National Archives to Receive Electronic Records from Department of State

4/13/2004

From: Susan Cooper of the National Archives and Records Administration, 202-501-5526

News Advisory:

WHAT: Archivist of the United States John W. Carlin will join Secretary of State Colin L. Powell in a ceremony to mark the transfer of the first increment of electronic documents from the Department of State to the National Archives and Records Administration dating from July 1973 to December 1976. These documents contain communications between the U.S. State Department in Washington DC and foreign service posts all over the world.

The Archivist and the Secretary will also sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to apply cutting edge technology to the archiving and transfer of electronic records in furtherance of the President's Management Agenda e-Government initiatives. The MOU provides a framework for a research initiative which uses the Electronic Records Archives' vital laboratory to further two common objectives: to resolve e-document transfer issues well in advance of their transfer and to explore relevant knowledge management technologies to provide the public with full, effective access to these records once they are permanently transferred to the National Archives.

After a processing period, the National Archives will make these records available to the public via the internet. These records will become the first publicly accessible application developed under the National Archives Electronic Records Archives program through the Access to Archival Databases.

WHERE: Ben Franklin Room, Department of State, 23rd Street entrance.

WHEN: 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 13

Pre-set time for cameras: 12:45 a.m. from the 23rd Street entrance.

Final access time for all press: 1:15 p.m. from 23rd Street entrance.

Media representatives who plan to attend must present one of the following press credentials: (1) a U.S. Government-issued identification card (Department of State, White House, Congress, Department of Defense or Foreign Press Center), (2) a media-issued photo identification card, or (3) a letter from their employer on letterhead verifying their employment as a journalist, accompanied by an official photo identification (driver's license or passport).