AC 08.2012

February 2, 2012

MEMORANDUM TO FEDERAL AGENCY CONTACTS: NARA's Agency Services Bimonthly Records and Information Discussion Group (BRIDG) Meeting on Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Please mark your calendars for the next BRIDG meeting scheduled for Wednesday, February 15, 2012, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The Pre-BRIDG Networking Hour will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

The meeting will be held at the National Archives and Records Administration downtown building, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (Metrorail's Yellow or Green lines to the Archives/Navy Memorial station) in the McGowan Theater. Please enter on the Constitution Avenue side of the building.

Meeting agenda items include the following:

• Presidential Memorandum Update
  Paul M. Wester, Jr., Chief Records Officer, will give a brief update on the activities NARA and other Federal agencies are conducting in response to the Presidential Memorandum-Managing Government Records.
• Using Scanning to Jump Start a Business Process
  Markus Most, Federal Records Centers Program's (FRCP) Director of Business Development, will give a report on how the FRCP is providing scanning services to help its agency customers streamline and modernize business processes. The presentation will include an overview of a large-scale scanning project the FRCP is undertaking to assist the Veterans Administration in digitizing its claims process as well as information on other smaller-scale projects at other Federal agencies.
• Appraisal Team Reorganization
  Margaret Hawkins, Director of Records Management Services, will give an update on the reorganization of the Appraisal Teams and agency assignments, as announced in Memorandum to Federal Agency Contacts AC 07.2012. Her presentation will cover the open houses that the Office of the Chief Records Officer and the FRCP are jointly hosting for agencies to meet their appraisal archivist and account manager.
• General Records Schedule (GRS) Team
  Margaret Hawkins will give a presentation about the newly formed GRS Team. The team's role is to update and revise the General Records Schedules, create new General Records Schedules, and serve as subject matter experts. The presentation will provide an overview of the three projects the team will be focusing on this FY: 1) a study to consider how best to restructure and update the GRS to better meet agency needs; 2) guidance on incorporating GRS authorities into agency big bucket or functional schedules; and 3) drafting a new GRS to cover web and social media records.

As we mentioned in the September 9, 2011 "BRIDG Improvements" memo, NARA has been exploring how to offer a live webcast of BRIDG meetings. During this BRIDG, we will be piloting delivery of the meeting to a small group of testers, and we want in-person attendees at the meeting aware that it will be filmed and webcast live to this small group of testers. We hope to offer webcasting of BRIDG meetings to all agencies in the very near future.

Pre-BRIDG Networking Hour
Join your colleagues in records management from other agencies and NARA Agency Services staff from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. in the Jefferson Room (Mezzanine Level of the National Archives Building) to chat over doughnuts and coffee. Feel free to bring materials to share from your agency (announcements of upcoming RM-related events, job openings, etc.).

To reserve a place for the Agency Services-BRIDG meeting and/or the pre-BRIDG networking hour, please provide your name, telephone number, and agency via email to RM.Communications@nara.gov, no later than Monday, February 13, 2012. You may reserve places for several staff in the same email, but for security purposes we must have each individual's name and telephone number. To attend the pre-BRIDG networking hour, you must RSVP in your email response. We need to determine an accurate headcount for catering.

Please email Shannon Olsen at shannon.olsen@nara.gov, or call 301-837-3486 if you need assistance.

NARA encourages agencies to participate at BRIDG by presenting best practices or lessons learned that would be helpful to other attending agencies. If you wish to lead a discussion, please reply to this RM Communications.

NARA reserves the right to postpone or cancel a meeting at any time. We will make every effort to contact registrants by e-mail and telephone if that occurs, so complete information at the time of registration is very important. Meetings WILL BE CANCELLED if the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announces a "closed," "unscheduled leave," "liberal leave," or "delayed arrival" policy for Federal employees for that day or if there has been an elevation to threat level RED in the Homeland Security status. Official Government closing and leave information is located on the OPM web site at www.opm.gov.

PAUL M. WESTER, JR.
Chief Records Officer for the
U.S. Government

DAVID WEINBERG
Director, Federal Records Centers Program