Today the National Archives and Records Administration takes a long, and long-awaited, step forward. I am pleased to announce that NARA's final regulations on managing records created or received on electronic mail systems are being made available today for the first time to the Federal agencies and the public.

For two years we have worked to make these regulations far- sighted, yet practical and realistic. When we proposed e-mail standards in March 1994, we received 92 comments, comprising more than 1500 pages. In addition, NARA staff met with more than 800 representatives of the Federal community to discuss the proposed standards. The extraordinary response to our proposal sent the clear message that there is a great deal of interest among the Federal agencies and the research community in how e-mail records are to be managed. The comments also made it clear that there was significant opportunity for improvement in our proposal.

The final regulations respond to the concerns of the agencies, professional organizations, and researchers. One of the major concerns agencies stressed was that NARA not attempt to impose electronic recordkeeping on them. Many indicated that they may convert to electronic preservation of their e-mail records in the future but their present systems do not have the necessary records management capabilities. Many agencies also indicated that our proposed standards took e-mail out of context with records created in other formats, thus placing a disproportionate emphasis on e-mail. Representatives of the research community, on the other hand, expressed their support for the proposed regulations' emphasis on the value of electronic records.

Although the final regulations reflect agency concerns, they continue to stress that the Federal Records Act applies to e-mail just as it does to records that are created in other ways. Under the law, documentary materials, regardless of media, are records if they concern agency business and are preserved as evidence of the Government's activities, functions, or policies or contain information of value. The wide-spread use of e-mail to conduct agency business has had a profound effect on how Federal records are created, used, and maintained. The final regulations recognize this important change and instruct agencies on how they are to fulfill their responsibilities under the law in managing e-mail records. It should be noted the regulations do not impose new burdens on agencies. They reinforce existing responsibilities and indicate how to fulfill them.

We made two overall revisions to the proposed standards, based on agency comments. The first major revision is in the framework of the regulations. The proposed standards were written as an appendix to the existing regulations on electronic records. This made them duplicative of and out of context with provisions in other sections of existing regulations. Therefore, in the final regulations we dropped the appendix and put requirements for e-mail in the records management sections of the regulations concerning records creation, maintenance, disposition, and in the management of electronic records sections.

The second overall change was the elimination in the final regulations of references to future e-mail systems and other non- regulatory matters that were included in our proposal. These important considerations are addressed in the preamble to the final regulations and will be further addressed in guidance that NARA will soon be issuing.

The final regulations recognize that each Federal agency has its own recordkeeping needs and technical capabilities. The law requires that agencies appropriately identify and preserve records that are created on e-mail systems. It does not mandate the format on which the records are to be preserved. Agencies are given the flexibility to determine the most appropriate format for the maintenance of their e- mail.

Agencies must maintain their records in organized files that are designed for their operational needs. Records, regardless of format, are useful only if they are preserved in recordkeeping systems that meet records management requirements. Many agencies maintain paper files as their recordkeeping systems. As technology evolves, agencies are likely to convert from paper to electronic recordkeeping. NARA's new regulations on managing e-mail instruct agencies to continue to maintain their records in recordkeeping systems that preserve not just the content of the records but also their context. Records without context are merely disassociated items or collections with little or no value to anyone. A major purpose of our regulations is to ensure that agencies maintain their e-mail records in recordkeeping systems that organize and categorize the records so they can be retrieved and used. This must be done with both paper files and electronic files.

For more than 50 years the Federal Records Act has required agencies to create and maintain adequate documentation of their policies and transactions. Complete and accurate records are essential components of effective government. The introduction of new technology has made the creation of records a much simpler task. Our collective challenge is to make sure that these records are properly managed through the full life cycle of creation, maintenance and use, and disposition. Our new e-mail regulations support agencies as they strive to accomplish this mission.

The regulations that you have received today are a first step. We are also providing you with a copy of a Federal Register notice containing the revised General Records Schedule 20, which provides mandatory disposition standards for categories of electronic records common to most Federal agencies. This revision of the GRS consolidates coverage of such electronic records into one schedule and clarifies and extends its coverage to categories of records produced on office automation systems. When we proposed a revised GRS 20 last year we received numerous comments from agencies and researchers. The final GRS 20 was revised to reflect many of these comments. The Federal Register notice includes a substantial report summarizing the comments and NARA's response.

NARA will also be issuing in the very near future guidance that will help Federal agencies meet the challenges of records management in the Information Age. Our new management guide, "Recordkeeping Requirements," discusses the critical first stage of the life cycle of records. This guide stresses the important obligation agencies have to issue clear instructions to all staff on establishing recordkeeping requirements for all functions and activities and proper records creation. In addition, we have revised the NARA guide on records management self-evaluation for agencies to include helpful instructions on office automation records. I will also be sending directly to all agency heads a NARA Bulletin concerning their responsibilities for records management and how these have changed with modern office automation. Finally, our popular management guide, "Managing Electronic Records," will be revised and updated within the next year to reflect the new e-mail regulations and other recent developments in information technology.

The National Archives and Records Administration shares responsibility for records management in the Federal government. Therefore, it is imperative that we work closely with agencies in developing policies and guidance for managing electronic records. The agencies played a major role in the revisions to the regulations that we are issuing today. I will continue to ask for your involvement as we develop and issue future regulations and guidance. This is how we intend to ensure that our policies are clear, realistic, and useful.

One major project that we have underway with representatives of other agencies is the development of records management functional requirements for electronic recordkeeping systems. The Electronic Records Management Working Group, made up of representatives of many defense and civilian agencies, is working closely with us to prepare basic requirements that electronic recordkeeping systems must include if they are to be considered acceptable for records management purposes. These requirements will be used by agencies and the computer industry to design systems that ensure that the content, context, and structure of electronic records are preserved for their authorized retention period. We will issue this guidance as soon as possible to ensure that it is available to all agencies when they are considering converting to electronic recordkeeping.

As some of you know, I became Archivist of the United States just a couple of months ago. Issuing this e-mail guidance is one of the first major actions of my administration. I take particular satisfaction in this action for two reasons.

One is that, during my tenure, I want to increase NARA's usefulness to you. NARA is in business to serve federal agencies just as much as NARA is in business to serve the general public. As a former state governor, I fully appreciate the benefits of records services for government itself.

The second reason is that I also want to strengthen NARA's ability to help all of us cope with electronic records. More and more, government business will be conducted electronically. More and more, people who use government records will expect to find them electronically. NARA will be a major contributor to the Administration's work on the National Information Infrastructure and the electronic Information Superhighway.

NARA's mission is to ensure, for the public servant as well as for the citizen, ready access to essential evidence of Americans' rights, officials' actions, and the nation's experience. We are taking a big step towards ensuring access to such evidence by the attention we are giving to e-mail today.

I would like to express my appreciation to all of you who have helped us with the e-mail regulations. Your comments, encouragement, and patience helped us get to where we are today. Your continued support and effort will enable us to discharge our mutual responsibility to manage the records of the modern, automated Federal government of the 21st century.

Our Office of Records Administration will be conducting discussion sessions for agencies on September 13 at 9:00 in the theater in Archives II in College Park and on September 14 at 10:00 in the theater in Archives I. These sessions will allow you to discuss the regulations and GRS 20 and to exchange strategies for implementation.

Thank you again for coming today. Your interest in the National Archives and Records Administration is critical to me and to the entire staff of our agency. I am confident that by working together we will master the challenges and fully realize the benefits of our electronic age.

The National Archives and Records Administration