Electronic Records Management: Commonly Asked Questions and Topics

The Office of Public Records is mandated by DC Law 6-19 and the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations, Title 1, Chapter 15, to review and approve agency records retention schedules; train records officers in implementing the policies, procedures, and guidelines of managing records; collect, store, preserve, conserve and service historical records in the custody of the Archives; collect, store and service temporary records in the custody of the Records Center; and collect, store and service publications in the custody of the Library of Government Information. 

Public Records and Archive Services is managed and administered through the Office of Public Records and Archives.

Service Details: 

Deeds, Land and Property

Corporations

Genealogy 

Historical Document

Research Building Permits and Architectural Plans

Related Services: 

District of Columbia Archives

Library of Government Information

Public Records Center

Service Contact: 

Office of Public Records, Administrator

Contact Email:  archives@dc.gov

Contact Phone: (202) 671-1105

Contact Fax: (202) 727-6076

Contact TTY: 711

Office Hours: Monday to Friday 8:15 am to 4:45 pm

Service Location: 

GIS Address: 

1300 Naylor Court, NW

Washington, DC 20001

Office of the Secretary - OS

Office Hours
Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm

Connect With Us
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 419, Washington, DC 20004
Phone: (202) 727-6306
Fax: (202) 727-3582
TTY: 711
Alternate Number: Notary: (202) 727-3117
Email: secretary@dc.gov

  

Ask the Secretary of the District of Columbia

Agency Performance

Kimberly A. Bassett

Secretary of the District of Columbia

Information on Preservica

The following page provides access to guidelines, documents, and resources to support the digitization of DC government Records. This page contains tools to assist you with developing your digitization projects. It also contains tools to support quality control tasks related to your digital projects. 

1. What is the Digital Public Records Center?
   1. The Digital Public Records Center is a digital preservation system managed by the Office of Public Records and Archives (OPR). This system will manage the preservation of born-digital and digitized permanent electronic records generated by DC Government agencies.

2. What types of Records will be accepted into the Digital Preservation System?
   1. The Office of Public Records will be accepting permanent Electronic Records into the system.

3. When should records be submitted to the system?
   1. Electronic Records will be accepted into the system when they reach their retention date for transfer into the Public Records Center. This date is identified on the agency records schedule.

4. What happens if records are not on the records schedule?
   1. If the electronic records you wish to ingest into the system are not on your Agency Records Schedule, you must contact your OPR-assigned Records and Information Specialist to update your records schedule. Once the schedule is updated and approved, the records will be accepted into the system.

5. How will records be accepted into the system?
   1. Similar to the SF-135 process, Records managers will complete the Electronic Records Transmittal Form and submit this information to their OPR-assigned Records and Information Specialist. Once the accession has been verified and approved, the Records Manager will be sent an invitation to ingest records into the system.

6. How should my electronic records be arranged?
   1. Electronic records should be organized by Records Series. The arrangement of electronic records is documented in the Records Manager Handbook under the Electronic Records section and the OPR Long-Term Digital Preservation Policy.

7. How will I access the Electronic Records ingested into the system?
   1. Authorized users will be given access to the system to view and retrieve files. Users will be able to search and view their electronic records. They will also be able to download copies of those files if needed.

8. Are agencies limited in the number of accounts that have access to the system?
   1. Each OPR-certified Records Manager will receive access to the system through their OPR-assigned Records and Information Specialist. For security reasons, secondary accounts can only be requested by the agency records manager. All requests must include the name, title, and email address of the requested secondary account holder. These requests must come with a brief justification.
9. Are secondary account holders allowed to ingest data into the system?
   1. No, only OPR-Certified records managers will be allowed to ingest data into the system.

10. Will the public be allowed access to the system?
    1. No, access to the system is limited to OPR-certified DC Government Records Managers and DC Government employees authorized by those records managers.

11. How will the public access records be held in the system?
    1. The public will gain access to records held in the system through the usual FOIA request process submitted through agencies. The Agency will retrieve the records from the system.

12. How will FOIA Requests be handled using the system?
    1. FOIA Requests must still be handled by the agencies. A FOIA officer can be added to the system as a secondary user to retrieve records held in the system.