AC 09.2013

November 26, 2012

MEMORANDUM TO FEDERAL AGENCY CONTACTS: Records Schedule Quality Control Checklist Webinar

From May 7 - July 6, 2012, the Appraisal Teams within Records Management Services (ACNR) conducted a 60-day initiative to complete processing of agency-submitted records schedules in the appraisal backlog. Backlog schedules are defined as those that are at least two years old, and as of October 1st, have an FY 2010 or older registration date.

As part of our effort, we collected data and lessons learned which will be used to improve our process for completing future records schedules in a more timely fashion. One of the more significant lessons learned is a need to better enforce the requirements for record schedules found in 36 CFR, and better enforcement our own Standard Operating Procedures. We created a checklist for agencies to use when reviewing records schedules for submission to NARA.

On December 5, 2012 we will be hosting a webinar at 2:00 p.m. EST to discuss checklist items.  To join the webinar, you will need to RSVP in advance by going to https://nara.ilinc.com/perl/ilinc/lms/event.pl.

If you have any questions about your agency's schedules or need a copy of the checklist, please contact your Appraisal Archivist. A list of Appraisal Archivists can be found at http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/appraisal/work-group-all.html. For overall questions about the initiative, contact Margaret Hawkins, Director of Records Management Services, at (301) 837-1799, or by e-mail at margaret.hawkins@nara.gov.

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