Report says NARA lacks e-records skills.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: Up front: news, trends & analysis

When it comes to electronic records and future archiving technology, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) apparently has a lot of work to do. At least according to a report by the National Academies' Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (NACSTB).

The NACSTB report warned that NARA lacks the technical experience needed to find a way to deal with the growing number of electronic records created across the federal government. It further states that the U.S. government's primary record-keeping agency does not have the information technology (IT) know-how to understand electronic records management.

According to the report: "In addition to needing a quick ramp-up in the IT expertise necessary to oversee the early phases of procurement, NARA faces a longer-term need for a more pervasive culture change--IT skills related to preservation will need to be a core competence throughout the organization." In short, NARA needs more internal technical expertise in areas such as enterprise architecture and information security.

The report encourages NARA to move forward with a careful, modular procurement plan, starting with many small pilot programs to address focused aspects of the overall problem and then pulling together the...