Electronic Records Planning in "Collecting" Repositories

The archival profession has paid a great deal of attention to electronic records management. Yet, from a professional perspective, archivists have not gathered adequate information regarding the readiness of repositories to acquire digital records created outside of their control, or to preserve and make such records accessible. The profession lacks baseline data regarding the state of electronic records planning within the community of repositories that acquire materials outside institutional recordkeeping programs, frequently labeled "collecting" repositories. This paper reports the results of a survey of academic libraries, historical societies, and libraries between 10 July and 12 August 2006. The author developed the survey to determine the level to which these repositories are working with born-digital records. The data indicate that repositories are indeed acquiring born-digital materials, but are proceeding on a case-by-case basis rather than developing specific policies for their acquisition, access, and preservation.