THE IMPLICATIONS OF ARMSTRONG V EXECUTIVE OF THE PRESIDENT FOR THE ARCHIVAL MANAGEMENT OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS

This article reviews the arguments presented by both sides in the laws uit Armstrong v. the Executive Office of the President, which concerne d the electronic mail created by the Reagan and Bush White House on th e IBM PROFS system. It examines the emerging consensus among archivist s worldwide on approaches to managing electronic records and considers the ways in which the position taken by the government failed to refl ect best practices. Specifically, it examines recent discussions of fu nctional requirements for recordkeeping systems and raises some implic ations of a functional perspective for archival programs and strategie s. It concludes by arguing that archivists will need to play a more ac tive role in the society at large in order to ensure that the broader culture understands and acts on the threats to accountability presente d by computer-based electronic communications.