In 2011, we introduced the tagging feature in the National Archives Catalog as a way to invite citizens to contribute their knowledge and expertise to archival descriptions: the “Wisdom of the Crowd.” Within the first month, we celebrated more than 1,000 user-contributed tags; each added with the goal of enhancing records and helping to improve … Continue reading Catalog Contributions: Celebrating the “Wisdom of the Crowd”
Communicating with our customers is key to achieving the mission and goals of the National Archives. In fact, as part of the National Archives Strategic Plan, 2018-2022, NARA established a strategic goal to Connect with Customers along with the specific objective of having one million records enhanced by citizen contributions to the National Archives Catalog. … Continue reading News You Can Use: Subscribe to the National Archives Catalog Newsletter
Difficult times demand innovative thinking. In March, the National Archives began closing buildings around the country in order to protect our staff and public from the pandemic. NARA staff members were plunged into a world where the work to support the mission of the agency became fully digital. In response, NARA quickly created a wide … Continue reading Collaborate, Innovate, Learn
In celebration of Presidents Day, we are featuring a series of Citizen Archivist tagging and transcription missions using Catalog records from each Presidential Library: a Presidential Libraries Road Trip! Join us online as we virtually travel the country throughout February, bringing you records from the Presidential Libraries across the National Archives. Through this project, we … Continue reading Join us on a Presidential Libraries Road Trip!
In the spirit of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service, join us this week, January 15—19, 2018, for the Citizen Archivist Week of Service. Our goal is to tag or transcribe 2,018 pages in the National Archives Catalog during this week-long challenge. Can you help us meet this goal? Get started by … Continue reading Join us for Citizen Archivist Week of Service!
I am proud to announce the publication of our fourth Open Government Plan. To get started, check out the Executive Summary, which provides an overview of the commitments the agency is making to make the National Archives and the Federal government more open over the next two years. We want to hear from you! This … Continue reading We want to hear from you! NARA’s Open Government Plan 2016-2018
Much of the Eastern Seaboard is bracing for a major snow/ice event this weekend. Are you prepared? Looking for indoor activities? Even if you can’t make it out to the research rooms, you can still do something fun and good for the country from the comfort of your own home as you tag and transcribe … Continue reading Cabin Fever Remedies
The Open Government Partnership, launched in the summer of 2011 can trace its roots to President Obama’s challenge to the members of the United Nations General Assembly in September of 2010---a challenge to work together to make all governments more transparent, collaborative, and participatory. The Partnership has grown from eight to more than 60 nations … Continue reading Second Open Government National Action Plan
The National Archives’ Strategic Plan includes a simple, but audacious initiative: to digitize our analog records and make them available for online public access. We have over 12 billion pages of records, so yes, this is our moon shot. To achieve this goal, we know we need to think in radically new ways about our … Continue reading The Scan Plan: Our Strategy to Digitize the Vast Holdings of the National Archives
In the video below, Jennifer Pahlka, U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer, invites you to make a difference and serve your country by applying to become a Presidential Innovation Fellow. This is the third round of the Presidential Innovation Fellows. Projects from the first two rounds included: making government data more openly available, programs to assist … Continue reading Help Us Innovate!
