national archives and records administration
National Archives and Records Administration. An independent federal agency that sets procedures for managing governmental records; helps federal agencies manage their records; provides record-storage access; and manages the Presidential Libraries system. • The agency is run by the Archivist of the United States. It publishes the United States Statutes at Large, the Federal Register, the Code of Federal Regulations, the weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, the annual Public Papers of the President, and the United States Government Manual. It is a successor to the National Archives Establishment, created in 1934, that was made a unit of the General Services Administration in 1949. It became an independent agency in 1984. — Abbr. NARA. See FEDERAL REGISTER.