Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Government Still Confused How To Manage E-Documents As Records

June 21, 2010 | 11:49 AM

(From Friday)

Agencies' practice of printing out electronic documents to archive, weak oversight and unclear guidance as to which e-mail messages should be saved have increased the likelihood that federal managers have destroyed important government information that should be stored for historical purposes, federal managers and records experts told lawmakers on Thursday.

Until recently, federal agencies typically printed digital documents to file as official records rather than use electronic archiving systems that save the files in their original form, professional archivists and federal IT executives told members of the House Oversight Information Policy, Census and National Archives Subcommittee. As e-mail use in government expanded during the past years, agencies have deleted or lost potentially important digital records, they said.

Continue reading on NextGov.com.

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Juliana Gruenwald has been covering tech and telecom issues for more than a decade for National Journal, Interactive Week, BNA and Congressional Quarterly. This is her second stint with National Journal. She was recruited by NJ in 1998 to help launch its first tech policy publication, Technology Daily. She left in 2000 to cover international tech and telecom issues for Ziff Davis Media's Interactive Week magazine. She started her career at United Press International as the wire service's first Helen Thomas Intern. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota. A Minneapolis native, she misses the lakes but not the cold.


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Josh Smith covers technology policy as a staff reporter for National Journal. He previously interned at National Journal Daily, a Senate press office, and the Deseret News in Salt Lake City where he covered the state legislature, courts, and crime. In 2009 he graduated with honors from Southern Utah University after managing an award-winning student newspaper as editor-in-chief. Josh has received state, regional and national awards for his political and policy reporting, including first place in CapitolBeat’s 2009 Best of Statehouse Reporting college competition. A native of drop-dead-gorgeous Utah, Josh lives in Virginia with his wife, Amber.