The NDC is pleased to release its Sixth Bi-annual status report.  http://www.archives.gov/declassification/ndc/reports/2012-biannual-july-december.pdf This report details the progress made since January 2010 in meeting the President’s December 29, 2009 charge to eliminate the approximately 400 million page back log of reviewed, but not publicly available records at NARA.   The report specifically focuses on progress made during the second [...]

This post is from NDC Archives Specialist John Ritz. While working on a FOIA request for Department of State records, I came across a document which immediately caught my attention.  I showed it to several coworkers who encouraged me to share it with a broader audience. The document is a Memorandum of Conversation between President Roosevelt and [...]

Our colleagues in the Special Media Services Division recently announced on their blog “Media Matters” the declassification of nearly 200 new items.  Follow the link below for a listing of the new releases. http://blogs.archives.gov/mediamatters/2013/01/11/declassified-motion-pictures-and-sound-recordings/

Today, the Public Interest Declassification Board released online its recommendations to the President on Transforming the Security Classification System.  The full Report can be found at http://www.archives.gov/declassification/pidb/recommendations/transforming-classification.html.  The report centers on the need for new policies for classifying information, new processes for declassifying information, and the imperative for using and integrating technology into these processes.  [...]

The Public Interest Declassification Board will host an open meeting on Thursday, December 6, 2012 to discuss its recommendations to the President on Transforming the Security Classification System.  The full Report to the President will be published online on December 6th at http://www.archives.gov/declassification/pidb.  The meeting will focus on the Board’s fourteen recommendations.  The recommendations center [...]

The video from the August 29, 2012 NDC Open Forum is now available and may be viewed here.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNnxN3M9TUc

The National Archives recently developed a new web portal for declassification information.  As a result some of the links in older blog posts to released entries and bi-annual reports are not working correctly.  The new portal provides centralized pages for all new releases and reports.  You may access these by clicking  the links below. New [...]

The Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP) provides the public and users of the classification system with a forum for further review of classification decisions.   For the first time, documents declassified by the ISCAP are available for public access on a new site accessible from the declassification portal:  http://www.archives.gov/declassification/iscap/decision-table.html The Executive Order 13526, “Classified National Security [...]

The National Archives has launched a new declassification portal that provides a single point of access for declassification actions happening at NARA: http://www.archives.gov/declassification/ From this portal, users can get information about recent records releases at the National Archives.  Users can find information about the National Declassification Center, the Public Interest Declassification Board, the Presidential Libraries, and the Interagency [...]

Twenty records related to the Katyn Forest Massacre are now available on the National Archives Transcription Pilot Project.  Help transcribe telegrams, messages, letters and reports, including handwritten script.  Your efforts help improve the accessibility of the records.  For more information on how to get started, check out the Transcription Tips. Learn more about the Katyn [...]