National Archives: Progress and Risks in Implementing Its Electronic Records Archive Initiative

Book excerpt: Since 2001, the Nat. Archives and Records Admin. (NARA) has been working to develop a modern Electronic Records Archive (ERA) system, a major info. system that is intended to preserve and provide access to massive volumes of all types and formats of electronic records. Software and contracting problems led the agency and its contractor to revise the development approach. The revised plan called for parallel development of two different increments: a "base" ERA system with limited functionality and an Exec. Office of the Pres. (EOP) system to support the ingestion and search of records from the outgoing Bush Admin. This report summarizes NARA's progress in developing the ERA system and the ongoing risks the agency faces in completing it.