NARA INITIATIVES ON GEOSPATIAL DATA RECORDS FGDC Coordination Group Meeting, May 3, 2005 Ken Thibodeau, Director Electronic Records Archives Program Management Office

Geospatial Data : Federal Records A Federal Record –Any piece of information, regardless of form or characteristics, made or received by an agency in going about its business –That is, or should be, kept As evidence of that activity Because it contains valuable data –44 U.S.C NARA –Provides direction, guidance, and assistance to all agencies in managing their records, and –Preserves records with “enduring” value in the National Archives –Through lifecycle management of records

Directives and Guidance 36 CFR Subchapter B - Records Management –Part Disposition of Federal Records Scheduling Records Transfer of Records to Records Storage Facilities Transfer of Records to the National Archives of the United States – Cartographic and architectural records – Electronic records Guidance (examples) –Disposition of Federal RecordsDisposition of Federal Records –Documenting Your Public ServiceDocumenting Your Public Service –Managing Audiovisual RecordsManaging Audiovisual Records –Managing X-Ray Films as Federal RecordsManaging X-Ray Films as Federal Records –Moving? Consolidating? Reorganizing?Moving? Consolidating? Reorganizing? –Vital Records and Records Disaster Mitigation and RecoveryVital Records and Records Disaster Mitigation and Recovery

Process for Saving Geospatial Records Authorize Disposition for all Records –Temporary & Permanent Identify records with Archival Value –To be transferred to the National Archives, –Or to an “affiliated archives,” –Or to be preserved by the originating agency Coordination across agency divisions

Types of Cartographic Records Preserved in the National Archives Exploration and Scientific Surveys Public Land Surveys and Settlement Indian Affairs Hydrography and Navigation Topography and Natural Resources Census Mapping Urban Development Maps of Foreign Countries Military Campaigns Aerial Photographs

Digital Spatial Data Records in the National Archives Records of The National Agricultural Statistics Service –Crop Estimates: County-level Estimates Of Crop Yields, Records of The Bureau of The Census –Annual Housing Surveys/American Housing Surveys (AHS), Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas –Census of Population And Housing, 1950, Public Use Sample, 1/100 Sample Records of The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff –Combat Air Activities File (Cacta), Oct dec Records of The National Institute of Education –National Assessment of Educational Progress, Study Year 1, Records of The Historic American Buildings Survey –Historic American Buildings Survey/ Historic American Engineering Records Database Records of The Law Enforcement Assistance Administration –Capital Punishment In The United States, Records of The Environmental Protection Agency –Toxic Chemical Release Inventory System

NARA Targeted Assistance Initiative NARA and NPS, USFS, BLM, and Fish and Wildlife to schedule their GIS Fire Management Records Big Problems –Widely Dispersed –Lack Strategy

Current Standards for Transfer of GIS Records Spatial Data Transfer Standard FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Electronic & Special Media Services Division Transfer: getting data into NARA Verify: records are what was scheduled for transfer Validate: records conform to specs Preserve and Store: tar and put on DLTs Reference: provide access on request

Aspects of the Electronic Records Challenge Diversity Complexity Open-ended Growth Obsolescence Continuing change Durability

Electronic Records Archives Vision “The Electronic Records Archives will authentically preserve and provide access to any kind of electronic record, free from dependency on any specific hardware or software, enabling NARA to carry out its mission into the future.”

National Science Foundation San Diego Supercomputer Center NIST Partnerships Global Grid Forum Army Research Laboratory National Agricultural Library National Center for Supercomputing Applications

Research with NARA Holdings Mapping Herbicide Missions in Vietnam Adding alphanumeric data to map layers