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Information Quality at NARA
As part of our ongoing effort
to provide high-quality customer
service, NARA is committed
to ensuring that our information
products are useful, accurate,
clear, complete, and objective.
What do I need to know about NARA's information
quality?
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued Government-wide guidelines
under section 515 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act
for Fiscal Year 2001 (Pub.L.106-554 to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity,
utility and integrity of information disseminated by Federal agencies.
Each Federal agency is responsible for issuing its own section 515 guidelines.
Subsequently, NARA has developed its own information quality guidelines.
NARA strives to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility,
and integrity of the information that we disseminate to the public.
We are committed to integrating the principle of information quality into
every step of development of information, including planning, creation, collection,
maintenance, and dissemination. NARA takes appropriate steps to incorporate
information quality criteria into our information dissemination practices
and ensures that the quality of information that we disseminate is in accordance
with the standards set forth in these guidelines.
The NARA information quality guidelines will become effective on October
1, 2002. The procedures to request corrections will cover information disseminated
on or after October 1, 2002, regardless of when the information was first
disseminated.
NARA's Chief Information Officer is responsible for NARA's compliance with
these guidelines.
What information is NOT subject to NARA's information quality guidelines?
Information that is NOT subject to our information quality guidelines
includes:
- Archival Records. Among NARA's responsibilities is to take into
NARA facilities and Presidential
libraries, for public use, records that have sufficient historical or
other value to warrant their continued preservation by the U.S. Government.
The archival records entrusted to NARA's care have many different creators
including Federal Government agencies, the Congress, the Courts, and Presidential
administrations.
Archival records include books, papers, maps, photographs, electronic records,
or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics.
Archival records are excluded from these guidelines because NARA must ensure
the authenticity of the records as they were created, regardless of the
accuracy of the content of the information.
-
Records Center Holdings.
NARA temporarily stores records on behalf of Federal agencies and Members
of Congress. NARA is not responsible for the quality of or correction to
the information content of these records.
-
Legal Publications. Another of NARA's responsibilities is to publish
the official text of Federal laws, Presidential documents, administrative
regulations and notices, and descriptions of Federal organizations, programs
and activities.
This information is contained in legally-mandated publications of the Office
of the Federal Register:
The texts of these publications are created and submitted by a variety
of Federal entities who are individually responsible for the information
quality of their submissions.
-
Inter- and Intra-Agency and Operational Information. NARA's information
quality guidelines do not apply to documents intended only for intra-Government
communication or to procedural, operational, policy, and internal manuals
prepared for the management and operations of NARA that are not primarily
intended for public dissemination.
-
Freedom
of Information Act. NARA's information quality guidelines do not
apply to responses to requests for agency records under the Freedom of Information
Act, Privacy Act, Federal Advisory Committee Act, or other similar law.
-
Subpoenas or Adjudicatory Processes. NARA's information quality
guidelines do not apply to information intended to be limited to subpoenas
or adjudicatory processes.
Because there are well-established procedural safeguards and rights to address
the quality of factual allegations and adjudicatory decisions, as well as
to provide persons with an opportunity to contest decisions, NARA's information
quality guidelines do not impose any additional requirements on NARA during
adjudicatory proceedings and do not provide parties to such adjudicatory
proceedings any additional rights of challenge or appeal.
What information IS subject to NARA's information quality guidelines?
Information that IS subject to our information quality guidelines
includes:
-
Information about Archival Records. NARA disseminates information
about the archival records that we hold in several forms including finding
aids, inventories, general information leaflets, research information papers,
and guides.
These products describe the archival records, give context to them, and
identify their location in one of NARA's multiple facilities.
-
Programs and Services Information. NARA provides information about
our programs and services. For example, NARA mounts exhibits about our holdings,
provides educational materials for grades K-12, and provides records management
information.
We disseminate price lists, catalogs, and other purchasing information for
our products and announcements of events and programs at our facilities
through notices and the Calendar
of Events.
We also make available information about grants, programs, and funded projects
through the National Historical Publications
and Records Commission.
-
Organizational and Management Information. NARA disseminates information
about our structure and organization including employee and office locators,
organizational charts, statements by the Archivist of the United States,
and NARA's
Strategic Plan.
NARA also distributes the Annual
Report which contains information about NARA's achievements, activities,
goals, and products and the Information Security Oversight Office's (ISOO)
Annual Report to the President which contains information on Federal security
classification programs and compiles statistics on classification and declassification
activities Government-wide.
-
Office of the Federal Register Information. The Office
of the Federal Register makes available information about its official
publications and functions.
How does NARA disseminate this information?
These information products are disseminated in several ways: on paper, microform,
or in electronic form. The primary form used by NARA for electronic dissemination
of information is the NARA web site: www.archives.gov.
How can I correct information that is subject to the information quality
guidelines?
Follow the procedure described in these guidelines to correct information
maintained and disseminated by NARA that you believe does not comply with
either:
-
OMB's
Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility,
and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Agencies, published
in the Federal Register in Volume 66, No.189 at 49718 on September
28, 2001, updated in Volume 2, No.67 at 369 on January 3, 2002 (67 F.R.369)
and corrected in Volume 2, No.67 at 8452 on February 22, 2002. These published
guidelines were issued pursuant to Section 515 of the Treasury and General
Government Appropriations Act for FY2001 (Pub. L. 106 -554); or
- NARA's information quality guidelines.
What do I need to provide to request a correction?
- Your Contact Information. Include your name, mailing address, and
fax number or telephone number; or your name and email address. This information
is needed to respond to your request.
- Description of the Information to Correct. Clearly indicate the
information that you believe is in error and should be corrected, as well
as an explanation of how you are affected by the information.
Include the name of the product (e.g., finding aid title, pamphlet number,
web page including URL, title, etc.) where the information is located, the
date of issuance if available, a description of the information to be corrected,
and what corrective action you seek.
- Why the Information Should be Corrected. Include specific reasons
why the information should be corrected and, if possible, recommendations
for how it should be corrected.
Recommendations for corrections that are specific and provide evidence to
support the need for correction will enable NARA to provide a satisfactory
response.
How can I make a request?
-
In person. If you are in any NARA facility, you may submit a request
for correction with NA Form 14045, "How Were Our Services?,"
available in NARA research rooms. Specify that you are submitting a request
under the guidelines by checking the box labeled "Information Quality
Issue." Include your name and contact information if you would like
a written response, because NARA will respond only in writing and not
in person or via the telephone.
-
By letter or email. You may submit a written request by letter
or email. NARA will respond in the same form as your request, unless you
indicate otherwise.
By letter: Mail request to:
Information Quality
National Archives and Records Administration
NWCC, Room 2400
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001
By email: Please use
NARA's "Contact Us" form. In the third section of the form,
"I have a comment, suggestion, compliment, or complaint about NARA's
services and products," under "Please select the topic of your
message," select "Information Quality (utility, objectivity,
integrity) of NARA Products."
How will NARA review my request?
Based on a review of the information provided, NARA will determine whether
a correction is warranted, and, if so, what action to take. Any corrective
action will be determined by the nature and timeliness of the information
involved, the significance of the correction, the use of the information,
and the scope of the correction.
How will NARA respond?
NARA will respond to your request by letter, email, or fax.
NARA will respond to requests for correction of information within seven working
days of receipt. If we cannot complete our review of the request within seven
working days, we will inform you that we require more time and provide you with
an estimated decision date.
The response will explain the findings of the review and the actions NARA will
take in response.
-
Requests for correction concerning information on which NARA has sought
public comment
Information on which NARA may seek public comment includes:
- proposed rules (regulations)
- other draft analyses supporting proposed rules (e.g., regulatory flexibility
analyses)
- notices (such as information collection notices)
- other draft guidance.
Our response to the request for correction will normally be incorporated in
the document that we issue in the matter on which we sought comment. The response
will be provided in this document rather than in a separate communication.
We will consider issuing an earlier response to a request for correction
in cases where:
-
we determine that an earlier response would not unduly delay issuing
the final document; and
-
you have shown a reasonable likelihood of suffering actual harm if
we do not resolve the request before we issue the final document.
How can I request reconsideration of a request for correction?
If NARA denies your request for correction, you can appeal the decision within
30 calendar days of receiving notification of the denial.
We will acknowledge receipt of your request for reconsideration within seven
working days of receipt.
Depending on the request, the appeal will be reviewed by the appropriate highest-level
manager at NARA who is not directly involved with the request.
We will respond to your request for reconsideration within 45 calendar days
of the request for reconsideration. Our response will include the decision,
how the decision will be implemented, and within what period of time.
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