National Archives Advisory Committee for Electronic Records Archives Meets
Press Release · Friday, November 18, 2005

Washington, DC… The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), announces a meeting of the Advisory Committee on the Electronic Records Archives (ACERA).

Date of Meeting: November 30, 2005
Time of Meeting: 9:00am - 4:00pm
Place of Meeting: 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20408-0001

At a press conference on September 8th, Dr. Kenneth Thibodeau, Director of the Electronic Records Archives (ERA) Program, announced the formation of a high-level committee to advise and make recommendations to the Archivist of the United States, Allen Weinstein, on issues related to the development, implementation and use of the ERA system.

The committee is chaired by Dr. Robert Kahn, Chairman, CEO and President of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI) and recent recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom for designing the software code that is used to transmit data over the Internet.

The members of the committee, appointed by the Archivist of the United States, are recognized experts and leaders in their field.

Committee members include:

• Dr. Daniel Atkins, Executive Director, Alliance for Community Technology
• Laura Elizabeth Campbell, Associate Librarian for Strategic Initiatives, Library of Congress,
• David Carmicheal, State Archivist, Georgia State Archives,
• Sharon Dawes, Director of the Center for Technology in Government, University at Albany,
• Luciana Duranti, Director of the InterPARES Project, University of British Columbia,
• Dr. Richard Fennell, Chief Technology Officer, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts,
• Daniel Greenstein, Associate Vice Provost Scholarly Information, University of California,
• Jerry Handfield, State Archivist, Washington State Archives,
• Robert Horton, Acting Director, Library, Publications, and Collections Division, Minnesota Historical Society,
• Andy Maltz, Director, Science and Technology Council, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
• Richard Pearce-Moses, Director of Digital Government Information, Arizona State Library and Archives,
• John Phillips, Management Consultant, Information Technology
• Jonathan Redgrave, Partner, Redgrave Daley Ragan & Wagner, LLP
• Dan Reed, Director of the Renaissance Computing Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• David Rencher, Director, Records and Information Division, Family and Church History Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Richard Testa, Director of Information and Communications Support, Headquarters, Air Force
• Dr. Kelly Woestman, Professor and History Education Director, Pittsburg State University

The Committee is governed by the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), which sets forth standards for the formation and use of advisory committees.

Background: The ERA system will be a comprehensive, systematic, and dynamic means for storing, preserving, and accessing any kind of electronic record, free from dependence on any specific hardware or software. ERA, when operational, will make it easy for NARA customers to find the records they want and easy for the National Archives to deliver those records in formats suited to customers' needs.

The National Archives mission is to serve American democracy by ensuring that the people can discover, use, and trust the records of our Government. Increasingly, records are created and maintained in electronic formats. In order to continue serving its mission, the National Archives must respond effectively to the challenge posed by the diversity, complexity, and enormous volume of electronic records being created today and the rapidly changing nature of the systems that are used to create them.

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This meeting will be open to the public. However, due to space limitations and access procedures, the name and telephone number of individuals planning to attend must be submitted to the Electronic Records Archives Program at era.program@nara.gov.

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For further information, contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at 202-501-5526.

06-19

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