Research Our Records

Information about Electronic Records for Researchers in College Park, Maryland

General Information

The reference services staff is available to assist researchers between 8:45 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. NARA's Electronic Records research room is within Room 2000 in the Steny Hoyer Research Complex at the National Archives at College Park (Archives II). The research room is open upon demand. Directions to Archives II are available. We suggest calling the reference staff before visiting for research, so we can prepare for your visit if possible.

You can contact the reference staff at:

Electronic and Special Media Records Services Division
National Archives at College Park
8601 Adelphi Road , Room 5320
College Park, MD 20740-6001

phone: (301) 837-0470
e-mail: cer@nara.gov

Information about NARA's Electronic Records Holdings

The National Archives and Records Administration maintains electronic records with continuing value created by the U.S. Congress, the courts, the Executive Office of the President, numerous Presidential Commissions, and nearly 100 bureaus, departments and other components of executive branch agencies and their contractors. The records may concern virtually any area or subject in which the Federal Government is involved. The records may be from any type of computer applications, such as database management systems, word processing, computer modeling, or geographic information systems.

Among the types of holdings or subject areas represented in the Divisions's holdings are the following:

Finding Records

The reference services staff provides information about NARA's Electronic Records holdings and assists researchers in finding those records that are most useful for their projects. NARA also offers online access to a selection of its electronic records through the Access to Archival Databases (AAD) resource.

The Archival Research Catalog (ARC) is the online catalog of some of NARA's holdings. It includes descriptions for data files and other types of electronic records.

The following list of reference reports and descriptive handouts describe some electronic records maintained by NARA related to specific topics:

Our Staff Bibliography offers a listing of presentations, papers and reports produced by past and present staff members dealing with various aspects of electronic records.

Access

There are two basic ways to access electronic records accessioned into the National Archives.

  • The traditional means is to acquire a copy of the file(s) of interest, on a cost-recovery basis, and use the electronic records with your own hardware and software. For a description of the options related to this access mode see, Ordering Information for Electronic Records.

  • Access to Archival Databases (AAD) resource. AAD offers online search and retrieval access to a selection of NARA's accessioned electronic records in databases. There is no charge for using this resource. AAD is the first publicly accessible application developed under the auspices of the Electronic Records Archives (ERA) Program, NARA's research program for electronic records.

Access to the electronic records transferred to NARA is subject to the terms of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Information in some data sets may be withheld in accordance with the exemptions authorized under the FOIA designed to protect national security, individual privacy, law enforcement investigations, or proprietary interest. Statutory restrictions on electronic records transferred into the National Archives remain in force until the records are 30 years old, unless extended by the Archivist of the United States. The National Archives and Records Administration protects against an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, in general, for 75 years.

In some cases where specific records or data elements within electronic records are restricted, NARA may make an extract of the records in a disclosure-free version, also known as a public use file. When it is not possible to create a public use file, NARA regulations permit the release of restricted records under certain conditions defined in the appropriate portion of the Code of Federal Regulations (36 CFR 1256).

Documentation and Limitations

Technical documentation accompanies most transfers of electronic records into the National Archives. It may include a narrative description of the system that produced the records, information on the physical and technical characteristics of the records, a data dictionary or the equivalent information associated with a database management system, and any other technical information needed to read or process the records.

The documentation for electronic records in NARA's custody is available for use in the Electronic Records research room. Photocopies of documentation for electronic records can be obtained either with the data or separately. In some instances, the documentation may be available in electronic format or microfilm in addition to paper. NARA offers online access to scanned documentation for a selection of electronic records via the Access to Archival Databases (AAD logo) resource.

NARA does not routinely produce extracts, tabulations, or formatted printouts from files. However, extracts from two files with records of casualties of the Korean and Vietnam Wars are available online. In addition, anyone can create and download extracts of files accessible from the Access to Archival Databases (AAD logo) resource.

Electronic and Special Media Records Main Page

Top of Page

Research Our Records >

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272