groups by continuing our efforts to expand recruiting techniques, collecting and analyzing pertinent personnel management data, and implementing staff development programs.
Key external factors Achievement of this target depends on qualified people in underrepresented groups applying for positions at NARA.
Data source Performance Measurement and Reporting System.
Definitions Applicant: job applicants who have reached a point in the hiring process where NARA has found them to meet the basic qualifications for the position; Underrepresented groups: groups of people tracked by the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Ethnic groups (African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, and Hispanics); Women; People with targeted disabilities.
Long Range Performance Target 4.3. By 2007, NARA will accept 100 percent of the legal documents submitted electronically for publication in the Federal Register.
Outcome We improve ready access to Federal Register publications.
Significance We publish the Federal Register, the Code of Federal Regulations, and related publications, which contain information essential to the life, health, safety, and defense of the citizens of the United States and of our businesses, legal system, and Government. Informing citizens of their rights and legal responsibilities is one of our critical ongoing responsibilities.
Means and Strategies Technological developments in the publishing world have expanded publication options available for Federal Register materials, while developments in consumer technology have increased the number and the availability of public access points to published materials. Meanwhile, Federal agencies have rapidly increased their ability to operate in an electronic information environment. The resulting possibilities for enormously increased access and for significantly improved operational efficiencies demand that taxpayer-financed publishing systems, like the Federal Register system, incorporate the new technologies. As online Federal Register publications assume primacy among available formats, surveys show that users are demanding that we employ the capabilities of new technologies to provide more frequent revisions of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and better reference tools for using the publications. Federal agencies that submit documents for publication also want us to permit the much less expensive electronic submission of documents. And the Government Paperwork Elimination Act requires agencies to develop the capacity for electronic commerce by 2003.
In FY 2001 we will conduct a process improvement study of office operations that will examine the following elements: electronic submission of documents from Federal agencies; electronic review, editing, and scheduling of those documents for printing; enhanced electronic formatting of materials for printing, distribution, dissemination, and archiving in electronic formats; use of automation to create more user-friendly search and retrieval tools for publications in electronic and printed formats; and more timely electronic codification of CFR amendments published in the daily Federal Register. From this study we will define requirements for an electronic system covering all phases of preparing Federal Register publications for issuance, which we will begin to implement in FY 2002. In addition, we must continue our successful partnership with the Government Printing Office and involve GPO officials in planning. We also must partner with the private sector where the knowledge of technological advances and of the field of document management is greatest, to ensure that we install new processes and technologies that will keep pace with the ever-increasing speed of change in information management.
Key external factors We do not control the volume of work for which we are responsible or the timing of submissions. We do not print or distribute our publications and we depend on GPO to provide common hardware and software for publishing. GPO also controls the process by which our publications are put online on GPO Access. Significant additional resources would be required were this support from GPO decreased or withdrawn. Successful government-wide electronic commerce remains dependent upon the resolution of issues surrounding government-wide digital signature standards and an electronic public key infrastructure.
Data source Quarterly reports to the Archivist.
Long Range Performance Target 4.4. By 2007, NARA will have a 95-percent effective computer and communications infrastructure.
Outcome NARA information and services are accessible to customers 24 hours a day in a manner that meets customer service expectations.
Significance Our information technology backbone is NARANET, a wide-area-network that connects the entire agency internally and connects us to public and Government customers via the Internet. Reliable performance of NARANET is essential to ensuring that customer expectations for access to our information and services can be met.
Means and Strategies A 95-percent effective computer infrastructure means: the network is available to users 99.7 percent of the time; user services are delivered within established parameters 95 percent of the time; and services to the desktop are delivered within established timeframes 90 percent of the time.
Key external factor Because of technology changes in both hardware and software, NARANET components either rapidly become obsolete or cannot be maintained efficiently. Generally this means that 20 to 30 percent of the components must be replaced or upgraded each year. To achieve the necessary level of performance, we must acquire new hardware and software to support a 15-percent annual growth as well as cyclically maintain the minimum levels on existing systems.
Data source Performance Measurement and Reporting System. We use our network management system and problem incident reports to produce data regarding network availability and reliability. The current Help desk management system and customer surveys collect user support data. In addition, information technology staff conducts periodic system/network tests on service delivery to individual workstations. We have expanded and enhanced the capabilities of the network management system, providing additional detailed performance and availability data, especially for networks outside the Washington, DC, area. Also, NARA has replaced the current Help Desk management system and we will implement additional features, which will allow us to gather additional and more accurate information about our user support services.
Definitions NARANET: a collection of local area networks installed in 34 NARA facilities that are connected to a wide area network at Archives II, using frame relay telecommunications, and then to the Internet. NARANET includes personal computers with a standardized suite of software. NARANET was designed to be modular and scalable using standard hardware and software components; User Support Services: help desk services which include problem resolution, answering questions regarding hardware and software, providing technical support, and updating users' access to the system; Service Delivery to the Desktop: delivery of information to the users' personal computer, especially concerning email and NARA's intranet.