The professor who had provided some eroneous impressions about the misplacement of the NASA tape was kind enough to incorporate much of what I emailed him into a new blog entry. See http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/29263.html While this does not cover everything I sent him, there's enough in the extracts to explain to academics that all Federal agencies are required to have records management programs. They are not required to have historians or archivists. So, unlike what the professor had implied, it is not historians or archivists who ensure the proper handling of records at Federal agencies, although they can play a useful role in retention related matters. Rather, it is records managers who ensure that permanently valuable records are accessioned into NARA and that temporary records are kept on site or at Federal Records Centers, according to approved retention schedules. If readers of the blog follow the links I provided, they can access information on NASA's records management program and records disposition schedules. So, reaching out to the professor worked out very well! I was glad to see he also posted my comment about the bleak budget picture at NARA. Maarja ________________________________________________________________________ Check out AOL.com today. Breaking news, video search, pictures, email and IM. All on demand. Always Free. A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>