Transfer of Electronic Records To NARA
This overview on the transfer of electronic records is taken from NARA's
regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations (36 CFR 1228.270). For
more specific details, see 36 CFR 1228.270.
Transfer Media
1. Magnetic tape: Agencies may transfer electronic records to the
National Archives on magnetic tape using either open-reel magnetic
tape or tape cartridges. Tape cartridges may be 18-track
3480-class cartridges recorded at 37,871 bpi and blocked at no
more than 32,760 bytes per block, or DLT tape IV cartridges that
must be recorded in an uncompressed format.
2. Compact-Disk, Read Only Memory (CD-ROM): CD-ROMs may be used as
transfer media for fielded data files or text files if they:
conform to the International Standards Organization (ISO) 9660
standard and to the American Standard Code for Information
Interchange (ASCII); are not compressed unless NARA has approved
the transfer of the compressed form in advance; and are
individually addressable. The CD-ROMs may contain software files
and temporary records, but permanent records must be in files that
contain only permanent records.
3. File Transfer Protocol: Agencies may use File Transfer Protocol
(FTP) to transfer electronic records scheduled for preservation
into the National Archives. For specific requirements related to
FTP transfers, please review 36 CFR 1228.270 (c)(3).
Formats
Records shall be in a format that is not dependent on specific hardware
or software, written in ASCII or EBCDIC with all extraneous control
characters removed (except record length indicators for variable length
records, marks delimiting a data element, field, record or file, or
Standard Generalized Markup Language tags). Records should not be
compressed unless NARA has approved the transfer in the compressed form
in advance.
Data files and databases shall be transferred as flat files or as
rectangular tables, that is, as two-dimensional arrays, lists or tables.
All records in a database or tuples in a relational database should have
the same logical format. Each data element within a record should
contain only one data value. A record should not contain nested
repeating groups of data items.
Documentation in electronic format shall be transferred as separate
files, and the transfer format standards for electronic records apply
also to files that contain documentation.
The Electronic Records Management Initiative outlines additional types
of electronic record formats accepted by NARA.
November 2005
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| From: |
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|"Don Lueders, CRM, CDIA" <[log in to unmask]> |
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| To: |
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[log in to unmask] |
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| Date: |
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|08/31/2009 03:48 PM |
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| Subject: |
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|Database Format for NARA Transfers |
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I have a question for all the Federal government Records Managers out
there:
What format is acceptable for the transfer of structured information
(i.e.
databases)?
I've searched the NARA website and I've searched this list's archive,
but I
haven't had any luck. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Don
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