36 CFR § 1254.1 - What kinds of archival materials may I use for research?

(a) The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) preserves records of all three branches (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial) of the Federal Government in record groups that reflect how government agencies created and maintained them. Most of these records are of Executive Branch agencies. We also have individual documents and collections of donated historical materials that significantly supplement existing records in our custody or provide information not available elsewhere in our holdings. Descriptions of many of our records are available through our Web site, http://www.archives.gov.

(b) We provide information about records and we make them available to the public for research unless they have access restrictions. Some records may be exempt from release by law. Donors may apply restrictions on access to historical materials that they donate to NARA. Access restrictions are further explained in part 1256 of this chapter. We explain procedures for obtaining information about records in § 1254.2.

(c) In addition to traditional paper (textual) materials, our holdings also include special media materials such as microfilm, still pictures, motion pictures, sound and video recordings, cartographic and architectural records, and electronic records. The majority of these materials are housed at the National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001. Many of these types of materials also are represented in the holdings of our Presidential libraries and our regional archives facilities listed in part 1253 of this chapter.

(d) The majority of our archival materials are 30 years old or older.

(e) Records creating agencies hold the legal title and control access to records housed in NARA records centers. Our procedures to obtain access to these records are in § 1256.2.