National Archives and Records Administration
Center for Electronic Records


Quick Reference


Center for Electronic Records: Table of Contents

Frequently Asked Questions

Information for Researchers

Title List and Description of Center for Electronic Records' Holdings

Staff Bibliography

State-level Casualty Lists for the Korean and Vietnam Conflicts

 Information about Electronic Records for Archivists, Federal Records Managers and IRM Personnel

Center for Electronic Records Homepage
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The Center for Electronic Records

In the National Archives and Records Administration's (NARA's) efforts to ensure ready access to essential evidence, the Center for Electronic Records appraises, accessions, preserves and provides access to U.S. Federal Government electronic records of continuing value. By these activities, the Center enables researchers to gain access to Federal records designed for computer processing.

Thus, the Center for Electronic Records provides access to records of the United States Federal Government that have been accessioned into the National Archives in an electronic format. Electronic records at NARA include all types of historically valuable Federal electronic records. They provide a vast resource of data and information, as well as reveal how Federal Government organizations have carried out their legislative mandates and missions. These records may be from any type of computer application, such as a database management system, word processing, computer modeling or geographic information systems. Generally, the holdings of the Center for Electronic Records do not include digitized versions of accessioned paper or audio-visual records.

The records held by the Center for Electronic Records are witnesses themselves to the evolution of computer technology - our earliest records were created as early as World War II and reflect punchcard technology in use since the 1880s. However, most of the electronic records at NARA date from the 1960s, and number over 30,000 files. The scope of the holdings is quite diverse - as diverse as the activities and interests of the Federal Government itself.

Copies of electronic records at NARA are available for researchers in a variety of electronic formats. In general, NARA's electronic records cannot be accessed online via the Internet. However, see description of state-level casualty lists for the Korean and Vietnam Conflicts.
mailbox For general questions about the Center for Electronic Records' holdings, or for further information not provided in the following pages, please contact us at cer@nara.gov. Please keep in mind that the NARA currently does not, in general, post any Electronic Records on the Internet.
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URL: http://www.nara.gov/nara/electronic/homensx.html
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Last updated: September 4, 1998