Guide to Federal Records

Statistical Summary of Records Holdings of the National Archives of the United States

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Introduction

This "Statistical Summary of Holdings" provides statistical information about archival records in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration, as of September 14, 2010. Statistics on donated materials in the National Archives of the United States are  reported in the addendum to the Summary.

The Summary is arranged sequentially by record group number.

Associated with each record group number is the following information:

  • The official title of the record group.
    • From each record group, there is a link to additional information in the Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States. Click on your browser's "back" button to return to this document.
  • The topical cluster to which the record group is assigned. A cluster is a group of related record groups.
  • A list of all units holding records in the record group, with each unit designated by its correspondence code and its geographic location. A list of abbreviations containing the units' correspondence codes and their full names is available.
  • The quantity of records in the custody of each unit.
    • The quantity of paper-formatted textual records is expressed in cubic feet only.
    • The quantity of microfilmed textual records is expressed both in cubic feet and in items (number of microfilm rolls, according to size and polarity; number of microfiche cards).
    • The quantity of nontextual records is expressed both in cubic feet and in items appropriate to each medium.
    • The quantity of artifacts is expressed both in cubic feet and in items.

Addendum: Donated Materials

Donated materials are usually personal or organizational papers that have been received by the National Archives under a deed of gift; they are preserved because they are directly related to Federal records in our keeping. They thus serve to enlarge and illustrate the history of the Government of the United States and of the American people. By definition, these materials are not Federal records, are not subject to FOIA, and may be under access restrictions imposed by the donor.

  • An alphabetic list within the addendum contains the full titles and designators of donated materials groups.
    • Like record groups, donated materials groups are formed by the historical association between the papers and their donors: that is, they are based on provenance. Unlike record groups, donated materials groups are often very small and may contain as little as a single document or artifact.
    • It is easiest to refer to the donated materials group by its alphabetic designator. For example, XBB, in the Summary, stands for the Bernt Balchen Papers. To find the meaning of the designator, search Part D with your browser's find function.
  • The statistical list within the addendum contains a list of donated materials holdings, arranged by the National Archives custodial unit (where "NWCT1" stands for Archives I, and "NWCT2" stands for Archives II), and thereunder by donated materials group designator and the materials type.
    • For textual and non-textual records, a measure of extent is given in cubic feet.
    • For non-textual records, an item count is given if known.

Direct any questions about this list to inquire@nara.gov.

 

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