Principal challenges facing electronic records management in federal agencies today

Over the past several years, SRA International has served as a contractor to several federal agencies in various aspects of records management. Among other projects, in 2000–2001, SRA carried out a government-wide survey for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) which was published as Report on Current Recordkeeping Practices within the Federal Government. In 1997–1998 SRA conducted a business process re-engineering for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with respect to its regulatory docket filing facilities; SRA performed similar services for the Department of Transportation. In 2001–2002, SRA is assisting EPA in developing an agency-wide electronic document management (EDM) and electronic records management (ERM) system. These activities have involved not only systems integration functions but also conducting interviews, debriefings, focus groups, and paper-and-pencil questionnaires with hundreds of federal employees, as well as private sector companies. For the NARA and EPA work, SRA has gathered the perceptions of federal Chief Information Officers, General Counsels, Inspectors General, information technology staff, records managers, and staff carrying out the day-to-day duties of conducting federal programs. The company has also interacted extensively with firms marketing software systems to federal agencies and firms engaged in systems integration and implementation. This article is a distillation of the foregoing experience and reflects the educated opinions of the authors and many SRA experts. The article attempts to delineate the frontiers of ERM in the federal government at the present time.