What is in ARC?

Scope of Archival Materials

Standards used for ARC Descriptions

Sources for Descriptions and their Authority Sources

Currently there are a total of 1,089,597 cubic feet of holdings described in ARC. This breaks down to:

• 475 Record Groups
• 654 Collections
• 12,107 Series
• 312,873 File Units
• 246,562 Items

There are also 563,917,669 logical data records and 214,861 artifacts described in ARC.

In addition, some archival materials have been digitized and are available through ARC. They include:

• 15 architectural and engineering drawings items
• 58 artifact items
• 308 maps and charts
• 57,786 still pictures
• 15,005 textual documents

Currently, the amount of archival materials described in ARC represents roughly 30% of our holdings. That number will continue to grow.

Please note: Not all finding aids and images on the NARA web site are currently described in ARC yet, although that is our goal. An updated version of Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States can be searched on the NARA web site to identify records of interest. You may also want to visit the Digital Classroom, the Online Exhibit Hall, the Research Room, and the individual Presidential Libraries' web sites.

ARC descriptions are based upon NARA's Lifecycle Data Requirements Guide (LCDRG). The LCDRG establishes standards for NARA's structure and implementation of data to support the lifecycle management of archival materials of all types and formats. The first edition of the guide, issued in November of 2000, contains standards related to archival description. In developing its standards, NARA consulted all relevant external standards to determine their applicability to the description of NARA's holdings of federal and presidential government records and donated materials and used these external standards as a basis for developing a standard which best meets the needs of NARA's holdings. The LCDRG is updated frequently and will expand to cover other portions of the records lifecycle over time.

NARA maintains the historically valuable archival materials of the U.S. Government dating from the Revolutionary War era to the recent past. Both the archival materials and their descriptions have come from a variety of sources over time. Some descriptions were written by NARA staff when the archival materials were originally processed by NARA, or during later descriptive projects. Other descriptions were written by Federal agencies that created the archival materials, usually at the time the material itself was created. Words and phrases used in the titles and descriptions often reflect common or popular usage of the era in which they were written.

To provide consistent retrieval we have used both external and NARA-created authority sources to index ARC descriptions. These sources include:

1. The Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names® (TGN)
   The Thesaurus of Geographic Names® was developed by the Getty Research Institute (GRI), an operating program of The J. Paul Getty Trust. This database is used under license from The J. Paul Getty Trust. The accuracy of the information contained in the database is not warranted in any way by Getty, and Getty assumes no responsibility or liability for the results of any use of the information.
   © 1994 - 2001 J. Paul Getty Trust. All rights reserved. The Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names is a registered trademark of the J. Paul Getty Trust.
   
   
2. The Art and Architecture Thesaurus® (AAT) (Information Forms and Visual Works)
   The Art and Architecture Thesaurus® was developed by the Getty Research Institute (GRI), an operating program of The J. Paul Getty Trust. This database is used under license from The J. Paul Getty Trust. The accuracy of the information contained in the database is not warranted in any way by Getty, and Getty assumes no responsibility or liability for the results of any use of the information.
   © 1994 - 2001 J. Paul Getty Trust. All rights reserved. The Art and Architecture Thesaurus is a registered trademark of the J. Paul Getty Trust.
   
   
3. 1977-1999 Retrospective Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF)
   The Library of Congress Name Authority File is produced and published by the Library of Congress.

1. Organization Authority File
   This authority file lists names of Federal and non-Federal organizations. Names of Federal organizations were formulated by NARA and are based upon agency publications and directives and Federal statutes; names of most non-Federal organizations were taken from the Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF).
   
   
2. Program Area Thesaurus
   This thesaurus lists the program areas or functions of organizations. NARA created the Program Area Thesaurus based upon the Federal Register Thesaurus of Indexing Terms, and the Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL) Thesaurus.
   
   
3. Topical Subjects Thesaurus
   This thesaurus lists the topics or subjects found in descriptions of archival materials. NARA created the Topical Subject Thesaurus from the Library of Congress Subject Headings and other sources.