Organization of the National Archives and Records Administration

Research services is the most visible face of the National Archives, as it provides archival services to the public. The office is headed by an Executive for Research Services who, as of 2017, is Ann Cummings. The research services of the National Archives are considered susceptible to a government shutdown, meaning that public access to the National Archives will be closed in such an event.[3] There are three main sub-offices of research services:

• Office of Project Performance and Management
• Office of Preservation Programs
• Office of Research Customer Support
• Office of Digitization Products and Services[4]

Research customer support further oversees the National Archives Library Information Center and serves as a liaison with such affiliated civilian history organizations such as Ancestry.com. The office of preservation programs maintains two branches, one for preservation and conservation efforts at the National Archives Building and the National Archives at College Park, while the second branch is based in St. Louis and deals with preservation of records at the National Personnel Records Center.[5]

National Archives facilities map showing the various Archival Regions

Access coordinators are the research directors for National Archives services in various geographical regions around the United States and oversee the operations of the NARA Regional Offices. There are presently five National Archives regions, these being:

• Washington DC Region - Headquartered at the National Archives at College Park, oversees research services at both the National Archives Building in Washington and Archives II at College Park.
• St. Louis Region - Headquartered at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis
• Region East - Oversees local research offices in Atlanta, New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia
• Region West - Oversees local research offices in Riverside, San Bruno, and Seattle
• Region Midwest - Oversees local research offices in Chicago, Denver, Fort Worth, and Kansas City

Prior to the restructuring of the NARA research services into the current access coordinator system, NARA regions were overseen by Regional Directors as follows:

• Northeast and Southeast Regions: Covered NARA facilities on the east coast of the United States
• Mid-Atlantic Region: Covered records facilities in and around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Great Lakes Region: Covered records facilities in and around Chicago, Illinois
• Rocky Mountain Region: Covered records facilities in and around Denver, Colorado
• Central Plains Region: Covered records facilities in and around Kansas City, Missouri
• Pacific Region: Covered NARA facilities in California
• Pacific Alaska Region: Covered the records facilities in Seattle, Washington and Anchorage, Alaska

The National Archives Agency Services oversees all records requirements and needs internal to the National Archives. Agency services is headed by an Executive who oversees four primary offices, these being the:

• Federal Records Center Program
• Informational Security Oversight Office
• Office of Government Information Service
• National Declassification Center

The Executive for Agency Services as of 2017 is Jay Trainer. A deputy to the executive, known as the National Archives Chief Records Officer, oversees four additional offices as follows:

• Records Management Operations Office
• Records Management Training Office
• Records Management Policy & Outreach Office
• Records Management Oversight and Reporting Office

The Chief Records Officer also oversees the "Permanent Records Capture Team" which, along with the National Archives Appraisal Branch, identify United States government records which are considered critical or vital and should be maintained by the National Archives. Both the capture team and appraisal branch are administratively part of the Records Management Operations Office. Both the National Personnel Records Center and the Washington National Records Center are considered a part of agency services and answer to the Director of Federal Records Centers who, as of 2017, is David Weinberg.

Agency services, in particular the federal records center system, are funded under a different method than research services, and most of agency services remain open during government shutdowns.

The museum services of the National Archives, fully entitled as the "Legislative Archives, Presidential Libraries, and Museum Services" oversees the Presidential library system and also maintains the "Center for Legislative Archives" which is concerned solely with records of the United States Congress, including the original copies of all constitutional amendments. A special branch known as the "Charters of Freedom" is responsible for the upkeep and storage of the actual United States Constitution and other critical historical documents located in the National Archives Rotunda in Washington, DC.

The museum services branch also creates and oversees all public exhibits of National Archives materials. As of 2018, the acting executive for museum services was Susan K. Donius.[6]

All financial matters for the National Archives and Records Administration is overseen by a Chief Financial Officer. The four major financial departments are:

• Office of Budget
• Office of Accounting Policy and Operations
• Office of Finical Reporting and Analysis
• National Archives Trust Fund

Funding for the National Archives and Records Administration is determined as part of the United States federal budget which allocates "non-reimbursable" funds to the National Archives. Reimbursable charges are collected from both government agencies and the public for specific archival services, mostly pertaining to the cost of reproduction and, in some cases, hourly fees for specialized research. Collected service fees are placed into the National Archives Trust Fund.

The National Archives Business Support Services Office is concerned primarily with physical maintenance and upkeep of National Archives facilities. The office maintains two administrative branches known as the "Administrative Policy and Planning Division" and the "Storage Coordination and Logistics Office". Two major sub-offices are the "National Archives Security Management Office", concerned with physical security at NARA sites and buildings, and the "Facility and Property Management Office" which oversees repairs, cleaning, and upkeep of facilities. Both of these offices make heavy use of subcontractors to include private custodial companies as well as contracted security guards.

In 2015, the security company contracted to guard the Washington National Records Center, located on the same federal complex as the United States Census Bureau, suffered the death of a guard when a shooter opened fire in the early evening. The death lead to renewed scrutiny on how the National Archives handles security, specifically that many of its buildings are privately guarded and not under the auspices of the Federal Protection Police.[7]

Staffing needs and recruitment are overseen by the Chief of Human Capitol, although the actual advertisement of positions and hiring is conducted through the Office of Personnel Management. The National Archives Human Capitol Office consists of the following major departments.

• Talent Acquisition Office
• Labor Relations and Performance Management Office
• Strategy, Analysis, and Automation Office
• Learning and Organizational Development Office

Non-supervisory employees of the National Archives are represented in an open shop union environment by the American Federation of Government Employees.

All information technology needs are overseen by the Chief Information Services Officer. Major offices of Information Services are as follows:

• Operations Management Office
• Developmental Management Office
• Portfolio Management Office
• Architecture and Technology Management Office
• IT Security Management Office
• Quality Assurance Office