Professor Blasts U.S. Record-Keeping

Ernest R. May, chairing the Committee on the Records of Government, said that the federal government's records "are in atrocious condition." May, who is the Warren professor of American History here at Harvard, also said that a final report of the committee will be issued in a few weeks.

The main concern of May and the committee lies in the "technical transition" of government records from paper files to computer "disks and tapes."

At present, the federal government has "too many government records" said May. Throwing away some documents while transferring others to computer files offers a solution to the problem.

The government must choose which records will be kept and which will be thrown away. May's committee does not agree with the government's choices. "Important records are not being kept. We are losing things we need and the future will need."

May and his colleagues feel that the problem has been "diagnosed fairly clearly. The problem is how to get from here to there."

The original draft of the committee's findings recommended the preservation of more records under the assistance of professional historians and archivists. May also said that "the National Archives should become more active and conspicuous."

When contacted yesterday, May said that there would be some changes in the final report. He declined to elaborate on the expected changes except to say that members of the committee are "gelling some slightly different but brighter ideas." Other members of the committee were unavailable for comment yesterday.

Makeup

The committee includes: former congressman from Missouri Richard Bolling; former Attorney General and President of the Univ. of Chicago, Edward Levi; chief executive of the former Itech Corporation, Franklin Lindsay; Philip F. Hughes from the Smithsonian Institute; Philip Buchen, a Washington attorney and former counsel to President Ford; and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Joseph Califano.

The committee expects a "significant improvement in the present condition" when it is released "to all the world," said May. Congressional and Senate hearings are expected to follow in the appropriate subcommittees.

The Committee on the Records of Government was established in 1973 by the Council on Library Resources, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Social Science Research Council. The work of the committee is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.