AC 14.2012
April 11, 2012
MEMORANDUM TO FEDERAL AGENCY CONTACTS: NARA's Agency Services Bimonthly Records and Information Discussion Group (BRIDG) Meeting on Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Please mark your calendars for the next BRIDG meeting scheduled for Wednesday, April 18, 2012.
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.
We will begin with an informal networking hour from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.in the Jefferson Room (mezzanine level). The BRIDG meeting will run from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the McGowan Theater (basement level).
Meeting agenda items include the following:
- Update on WNRC classified storage
(William J. Bosanko, NARA Executive for Agency Services)
This presentation will include an update on NARA's IG audit of classified services at WNRC. It will provide an overview of the audit's findings and will outline the steps the Federal Records Centers Program has taken at WNRC and at its facilities nationwide to respond to the findings and rectify any issues.
- Records Management Training
(William Bridges, Director, National Records Management Training Program)
Presentation on the re-organized Records Management Training Program, including new course offerings and training opportunities in FY 2012 and FY 2013.
- Records Management Oversight
(Don Rosen, Director, Policy Analysis and Enforcement)
An overview of NARA's Records Management Oversight Team, including its mission and objectives, and specifically focusing on the 2011 and 2012 Records Management Self-Assessments.
- Records Scheduling Backlog Project
(Margaret Hawkins, Director, Records Management Services)
A discussion of the plan to reduce the backlog of submitted records schedules that are older than two years old (i.e., schedules registered FY 2009 or earlier).
NARA will make this meeting available via webcast. Please note that this is the first time we will be webcasting live, and we are still experimenting with webcasting services, hardware, and software. The webcast will include an American Sign Language interpreter. Here are the steps you will need to take to view the webcast. We strongly recommend that you begin this process well before the meeting date.
1. Set up a (free) account on ustream.tv at http://www.ustream.tv/login-signup?ref=%2Fdashboard).
2. Test to make sure that you can access the webcast
Many factors (including agency permissions, bandwidth, hardware, software, etc.) can impact whether you will be able to view the webcast. As the majority of these factors are beyond our control, we will not be able to provide technical support during the webcast. We recommend that you engage with IT support at your agency that you take the following steps to test your equipment in order to ensure that you can access the webcast. Technical specifications can be found at http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/meetings/webcast-instructions.html.
3. Join the webcast on April 18.
To join the webcast:
--Go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/narafrc
--Log in to your ustream account
--Click on the "join crowd" button
--Click "Check-in & chat" button. This will bring up a box with the option to share or skip. Click "skip.'
--Within a few seconds, you should be able to hear and see the webcast. If you log in early, you will see a black screen with the words "off air" under the screen.
4. Ask questions during the webcast
To ask a question during the webcast, enter your question in the text box under the "social stream" tab. It would be helpful if you could preface your question with your name and agency in parentheses. NARA staff will monitor the questions and will read them aloud for presenters to answer during the meeting.
If we are experiencing any technical difficulties, we will put an announcement on the FRC Twitter feed (www.twitter.com/narafrc).
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, April 16, 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