Curtis A. Utz, Naval History & Heritage Command

Providing the proper access to records is a primary mission of U.S. government archivists.

◦ Access to records limited by law, including national security and privacy

◦ Archival challenges that include back logs and poor prior practices

◦ Review process challenges◦ Solutions & Conclusion

First passed in 1966 Amended 5 times FOIA does not mean everything can be released

Response issues

Government declassification: near continuous evolution largely by Executive Order (EO)

◦ First post-war EO issued by Eisenhower◦ Modified by Kennedy; new EOs issued by Nixon,

Carter & Reagan◦ Clinton’s EO is most significant, modified by

Bush◦ Additional EO under Obama

Declassification does not mean a record can be released; there are various controls usually based on Federal law

◦ Privacy Act◦ Other FOIA exemptions such as proprietary

material and law enforcement exclusions◦ Kyl-Lott: response to inadvertent releases

during Clinton EO reviews

Primary challenge: RESOURCES Changes to EOs and laws, including interpretation in

the courts◦ Additional requirements without understanding or

resources is counterproductive Archival challenges: back logs must have initial

processing done prior to declassification review◦ Not always followed in past, resulting in reworking

and potential chaos Joint and multi-agency equity records and changing

methods including the role of government personnel and contractors

Ineffective records management - particularly electronic data

Clarify roles & responsibilities◦ Development of National Declassification

Center at NARA◦ Improvement of interagency cooperation &

coordination Better use of technology

◦ Move towards machine-assisted review Improve training & awareness across knowledge

management spectrum Reasonable expectations from customers Find more resources

Government archivists try to provide all properly releasable information

FOIA process works, but can be improved Declassification process has improved, but more

work needs to be done Better training and education for government

employees; realistic expectations from customers

Greatest need: more resources, utilized more effectively