University of North Texas Libraries Joins NARA/GPO Partnership
Press Release · Thursday, June 29, 2006
Affiliated Archives Relationship Expands Access to Important Records
Washington, DC…University of North Texas President Norval Pohl, Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein, and Public Printer of the United States Bruce R. James announced today the establishment of University of North Texas (UNT) Libraries as an Affiliated Archives of the National Archives. This arrangement expands an earlier 2003 agreement between the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) that ensured that the electronic content preserved and made accessible by GPO through GPO Access would remain permanently available.
The UNT Libraries formed a separate partnership with GPO in 1999 to preserve and make permanently available web sites and other federal records from federal agencies or commissions that are no longer in existence. The UNT Libraries will now become an Affiliated Archives of NARA. Under the agreement, the UNT Libraries will continue to preserve and provide access to the records. NARA will legally accession the records as part of the Archives of the United States and will join UNT Libraries and the GPO in ensuring the preservation of these valuable records.
The Federal Records Act of 1950 authorizes the Archivist of the United States to establish affiliated archives. The first affiliated archives was established in 1953 at the request of the Army's Adjutant General at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. There are currently eight affiliated archives, five at Federal agencies and three at other institutions. For more information see the NARA Affiliated Archives web page.
Prologue magazine, NARA's flagship publication, spotlights the affiliated archives in its Summer 2006 issue. Read the article:
"Affiliated Archives: NARA's Oldest Partnerships"
About University of North Texas Libraries
The University of North Texas Libraries, administered by Dean B. Donald Grose,
house collections of over 5.8 million cataloged items, in a variety of formats,
in five facilities. The Libraries are nationally recognized for digital information
preservation projects and research. Building on their participation in the
Federal Depository Library Program, the Libraries are home to the CyberCemetery
of deceased federal agency web sites, the Congressional Research Service Reports
electronic archive, and the rapidly growing digital collections in the Portal
to Texas History. Electronic access is available at http://www.library.unt.edu.
About U.S. Government Printing Office
The U.S. Government Printing Office’s core mission, Keeping America
Informed, dates to 1813 when Congress determined the need to make information
regarding the work of the three branches of government available to all Americans.
This is the inherent function of government which GPO carries out for Federal
agencies on behalf of the public. The GPO is the Federal government’s primary
centralized resource for gathering, cataloging, producing, providing and preserving
published information in all its forms. Since its inception, GPO has offered
Congress, the courts, and government agencies a set of centralized services to
enable them to easily and cost-effectively produce printed documents according
to a uniform set of Federal government specifications. In addition, GPO has offered
these publications for sale to the public and made them widely available at no
cost through the Federal Depository Library Program.
About the National Archives
The National Archives and Records Administration, an independent federal agency, is the nation's record keeper. Founded in 1934, its mission is unique —to serve American democracy by safeguarding and preserving the records of our Government, ensuring that the people can discover, use, and learn from this documentary heritage. It ensures continuing access to the essential documentation of the rights of American citizens and the actions of their government. It supports democracy, promotes civic education, and facilitates historical understanding of our national experience. The National Archives meets a wide range of information needs, among them helping people to trace their families' history, making it possible for veterans to prove their entitlement to medical and other benefits, and preserving original White House records. The National Archives carries out its mission through a nationwide network of archives, records centers, and Presidential Libraries, and on the Internet at www.archives.gov.
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For PRESS information, contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at (202) 357-5300; Veronica Meter, U.S. Government Printing Office at (202) 512-1957; or Cathy Hartman, University of North Texas Libraries at (940) 565-3269.
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