Classified Permanent Records Training and Resources

The Classified Annual Move is: NARA’s process for transferring legal and physical custody of Classified Permanent Records from agencies stored at the Federal Records Centers (FRCs) to NARA archival custodial units across the nation is a uniquely cross-functional activity that supports NARA’s core mission of preserving the permanently valuable records of the Federal government overseen by the Annual Move Coordinating Group To facilitate the accessioning of classified permanent records.

The Classified Annual Move is:

• NARA’s process for transferring legal and physical custody of Classified Permanent Records from agencies stored at the Federal Records Centers (FRCs) to NARA archival custodial units across the nation
• is a uniquely cross-functional activity that supports NARA’s core mission of preserving the permanently valuable records of the Federal government
• overseen by the Annual Move Coordinating Group

To facilitate the accessioning of classified permanent records, NARA provides agencies with pre-populated Transfer Requests (TRs) in the Electronic Records Archives (ERA) for all permanent records stored in FRCs. NARA creates these TRs on an annual basis since the overwhelming majority of such records become eligible on January 1 of the disposition year (that is, the year in which the records are eligible to be accessioned into the National Archives).

This page contains training and other information to help your agency transfer classified permanent records to NARA as part of the Annual Move.

The phases of the Annual Move process for permanent classified records are:

Plan

Because your agency will need time to review records for declassification, it helps to plan the review process in advance. When you coordinate with your agency's declassification program and program staff, you can build a review strategy that makes the most efficient use of staff time and resources.

Review
You will want to review Annual Move information from NARA and review your agency's tracking systems to ensure that you have the most current, correct, up-to-date information about the records which are being considered for accessioning in the Annual Move process.

Document
The work you do to document the records and the steps your agency has done to review and declassify each transfer will help to ensure that you and your agency know exactly what is being transferred. It will also help you, your agency, NARA, and researchers in the future access understand and protect important information.

Complete
When it is time, your agency and NARA will complete the Annual Move process by ensuring that all documentation is present and correct, that all records are ready for transfer, and that the accessioning process is completed in the Electronic Records Archives (ERA).

These online lessons, job aids, and other materials will help you learn how to work with each step: