This document, issued January 5, 2012 by State Librarian Kendall Wiggin, recommends seven steps that need to be taken to ensure the authentication and preservation of electronic government information at the state and local level. Some of these action steps are being taken under his existing authority. However, to comprehensively ensure long term access to authentic government information he has proposed some changes and additions to the General Statutes.

Public Act 11-150, Section 28, requires that the State Librarian establish standards and guidelines for the preservation and authentication of electronic documents by January 1, 2012. Given the complexity of the issue of authentication and preservation and the relatively short time frame, the State Librarian convened a task force within the State Library to explore the issues and make recommendations. These recommendations were then sent to and input was received from the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management; the Commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services; the Chief Information Officer of the Bureau of Enterprise Systems and Technology; the Executive Director of the Office of Legislative Management; and the Chief Court Administrator of the Judicial Branch, as called for in the legislation. Their valuable input was incorporated into the final report.

In noting the state's various e-government initiatives and accelerating move away from paper copies of reports and publications, State Library Kendall Wiggin stated that "addressing the authentication and preservation of electronic government information is vital if we are to ensure that future generations will have the same long term access to electronic state and local government information that they enjoy today with the paper record of our state's history."