[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 200 (Thursday, October 16, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Page 62207]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-24595]


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NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION

[NARA-2015-003]


National Archives Digitization Strategy; Request for Comments

AGENCY: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed revisions to the National Archives 
Digitization Strategy.

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SUMMARY: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is 
revising our digitization strategy and we are soliciting public 
comments on the proposed draft. You may access the draft strategy 
document at http://www.archives.gov/digitization/strategy.html.
    NARA identifies, preserves, and provides access to the Federal 
Government's vast holdings of over 12 billion pages of archival 
materials, the majority of which currently exist only in analog or 
paper form. We previously issued a digitization strategy in May 2008, 
and it helped facilitate public access to more than 230 million digital 
images of analog records. We're proposing changes to that strategy to 
enable more digitization going forward.

DATES: Submit comments on or before November 17, 2014 to be assured of 
consideration.

ADDRESSES: Send comments by email to [email protected], 
[email protected], or post comments on the NARA blog post 
at http://blogs.archives.gov/online-public-access/?p=9283.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on NARA's digitization 
strategy, contact Markus Most by telephone at 301-837-1643, by email at 
[email protected], or by mail to Markus Most, Digitization Division 
Director, Office of Innovation, Room 3200; National Archives and 
Records Administration; 8601 Adelphi Rd; College Park, MD 20740. For 
information on this notice, contact Kimberly Keravuori by email at 
[email protected], or by mail to Kimberly Keravuori, 
Regulatory Program Manager, Strategy Division; National Archives and 
Records Administration; Suite 4100; 8601 Adelphi Road; College Park, MD 
20740.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NARA is updating its digitization strategy, 
last issued in 2008, for several reasons. Since 2008, there have been 
rapid developments in areas of technology and collaboration that have 
changed the landscape of what is possible, expanding our options for 
collaboration with other organizations and for faster or more 
accessible digitization techniques for sometimes-delicate archival 
documents. These developments have also changed how people make use of 
documents and information, and their expectations about how they should 
be able to access them. In recognition of these changes and the need to 
make even more of NARA's vast and diverse range of permanent records 
available to people across the country, we issued a new agency 
Strategic Plan in March 2014, with an even greater emphasis on 
digitization. As a result of the rapid developments, changes in 
peoples' use and access expectations, and NARA's increased emphasis on 
digitization, we need to revise the 2008 digitization strategy. The 
proposed revisions signal key shifts in approach to digitization at 
NARA, including expansion of the variety and types of partnerships with 
institutions and organizations, greater emphasis on public access 
throughout internal agency digitization work processes, and promotion 
of public engagement in the digitization of NARA records. We welcome 
your comments on the proposed strategy.

    Dated: October 9, 2014.
David S. Ferriero,
Archivist of the United States.
[FR Doc. 2014-24595 Filed 10-15-14; 8:45 am]
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