This month the new National Archives facility, informally known as Archives II, will open to researchers and the public in College Park, Maryland. More than one million cubic feet of records are being moved to Archives II from facilities in Suitland, Maryland; Alexandria, Virginia; and the main National Archives building in Washington, D.C.

The new building represents six years of planning and construction and is the largest and most technologically advanced archives facility in the world. It has the most advanced pollution and environmental controls, 520 miles of high-density mobile shelving for storage records, nine sophisticated preservation and conservation laboratories designed to accommodate anticipated future accession of both paper-based and nontextual records, and extensive research facilities. The total record-storage capacity is approximately two million cubic feet—and the building is designed so that additional storage units can be added on as needed.

Archives II will house the nontextual records of the National Archives—including over 7,000,000 still pictures; 2,172,047 charts and maps; 112,274 reels of motion pictures; 200,122 sound and video recordings; as well as numerous textual records.

Unfortunately, the complex relocation of records and over six hundred staff members will cause some unavoidable inconvenience during the moving period itself, which runs from December 1993 through December 1995. Archival records will be closed to research for varying periods of time so that they can be properly inventoried, physically prepared for the move, transported to Archives II, and readied for researchers there. The National Archives intends to keep researchers fully informed of its plans for the move so that they can plan their research activities accordingly.

During the next six months the following records will be relocated to Archives II. Except for certain nontextual records that are listed first, the listing is by closing date, with record group number shown in brackets.

Description of Records: Closing Date–Opening Date

Nixon Presidential Materials: 10/29/93–1/3/94

Cartographic and Architectural: 11/12/93–2/1/94

Electronic Records: 1/25/94–2/1/94

Still Pictures: 1/28/94–5/2/94

Motion Picture, Sound, Video: 2/12/94–3/21/94

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [22]: 12/10/93–1/24/94

Entomology and Plan Quarantine, Bureau of [7]: 12/17/93–2/1/94

Secretary of the Interior, Office of the [48]: 12/21/93–2/15/94

Agricultural Engineering, Bureau of [8]: 1/3/94–2/3/94

Commerce, Department of [40]: 1/14/94–2/17/94

Secretary of Agriculture, Office of the [16]: 1/17/94–3/1/94

Virgin Islands, Government of the [55]: 1/19/94–2/25/94

U.S. International Trade Commission [81]: 1/19/94–2/21/94

Inland Waterways Commission [91]: 1/24/94–2/23/94

Federal Trade Commission [122]: 1/25/94–3/21/94

Public Roads, Bureau of [30]: 1/31/94–3/9/94

Geological Survey [57]: 1/31/94–3/7/94

Animal Industry, Bureau of [17]: 2/2/94–3/9/94

Extension Service [33]: 2/7/94–3/25/94

U.S. Mines, Bureau of [70]: 2/8/94–3/25/94

Civil Aeronautics Board [197]: 2/14/94–3/21/94

Interstate Commerce Commission [134]: 2/21/94–5/12/94

Plant Industry, Soils & Agricultural Engineering [198]: 2/25/94–4/8/94

National Park Service [79]: 2/28/94–4/6/94

Investigation and Research-Transportation, Board of [198]: 2/28/94–3/29/94

Defense Transportation, Office of [219]: 2/28/94–4/4/94

Federal Aviation Administration [237]: 3/7/94–4/6/94

Transportation, Department of [398]: 3/7/94–4/8/94

Agricultural Economics, Bureau of [83]: 3/14/94–4/20/94

Reclamation, Bureau of [115]: 3/14/94–4/20/94

Federal Highway Administration [406]: 3/14/94–4/18/94

Territories, Office of [126]: 3/22/94–4/26/94

Forest Service [95]: 3/25/94–5/4/94

Dominican Customs Receivership [139]: 3/28/94–4/28/94

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [416]: 3/28/94–4/26/94

Military Government of Cuba [140]: 3/30/94–5/2/94

United States Railway Association [464]: 3/30/94–5/2/94

Farmers Home Administration [96]: 4/4/94–5/6/94

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [138]: 4/4/94–5/4/94

Military Government of Veracruz [141]: 4/4/94–5/4/94

Panama Canal [185]: 4/4/94–5/16/94

Solid Fuels Administration for War [245]: 4/11/94–5/10/94

Petroleum Administration for War [253]: 4/11/94–5/18/94

Agricultural & Industrial Chemistry, Bureau of [97]: 4/13/94–5/20/94

Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Bureau of [151]: 4/13/94–5/25/94

Spanish Governors of Puerto Rico [186]: 4/18/94–5/18/94

National Resources Planning Board [187]: 4/18/94–5/25/94

Atomic Energy Commission [326]: 4/18/94–5/20/94

Farm Credit Administration [103]: 4/25/94–5/31/94

Railroads, Commissioner of [193]: 4/25/94–5/27/94

Provisional Government of Cuba [199]: 4/25/94–5/27/94

Nuclear Regulatory Commission [431]: 4/25/94–5/27/94

Petroleum Administrative Board [232]: 4/27/94–5/31/94

Foreign Economic Administration [169]: 5/2/94–6/10/94

Petroleum Administration for Defense [312]: 5/2/94–6/2/94

Soil Conservation Service [114]: 5/3/94–7/14/94

Interagency Commissions and Councils Coordinating Water Use [315]: 5/3/94–6/6/94

Defense Minerals ExplorationAdministration [320]: 5/3/94–6/6/94

Energy, Department of [434]: 5/3/94–6/6/94

Federal Housing Administration [31]: 5/9/94–6/8/94

Public Housing Administration [196]: 5/9/94–6/10/94

Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration [323]: 5/9/94–6/8/94

Defense Electric Power Administration [327]: 5/9/94–6/10/94

Insular Affairs, Bureau of [350]: 5/12/94–6/16/94

Federal Communications Commission [173]: 5/13/94–6/30/94

Housing & Urban Development, Department of [207]: 5/13/94–6/20/94

Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service [368]: 5/13/94–6/20/94

Saline Water, Office of [380]: 5/20/94–6/22/94

Agricultural Marketing Services [136]: 5/24/94–6/30/94

Housing Expediter, Office of the [252]: 5/24/94–6/28/94

Federal Water Pollution Control Administration [382]: 5/24/94–6/24/94

Historic American BuildingsSurvey/Engineering Division [515]: 5/24/94–6/11/94

Public Land Law Review Commission [409]: 5/27/94–6/28/94

Federal National Mortgage Association [294]: 5/30/94–6/30/94

Environmental Protection Agency [412]: 5/30/94–6/30/94

Surplus Marketing Administration [124]: 5/31/94–6/22/94

War Production Board [179]: 6/1/94– 7/13/94

American Revolution Bicentennial Administration [452]: 6/1/94– 7/5/94

Coast and Geodetic Survey [23]: 6/6/94–8/8/94

Agricultural Stabilization & Conservation Service [145]: 6/6/94–7/13/94

Dairy Industry, Bureau of [152]: 6/21/94–7/25/94

Commodity Credit Corporation [161]: 6/21/94–7/27/94

War Communications, Board of [259]: 6/22/94–8/10/94

Weather Bureau [27]: 6/30/94–8/16/94