#makingaccesshappen

Making Access Happen through the Digital Public Library of America

By David S. Ferriero | Archivist of the United States

Providing public access to Federal Government records is central to the mission of the National Archives. Open access to government records strengthens democracy by allowing Americans to claim their rights of citizenship, hold their government accountable, and understand their history so they can participate more effectively in their government.

Collaboration with stakeholders, the public, and private organizations to make historical records available has long been a priority for the National Archives. It is clear that collaboration is the path to the future, and nowhere is this more apparent than through the efforts of the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) to connect people to our nation’s shared history.

DPLA provides a single online access point for anyone, anywhere to search and access digital collections containing America’s cultural, historical and scientific heritage. This collaborative effort has united leaders and educators from various government agencies, libraries, archives and museums of all sizes working together to ensure that all people have access to information they need.

Archives Celebrates Information Access

By Kerri Lawrence  | National Archives News

WASHINGTON, March 6, 2018 — The National Archives and Records Administration will host several events in observance of Sunshine Week, an annual nationwide celebration of access to public information. Events include an educational symposium, a week-long transcription challenge engaging citizen archivists, and a panel discussion.

Sunshine Week 2018 at the National Archives will begin with a special program on Monday, March 12, 2018, at 1 p.m. in the William G. McGowan Theater in Washington, DC. Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero will kick off the event and Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont will offer the keynote address entitled “Championing The Public’s Right to Know.”  Several breakout sessions featuring government leaders and experts will focus on innovation in the Federal Government, congressional digital engagement, and open data.

Alina Semo, Director of the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), said Sunshine Week allows the National Archives to highlight how it is a leader in open government.

“We celebrate Sunshine Week every day at our agency,” she said. “From our work to make the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process more effective to our colleagues’ efforts to modernize our records management guidance, streamline the declassification process, and increase the impact of open innovation activities, the net result is improved public access to the records.”

New Group of JFK Assassination Documents Available to the Public

In the sixth public release this year, the National Archives today posted 3,539 documents subject to the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 (JFK Act).  Released documents are available for download.

The versions released today were processed by agencies and, in accordance with the President’s guidance, are being posted expeditiously in order to make the documents available to the public, even before the 2018 deadline established by the President on October 26, 2017. 

This is the last release planned by the National Archives for this year.  At this point, with the exception of 86 record identification numbers where additional research is required by the National Archives and the other agencies, all documents subject to section 5 of the JFK Act have been released either in full or in part.  Any information subject to section 5 of the Act, which has been redacted from documents in any of the six public releases this year, remains subject to further review by the agencies and the National Archives, in accordance with the President’s direction.  The National Archives will release additional documents in 2018 based on the outcome of the reviews conducted pursuant to the President’s direction.

The National Archives previously released 10,744 documents on Nov. 17, 13,213 documents on Nov. 9, 676 documents on Nov. 3, 2,891 documents on Oct. 26, and 3,810 documents on July 24. 

The National Archives established the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection in November 1992, and it consists of approximately five million pages.  The vast majority of the collection has been publicly available without any restrictions since the late 1990s.