The National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators (NAGARA) is a professional association dedicated to the improvement of federal, state, and local government records and information management and the professional development of government records administrators and archivists. This certificate program was created to recognize government officials' achievements in obtaining a knowledge base to help them more effectively care for and manage their records.
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Click below to pay your $50.00 GARA Certificate Application Fee:
To apply, candidates should download and complete the "GARA Certificate Application" (EXCEL file) at the top of this page. Please be sure to include with your application all applicable evidence and information as noted below. Applications must be submitted in electronic format to [email protected] No paper application will be accepted. We understand that file sizes may be too large for one email. Please feel free to send multiple emails if this is the case.
*When applying, please complete all necessary sections, including "Event Description, Objectives and Outcomes*
Since the minimum requirement of 2 hours in 7 of the 9 competency areas totals 14 hours, applicants may enroll in multiple workshops within certain competency areas and/or may participate in subject area workshops that are longer than 2 hours duration. This will allow participants to pursue knowledge and skills that are of special interest to them and/or of particular relevance to their work environments.
**Please see Appendix A at the bottom of this page for list of recommended training topics for each of the 9 competency areas.**
Competencies are a set of behaviors encompassing skills, knowledge, abilities, and personal attributes that, taken together, are critical to successful work accomplishment. NAGARA’s Certificate in Government Archives and Records Administration (GARA) is tied to completion of education, training, and/or professional development activities designed to provide knowledge and skills to support the nine GARA competency areas.
NAGARA acknowledges that demands for workplace skills and knowledge of government archives and records management differ from one environment to another, and from one management level to another. Further, competence grows with experience and continued education. The GARA Certificate does not result in the CRM designation as established by the Institute of Certified Records Managers (ICRM) or the CA designation as established by the Academy of Certified Archivists (ACA). However, the GARA Certificate does recognize that an individual has obtained a base of knowledge to help him or her perform more effectively in certain workplace environments, and NAGARA encourages certificate recipients to build upon that foundation with continued personal and professional growth in government archives and records management subject areas.
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Examples of training topics for each of the 9 Competency Areas are listed below. Qualifying NAGARA webinars are worth one (1) study hour each, and each webinar lists which core competency is applicable. Note: You must be logged in to your NAGARA profile for the list of qualifying webinars to appear