Open Government at the National Archives

March 27, 2012 - the National Archives holds a public meeting to solicit comments from the public on the Presidential Memorandum on Managing Government Records. Learn more about this meeting on Records Express.

March 15, 2012 - The National Archives and Records Administration receives an "A" on the "Report Card on Federal Government's Efforts to Track and Manage FOIA Requests" from the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

March 14, 2012 - The Archivist of the United States, David Ferriero, blogs about Sunshine Week on the White House Open Government Blog in the post, "Managing Government Records: The Backbone of Open Government."

March 9 -16, 2012 - The National Archives celebrates Sunshine Week by displaying the original Freedom of Information Act, Public Law 89-487, in the East Rotunda Gallery of the National Archives Building. Learn more about this event on The FOIA Ombudsman.

February 22, 2012 - The Open Government Idea Forum launches to generate ideas for the revision of the Open Government Plan of the National Archives. The Forum runs through March 21, 2012.

February 16, 2012 - Managing Government Records IdeaScale launches. The public is invited to help the National Archives develop a 21st-century framework for managing government records. The initiative runs through March 27, 2012.

January 26, 2012 - The National Declassification Center releases its Fourth Bi-Annual Report

January 25, 2012 - The National Archives launches the Transcription Pilot Project as part of the Citizen Archivist Dashboard. This project enables public participation in the transcription of historical records.

January 10, 2012 - The Office of the Chief Records Officer at the National Archives posts a template for agencies structuring their response to the "Presidential Memorandum on Managing Government Records." Learn more about this template and access it on Records Express.

December 28, 2011 - Archives.gov is picked for " Top 5 US Federal Agency Websites" in 2011 by GovLoop.

December 23, 2011 - The National Archives launches the Citizen Archivist Dashboard, a portal for public participation in crowdsourcing activities. The public can now contribute tags, transcriptions, images, and collaborate on articles that help make records more accessible.

December 23, 2011 - The Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) announces the launch of a new website and case management system, the OGIS Access System.

December 7, 2011 - Frequently Asked Questions about the "Presidential Memorandum on Managing Government Records" are addressed in a Records Express Blog post.

December 6, 2011 - NARA Bulletin 2012-02, "Guidance on Managing Content on Shared Drives" is released. Read more about this bulletin on Records Express.

December 5, 2011 - The Archivist of the United States issues a memorandum designed to assist agencies in fulfilling the reporting requirements of the "Presidential Memorandum on Managing Government Records." Learn more about this memorandum on Records Express.

November 28, 2011 - President Barack Obama signs the "Presidential Memorandum on Managing Government Records." This marks the start of an executive branch-wide effort to reform records management policies and practices.  Learn more about this memorandum on Records Express.

November 8, 2011 - Archives.gov, ranks 7th in the Visible Thread Website Index. The index ranked 30 government websites for clarity of written content, including: readability, passive language, long sentences, and word complexity density. 

November 1, 2011 - The National Archives launches the "Document Your Environment Student Multimedia Contest" in conjunction with the EPA. Students ages 13 and up can enter graphic art, video, and poetry categories using 1970s Documerica photographs as their inspiration. Judges for the contest include: Michael Philip Manheim, Documerica photographer; Cokie Roberts, author and news analyst for NPR and ABC News; and Sandra Alcosser, the first poet Laureate of Montana. Enter and support the contest on Challenge.gov and read more about the contest on the NARAtions Blog.

October 18, 2011 - The National Archives makes two software applications available on GitHub, a social coding platform. The NARA File Analyzer and the NARA Video Frame Analyzer were developed by the National Archives to facilitate digitization workflows and are now available to the public and other institutions. Learn more about the digitization tools on the NARAtions Blog.