NYTimes:
The National Archives have said that they may not have the resources to handle all of the Prez and Veep records that will be legally turned over to them on January 20. So they came up with a nice emergency plan:
Archives officials who disclosed the emergency plan said it would mean that the agency would initially take over parts of the White House storage system, freezing the contents on Jan. 20. Only later, after further study, will archivists try to move the records into the futuristic computer system they have devised as a repository for digital data.
There truly is a great deal more in terms of the sheer size of the electronic data files, particularly email, since it has become so much more prevalent since the Clinton administration. All electronic records under Bush are estimated to be about 100 terrabytes, and it's not clear if the digital systems can handle this. That said,
Archives officials said they might have been better prepared for the transition if the White House had cooperated earlier.
Furthermore, questions of transparency in the midst of this process have arose (are we surprised?):
Questions about the archives’ capacity have added a new element to the uneasiness felt by open-government advocates and historians, who already fear that departing White House officials, particularly Vice President Dick Cheney, may not turn over everything. Mr. Cheney asserted this month in a court case that he had absolute discretion to decide which of his records are official and which are personal, and thus do not have to be transferred to the archives.
After all these years of corruption evilness, no, of course we're not surprised that Cheney would claim the prerogative to decide what records are considered personal and what records relate to his office. Maybe he'll claim a special executive privilege under his Super-Secret Fourth Branch. This, however, is nothing new.
Despite that man-sized safe in his office, we learn that, in fact, this decision isn't really a big deal because they're aren't that many files to begin with.
“I’m told researchers like to come and dig through my files, to see if anything interesting turns up,” Mr. Cheney said. “I want to wish them luck, but the files are pretty thin. I learned early on that if you don’t want your memos to get you in trouble some day, just don’t write any.”
It doesn't get much more Cheney-esque than that.