---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 13:19:27 -0500
From: David A. Wallace <[log in to unmask]>
To: Multiple recipients of list ARCHIVES <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Archivist of the U.S.- petition
 
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender:       Archives & Archivists <[log in to unmask]>
Poster:       "David A. Wallace" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Archivist of the U.S.- petition
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
The National Archives has been without an Archivist of the United States
for nearly a year now. Please read and (if agreeable) sign the attached
petition and send it to the President and the Vice-President (their
email addresses are located at the top of the petition), and be sure to
edit out these explanatory comments.
According to the Library of Congress's gopher site, each
message received is read and analyzed by White House staff and summaries
are reported to the President and Vice-President every week. After
sending your message you should receive an immediate acknowledgement
noting that your communication was received. Please include your title
and street address below your "signature", since you may receive an
additional response by US mail.
I am sending this petition to the following lists: records management,
archives, government documents, electronic records, history,
reinventing government, association of moving image archivists, and museum-l.
 
Thanks for your efforts -
 
David A. Wallace
School of Library and Information Science
University of Pittsburgh
[log in to unmask]
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            PETITION
 
March 24, 1994
 
To: The President      ([log in to unmask])
Cc: The Vice-President ([log in to unmask])
 
Re: Appointment of Archivist of the United States
 
 
     The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has
been without an Archivist of the United States for nearly a year.
During the interim NARA has been led by the Acting Archivist,
however, this role possesses neither the profile nor the
authority that is required to meet the pressing challenges posed
by federal documentation. These concerns require the full weight
inherent in the position of Archivist of the United States. It is
therefore requested that the administration mitigate the
organizational and mission discontinuity currently gripping the
National Archives and appoint an Archivist of the United States
with all due speed.
 
     Such an appointment is all the more crucial given the rapid
changes currently taking place federal information policy
environment, including such cornerstone issues as the Government
Information Locator System (GILS), the National Information
Infrastructure (NII), and the soon to be released Executive Order
reforming the system for classifying and declassifying federal
information.
 
     The position of Archivist requires an individual of vision.
An individual of vision who will affirm NARA's statutory and
regulatory domain for identifying, protecting, and preserving the
current and historical records the federal government. An
individual of vision who will advocate and support the National
Performance Review (NPR) initiative by enhancing NARA's delivery
of services both to citizens and federal agencies alike. An
individual of vision who will reinvigorate staff morale by
addressing the Senate's Committee on Government Affairs and the
Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General's
findings on mismanagement at NARA. And an individual of vision
who will transform NARA by providing a leadership role for the
following initiatives:
 
     * Accountability and Oversight - NARA's new leader must
realize that the National Archives is more than just another
historical or cultural institution of the federal government.
NARA's main responsibility is enforcing agency compliance with
federal records laws and regulations. A strong Archivist
overseeing agency compliance with federal records laws will
vastly improve agency recordkeeping activities, increase the
oversight potential of Congress, and assist National Archives
records appraisal and scheduling duties.
 
     * Information Technology - In 1990, a report issued by the
House of Representatives Committee on Government Operations
found that "NARA's current policies are inadequate to assure the
long-term preservation of electronic records." A request by the
Committee for NARA's recommendations for amending the law to
reflect changes in recordkeeping systems wrought by computers
remains unanswered by the agency. The need for NARA leadership in
informing the development of compliant, accountable, and
functional electronic recordkeeping systems was recently
underscored by the General Accounting Office which found, despite
an annual investment of tens upon tens of billions of dollars in
computer technology throughout the government, that "agency after
agency still lacks critical information needed to analyze
programmatic issues, manage agency resources, control
expenditures, and demonstrate measurable results." The new
Archivist of the United States must possess the vision to
understand that these faulty systems are the archives of the
future and that NARA is strategically positioned to assist
agencies with developing sound contemporary recordkeeping
systems. Such systems can be designed to capture and house agency
institutional memory, thus facilitating agency mission
achievement. The new Archivist must also explore new strategies
for preserving those thousands of existing computerized federal
records systems that are distributed throughout the globe.
 
     * Declassification - The administration is on the verge of
instituting a new Executive Order which will have a dramatic
impact on the classification and declassification of federal
records. The Presidential Review Directive of April 1993 which
initiated this process identified quicker declassification as one
of its main priorities. The National Archives currently houses
over 325 million pages of classified records and accessions an
additional 16,000 cubic feet of classified records each year.
NARA's inadequate declassification initiatives has led to a ever
growing mountain of classified files, sealed off from a curious
public eager to study the history of the Cold War and earlier
periods. A recent estimate has noted that, given current staffing
and procedures, it will take NARA 19 years to review just its
holdings of 1960s State Department records. To compound matters,
the previous Executive Order on classified information vastly
increased number of classified records while at the same time it
decreased the number of declassifications. As a consequence, NARA
needs a new leader who will seek expanded resources and
legislation to declassify its bulging classified records and who
will develop a strategic plan for managing the masses of
classified records that are sure to be transferred to NARA over
the following years.
 
     NARA needs a leader who will offer vision for all of the
pressing areas highlighted above. Information is the coin of the
realm for effective, efficient and accountable government.
Information is also the currency of democracy that must be made
accessible to our nation's citizens. It is contingent upon the
administration to promptly appoint an Archivist of the United
States who will serve both roles and set long range goals for the
nation's archival agency that will lend it new relevance and
prominence.
 
                              Respectfully Submitted,