NARA opens first e-records vault in Texas.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis - National Archives and Records Administration - Brief article

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) opened the doors to the first federal electronic records vault March 2 in Fort Worth, Texas.

The new Southwest Region Federal Records Center is a 205,000-square-foot building with a total storage capacity of nearly one million cubic feet of records. The facility includes a 1,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art, e-records storage vault that will allow the National Archives, for the first time in its 73-year history, to store and service temporary e-records for federal agencies. The e-records storage vault features a non-aqueous fire suppression system, strict environmental controls, and multiple levels of security. The new facility also includes a high-tech digital imaging lab for record scanning and a specialized media disintegrator to securely destroy federal e-records, according to a PR Newswire release.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"The new Federal Records Center is an exciting project for the National Archives as we modernize the facilities that house these important federal records," said Preston Huff, the National Archives Regional...