What is the difference between NARA and the Library of Congress or the Smithsonian Institution?
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent federal agency that helps preserve our nation’s history and define us as a people by overseeing the management of all federal records. NARA’s primary purpose is to acquire, preserve, and make available for research the most valuable records of the federal government, as well as the papers of each President since Hoover. NARA also establishes policies and procedures for managing federal records, assists federal agencies in carrying out their records management responsibilities, provides grants for historical publication and records preservation projects through the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, and publishes laws, regulations, and Presidential documents. The Library of Congress is both a legislative library and the major research arm of the U.S. Congress. It also serves as the copyright agency of the United States, a center for scholarship that collects research materials in many media a