Washington Policy Brief > National Archives at Risk, According to Audit

National Archives at Risk, According to Audit

November 02, 2010

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) audit completed in October shows that nearly 80% of government agencies are at risk of illegally destroying public records and that there are hefty volumes of records needing preservation and care before they are permanently lost or damaged.

Prompted by the loss of the Wright brothers’ original patent, as well as maps for atomic bomb missions in Japan, the GAO report finds some of the nation's prized historical documents are in danger of being lost forever, including Civil War telegrams from Abraham Lincoln, Eli Whitney's cotton gin patent, and some NASA photographs on the moon. The report was obtained this month by the Associated Press and found many U.S. agencies do not follow proper procedures for disposing and storing public records.

“Officials at the National Archives, which houses the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and other treasured documents at its Washington rotunda, had no immediate comment Tuesday on the findings,” said National Public Radio (NPR).

The report comes more than a year after news reports of key items missing at the nation's recordkeeping agency. While some of the items have been missing for decades, their absence has recently become widely known.

According to NPR, “The patent file for the Wright Brothers flying machine was last seen in 1980 after passing around multiple Archives offices, the Patents and Trademarks Office and the National Air and Space Museum. As for maps for the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, military representatives checked them out in 1962, and they've been missing ever since.”

A second GAO report obtained by the AP details "significant weaknesses" in the Archives' security and documents a lost computer hard drive from the Clinton administration and problems with the computer access controls, clearance requirements for employees, and physical security.

The GAO recommends the Archives boost its inspections of agencies, improve internal management, streamline hiring, and enhance security.

More information:

http://gao.gov/

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130844620

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The Washington Policy Brief is an online advisory that contains brief summaries of recent legislative and regulatory issues that may affect the records and information management profession. Further information about the issue is accessed by clicking on the link provided at the end of each summary.

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