Analysis and Development of Model Quality Guidelines for Electronic Records Management on State and Federal Websites. Final Report.

This report describes a project to develop better records management and preservation strategies for electronic information available on state and federal agency websites. The project had the following goals: to provide a theoretical and conceptual framework within which to understand records management and historical preservation issues related to government websites; to provide a statement of records management and historical preservation principles as they apply to government websites, based on an empirical assessment of state and federal website activities; to provide model guidelines for webmasters and records managers concerning management and preservation of electronic records on government websites; and to promote awareness in, and education of, archivists and records managers concerning measures to be taken in order to manage and preserve historically valuable records on government websites. The report is organized in six chapters. Chapter 1, "Introduction" discusses the objectives and significance of the study and describes the organization of the report; chapter 2, "Selected Literature Review"; chapter 3, "Website Records Management in the States"; chapter 4, "Website Records Management in Federal Agencies"; chapter 5, "Seven Federal Agencies' Electronic Records Policies: A Side-by-Side Comparison"; and chapter 6, "Guidelines for Electronic Records Management on State and Federal Agency Websites." Appendices include site visit probes; site visit participation forms; supplementary data collection from World Wide Web Federal Consortium; and list of project advisory committee members. (Contains 81 references.) (Author/SWC)