Anyon

nyone who thinks that "the National Archives and Records Administration" is just a long way of referring to "the National Archives" should take a close look at the footnotes as well as the text in this issue of Prologue.Three of the articles are based on archived records in federal records service centers in Chicago, Illinois; Fort Worth, Texas; and San Bruno, California. Though these centers and their records are far from Washington, D.C., all belong to the National Archives and Records Administration. And even they constitute just a part of what NARA has, does, and is.

Most people associate NARA, as we call the National Archives and Records Administration for short, with the grand old original National Archives Building in downtown Washington. But we also have the huge, new, state-of-the-art archives building in College Park, Maryland, and we maintain federal records service centers all over this country in addition to the ones in Chicago, Fort Worth, and San Brunoeighteen in all. And then we have ten presidential libraries dating back to Hoover and Roosevelt and including the George Bush Library just recently opened. You'll find a full list of archives and libraries and records service centers at the back of this magazine.

In all these facilities we have enormous amounts of material. Our archival facilities are now preserving for public use nearly 2 million cubic feet of textual records-that's billions of individual records-not to mention 2.2 million maps and charts, 2.8 million architectural and engineering plans, 9.2 million aerial photographs, 123,000 motion picture reels, 33,000 video recordings, 178,000 sound recordings, 7,000 computer data sets, and 7.4 million still pictures. Our new archives facility alone contains more than five hundred miles of shelving, which end-to-end would stretch from Washington to Toronto. And that doesn't count the millions of items in our presidential libraries, where you not only can use presidential records and records donated by members

of presidential administrations, but where you can also see exhibits of historical artifacts that document the nation's history during each presidency.

But even these facilities and their holdings are not all there is to the National Archives and Records Administration. NARA also administers the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, which makes grants for projects to document history. NARA administers the Information Security Oversight Office, which monitors the clas sification and declassification of government records. We administer the Office of the Federal Register, which publishes current information on new records, in effect-federal laws, rules, regulations, executive orders, presidential pronouncements, and public notices of government activities. We sponsor lectures and show films and display exhibits and provide a lot of other educational programs for school children and the public. And not least of all, we publish this magazine.

Let me, however, go on to the really big item. We are the National Archives and Records Administration. I emphasize the back half of NARA's full title because in addition to the two million cubic feet or so of records in our archives, there also are more than eighteen million cubic feet that we keep for federal agencies in our records services centers-records that remain useful to the agencies but no longer require being kept in their own offices. Moreover, NARA has responsibilities for helping federal agencies manage records, including the thousands of new records that the government generates every day. What that means is that we help the White House and the Congress and the courts as well as nearly ninety executive branch agencies understand what records to make and keep. We help them keep and use those records efficiently. And then we keep in our archives the ones of continuing public value.

The bottom line is-NARA has responsibilities for the

effectiveness of your federal government's recordkeeping

as a whole. We're concerned with the records of the Gulf War as well as the Civil War. We preserve "big" documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights, but also "little" ones that help people prove that they are citizens, help veterans justify their claims to benefits, and—to take another example out of the current news-help in the search for "Nazi Gold" looted from Holocaust survivors. We are interested in the latest computer files as well as in records scratched on parchment with quill pens. We promote good recordkeeping as well as keep records of continuing value. And every year, as the federal government generates more records both electronically and on paper, we have ever more to take care of and be concerned about.

That is why the Congress right now is considering a substantial increase in the budget for the National Archives and Records Administration. President Clinton proposed the increase in his budget request to the Congress for fiscal year 1999, and we are grateful for bipartisan support of our mission on Capitol Hill. If the Congress approves the budget request, we will be able to make substantial progress in implementing a strategic plan for meeting all of our records responsibilities.

Our efforts include beginning a major space planning initiative that will help us meet our strategic plan goals to make essential documentary evidence "easy to access regardless of where it is or where users are for as long as needed” and ensure that "all records will be preserved in appropriate space for as long as needed.” Through this effort, we will analyze our current configuration of facilities and determine what kinds of facilities we should have and where they should be located to serve our customers best. Ultimately, we want to reduce space costs, increase space quantity, improve space quality, and enhance access to the records of our government.

So, as you enjoy the articles that we present in this publication, please remember that they came from research in multiple facilities that are part of a national institution that in multiple ways is carrying out an indispensable mission-to provide, now and in perpetuity, ready access to essential evidence documenting the rights of citizens, the actions of federal officials, and the nation's historical experience.

Jar Cat

Archivist of the United States