1) Background of organisation
- Who are they?
An archivist is a professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to information determined to have long-term value.
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the nation’s record keeper.
National Archives employees preserve the records of the U.S. Government and make them available to the public.
- What do they do?
“Archivists keep records that have enduring value as reliable memories of the past, and they help people find and understand the information they need in those records.”
The National Archives as the keeper of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
Mostly they preserve and keeping records that is important to United State, protect and provide public access to millions of records.
NARA also runs a Government-wide records management program to identify records of permanent value, assure the timely disposal of temporary records, and provide agencies with guidance on managing their current records, and it assists non-Federal institutions through a grants program administered by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
- What type of services they provide?
They deliver educational programs and public workshops to help Americans learn how to use archived records.
2) Do they use any Social Media & Web 2.0 technologies for public communication & education?
Yes they do.
“Archivists, like librarians, are taking advantage of Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis, and virtual environments as well as open access and open source philosophies.”
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivist#United_States
