OVERVIEW: Between 2022 and 2024, Naval History and Heritage Command’s Archives Branch underwent enormous changes in both personnel and resources. Additionally, the command finalized a contract to move the approximately 27,000 linear feet of operational records, manuscript, photograph, and other archival records in the repository’s holdings to a newly renovated facility on the Washington Navy Yard. At the same time the Archives Branch initiated a comprehensive review and update of existing strategic goals, operational programs and projects, and security requirements to reestablish Navy Archives as an exemplary leader in the Department of Defense and government library, archives, and information industry.
This session addresses three fundamental aspects involved in reestablishing Navy Archives.
The first panel theme addresses the challenges and lessons learned in re-staffing a government archives. In November 2022, Navy Archives operated at 50% manning levels. Over the next fourteen months the organization re-staffed more than eleven vacancies through internal promotion, advertisement and new hiring actions, while raising long-vacant programs and projects to standard, addressing backlogs, and bringing force multiplication to bear on strategic processes and procedures.
Secondly, Navy Archives prepared and executed a once-in-a-generation move of 27,000 linear feet of archival material. This second theme addresses the substantial planning and program management challenges involved in awarding and navigating the details of the contract through execution to successful completion. Consolidating inventories and location registers, policing long-neglected holdings maintenance and preservation issues to standard, and navigating the fine aspects of Department of Defense information security regulations are key aspects of this theme. This theme also addresses the unique challenge presented by the classification of a large proportion of the repository’s operational records, which adds a higher level of complexity to the already daunting task.
The third and final theme addresses lessons learned in reestablishing Navy Archives’ strategic goals and objectives, vital information to archival leaders across the federal government. Identifying challenges, objective prioritization, and resource and personnel allocation in a new physical facility are key aspects of this theme centered on the establishment of a five-year strategic plan. This theme also discusses Navy Archives’ experience in maximizing a once-in-a-generation move’s benefit output to all aspects of a federal archival organization, from description, processing, and reference.
Each theme of this panel presents key lessons learned across the spectrum of federal archives management, from archives technicians to directors. Navy Archives’ enormous hiring undertaking and once-in-a-generation move offers information management professionals an excellent case study in and perspective on reestablishing the most vital programs and projects of a federal archives, including accessioning, transfer, processing and reference operations.
GARA CERTIFICATE CORE COMPETENCY AREAS: "Records and Information Management Basics" OR "Archives and Long Term Preservation"
TARGET AUDIENCE: Federal, State/Tribal
FOCUS AREAS: Archives, Records Management
PRESENTERS: Kevin W. Jenkins, Archives Branch Head, Archives Branch, Naval History and Heritage Command | Alexis Van Pool, Archivist, Processing Team Lead, Archives Branch, Naval History and Heritage Command | Cassie Rittierodt, Accessioning Archivist, Archives Branch, Naval History and Heritage Command | Samuel Limneos, Deputy Branch Head, Archives Branch, Naval History and Heritage Command