1: Strategic Goal 1

Documents/NARA/1: Strategic Goal 1

As the nation’s record keeper, we will ensure the continuity and effective operation of Federal programs by expanding our leadership and services in managing the Government’s records

Other Information:

At the beginning of the 21st century, we recognized a need to redesign Federal records management strategies and techniques that were developed in the mid-20th century for paper records to address the way records are created and managed now. In response, we identified goals and devised strategies, tactics, and measures of success that will prepare us for the records and information challenges of this century. We will ensure that • Federal agencies can economically and effectively create and manage records necessary to meet business needs • Records are kept long enough to protect rights and assure accountability, and • Records of archival value are preserved and made available for future generations. Through our Federal Records Center system, NARA provides secure and cost-effective records storage, access, and disposition services for Federal agencies. As agencies deal with tight budgets and downsizing, the records management expertise available from NARA has become vital to maintaining records according to Federal regulations in many agencies. This is the foundation on which the long-term success of NARA’s mission depends. Promoting and ensuring effective records management across the Federal Government is the first building block to the rest of our Strategic Plan. Going further, we must demonstrate the connection between effective records management and responsive, citizen-focused Government. We must continue to make the case that Government records are valuable assets and that effective records management is the tool for managing and protecting them. We must also aggressively pursue solutions to the management challenges of electronic records. Recent disasters, both natural and man-made, have underscored the importance of records. In an instant, years’ worth of vital records and irreplaceable information can be destroyed forever. Our role in these emergencies is to promote the preservation of records, first our own, then other Federal records, and then those of other levels of government. Our records management oversight and guidance responsibilities have long included Federal agency vital records management programs to plan for and recover from records-related emergencies and disasters. NARA will continue to be a partner in the Federal response community. In advance of emergencies, we support other Government agencies and public institutions with advice about disaster preparedness for records. During emergencies, we provide counsel in reacting to emergency situations that threaten records. Our readiness to respond also includes preserving the Federal Register publication system, which generates legal records essential to the continuity of America’s constitutional democracy. NARA will ensure that the Federal Register is published in times of crisis, in the face of all hazards, for as long as needed. There is no question that the role of the nation’s record keeper is vital to the future of our nation, for without proactive records management we will lose the information that documents the daily work of our Government and, ultimately, the history of our nation.

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