As the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) pushes federal agencies ever closer to managing all permanent records in electronic format, another dimension of record-keeping is taking on new found importance: metadata. Agencies that want to comply with NARA’s requirements for managing and submitting all permanent records in electronic format need to understand the importance [...]

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) will no longer accept analog records from federal agencies after December 31, 2022. Indeed, NARA is doing its best to go all-in on electronic records retention. It’s strategic plan for 2018-2022 includes digitizing “billions of pages of records we hold in analog formats [and keeping] pace with the [...]

According to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), "Temporary records are those records that NARA approves for either immediate disposal or for disposal after a specified time or event." Temporary records are no easier to manage than permanent records, and in some ways, they may actually be more difficult. For example, the time period [...]

June 15, 2019 – Duluth, GA – Peniel Solutions, LLC (PSL), a leading provider of records management and digitization services, is pleased to announce that it has been granted certification under ISO/IEC 27002 by global certification authority G-Certi. The ISO/IEC 27017:2015 standard offers guidelines for establishing robust information security controls related to the use of [...]

Lawful records management in the federal government is critically important, especially with a major deadline looming this year. It can also be confusing and seemingly in constant flux. To help clarify, here’s a refresher on the major laws and presidential Executive Orders impacting federal records management today. The Federal Records Act (FRA) The foundational law [...]

When creating records, especially those intended for long-term preservation and archiving, records managers must consider an enormous number of variables to ensure the records will serve their intended purpose. This is particularly true when creating an electronic version of a physical or analog record (for example, creating a digital image of a paper document, map, [...]

With the urgency imposed by NARA on federal agencies to store and manage permanent electronic records in a native electronic format this year, many agencies may find themselves tempted to assess potential solutions according to what’s easiest (cheapest, fastest, least work) rather than what’s best. However, with even larger goals waiting on the horizon (like [...]

Though NARA requires that federal agencies manage all permanent electronic records in electronic format by the end of this year, they have not mandated that the records management system used be automated. As NARA's Use Cases guidance states, “The steps through the [records management] life cycle can be done automatically, semi-automatically or manually. While NARA [...]

March 13, 2019 – Duluth, GA – Peniel Solutions, LLC (PSL), a leading provider of records digitization services, is pleased to announce that it has been granted approval as a Schedule 36 General Services Administration (GSA) vendor to provide services under contract 47QSMA19D08PC through 2024. Federal agencies will now have a streamlined process to access [...]

Federal agencies are facing pressing document management mandates from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Specifically, NARA has been tasked with guiding federal agencies toward meeting the Managing Government Records Directive, using existing technology where feasible. That means they must be managing all permanent records in electronic format by the end of this year. [...]