National Archives Presents Awards to Federal Agencies
Press Release · Monday, May 24, 2010

Washington, DC

Archivist Achievement Awards announced at RACO Conference

Archivist David S. Ferriero has recognized four Federal agencies for outstanding achievements in records management. The Archivist's Achievement Awards were presented to the Department of the Interior, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of State, and the Department of the Treasury at the National Archives 22nd Annual Records Administration Conference (RACO) in Washington, DC, on May 12, 2010.

The conference theme was "Managing the Records of an Open Government." Presentations focused on records management issues and challenges presented by the Administration's Open Government Directive, and strategies Federal agencies can use to address these challenges. Cass R. Sunstein, Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget, delivered the keynote address.

"These awards recognize special achievement in records management and by extension, support the three pillars of open government: collaboration, transparency, and participation. I'm pleased that in my first year as Archivist, we have such an outstanding group of recipients and I offer my congratulations to all the winners," said Archivist Ferriero.

The Department of the Interior's Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians, Office of Trust Records (OTR), was recognized for establishing and funding the records management program at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. OTR has hired 14 students from this program as full-time employees at the American Indian Records Repository's Records Management Operations Division. This collaborative training initiative serves as a model for other agencies to establish college level records management programs with local colleges and universities to produce archival technicians for entry level positions.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was recognized for its Document Inventory and Control Program that aims to improve management of closed case files. The FBI has succeeded in accelerating transfers of targeted series of permanent records with high research value to the National Archives, using barcode technology to manage closed cases, and automating the associated finding aids. The FBI launched this program in 2007, and this work has been completed in 28 field offices. This commitment to gaining administrative control of, and transferring and making available such valuable historical records enhances government transparency and increases the public's understanding of the FBI's activities.

The Department of State was honored for its long-standing commitment to ensure that historical Federal records are identified, declassified, scheduled, preserved, and made available to the public. Since the promulgation of Executive Order 12958 in 1995, the State Department has reviewed 90 million pages of its historical records for declassification and transferred them to the National Archives. The Department of State now devotes extensive resources to managing and reviewing the 28 million electronic cables sent by the Secretary of State, American Ambassadors in foreign countries and other employees of the Department. In 2009, the Department of State transferred over 350,000 of these electronic telegrams to the National Archives.

The Department of the Treasury was honored for the agency's approach to meeting the National Archives September 2009 deadline for Federal agencies to schedule electronic records. The Treasury Department submitted to the National Archives disposition authority requests for over 1250 electronic systems, making the Department of the Treasury and all of its Bureaus and Services 100% compliant with the September 2009 scheduling deadline. This extraordinary accomplishment can be used by other agencies as a model to assist them in identifying and scheduling their electronic systems.

More information about the 2010 RACO Conference and key presentations is available online [http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/training/raco-program-schedule-2010.html].

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

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