Intergovernmental records in the United States: experiments in description and appraisal

Abstract

Summarizes the first report on the Inter governmental Records Project (IRP) of the National Archives and Records Administration of the United States, published in 1990. Briefly describes the project's history and purpose and comments on the utility of the USMARC-AMC format, the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules and the Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN) for the sharing of information about inter governmental records. Lists and comments on nine recommendations of the report. Concludes that while new tools, particularly automated systems, are now available to archivists, the latter are not yet ready to use thesee tools effectively.