1	"Fynnette Eaton" Fynnette Eaton Change Management Officer Digital Library Federation Spring Forum
2	Agenda The National Archives & Electronic Records Challenges of Electronic Records Development of ERA System Design and Deployment Goals Current Status of ERA Program ERA’s Virtual Lab and Partnerships Change Management in ERA
3	Some Background on NARA The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) … is a public trust on which our democracy depends. It enables people to inspect for themselves the record of what government has done. It enables officials and agencies to review their actions and helps citizens hold them accountable. It ensures continuing access to essential evidence that documents: the rights of American citizens the actions of Federal officials the national experience”
4	What is a “Record” Made or received in the course of business or under law Kept because it Provides evidence of organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of their creators, or Contains valuable information NARA holds many records and record types Reels of motion pictures Maps, charts, and architectural drawings Sound and video recordings Aerial photographs Still pictures and posters Computer data sets
5	About NARA The Challenges Scope – The Entire Federal Government Variety – Different Types of Records Complexity – Records in Different Formats Volume – Enormous Amounts of Records Obsolescence – Constantly Changing Technology
6	NARA’s Current Electronic Records System NARA has more than 30 years of experience with electronic records Mostly simple files Comma delimited ASCII Flat fixed length Current systems do not meet the need A new and comprehensive approach to records storage and preservation is required
7	About NARA Our Solution
8	The Nature of Electronic Records The nature of electronic records differs from traditional records Traditional (hard copy) records Inscribed on their media Preservation is performed on the object Electronic records Represented as binary values that must be translated to a different form in order to communicate the record It is the result of this reproduction, not the stored bits, that is the electronic record It is this ability to reproduce the record that must be preserved The preserved re-creation/translation must be authentic
9	Authenticity Authenticity … the property of a record that is what it purports to be and has not been corrupted Traditional Records Preserve and maintain the medium (content) Document and maintain a chain of custody Maintain the context of the records to other records For complex electronic records (databases, web sites, geographic information systems, virtual reality models), we need to preserve the essential properties of the record Content Context Structure Behavior
10	Obsolescence Electronic records are stored on media, which of course needs to be monitored and maintained, but Electronic records relying for access on technology that arises and evolves rapidly are subject to obsolescence: Computing platforms Communication infrastructures interconnecting platforms Data recording formats Software used to reproduce the records
11	Development of ERA Program Office 1998-2000 Research The Archivist established the ERA Program Research partners are formed to find solutions to electronic records challenges 2001-2003 Program Development Contractor Team brought in to assist with program management Key Integrated Product Teams (IPTs) Chartered Key Program documents completed Staffing of the Project Management Office (PMO) 2004-2007 Designing and building ERA
12	Procurement Approach Solicitation strives to define the electronic records challenge without prescribing implementation or techniques that address the issues Very little design specifics within the procurement documents OAIS Reference Model and some Department of Defense and National Institute of Standards and Technology standards are included Goal is to challenge industry to propose innovative solutions to the electronic records challenge Preservation Authenticity Support for variety of Record Types and Data Types
13	Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System
14	User Roles vis a vis the OAIS Model…
15	Design and Deployment Goals NARA must own and control at least one set of all holdings of electronic records entrusted to it The ERA system is one of NARA’s contributions to the Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA) NARA must produce a highly reliable system design NARA must take a long term view for the system’s operation and its required scalability, reliability and cost effective operations Support outsourcing of potential processing, hosting services, and value added processing While ensuring NARA’s stewardship of the records entrusted to it
16	System Design Drivers Insure system integrity Establish security and accommodation of restoration services to protect records from alteration, loss or lack of access capability over time Manage the evolutionary nature of the ERA system, particularly Changes to Persistent Preservation approaches Upgrades to the general infrastructure and support technologies used in the system Handle expected ERA Record Holdings
17	The Electronic Records Archives Program Where are we now?
18	ERA’s Virtual Lab & Partnerships The Virtual Archives Laboratory (VAL) A Joint Partnership NARA San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS) Georgia Tech Research Institute National Center for Supercomputing Applications National Institute of Standards & Technology Federated Persistent Archives Large scale Long term
19	Change Management and ERA Change Management will… Enable ERA to successfully achieve its goals Create awareness among ERA stakeholders Facilitate alignment between processes, people and technology Allow the assimilation of stakeholders to the changes ERA brings
20	Electronic Records Archives Program Management Office Information