CTS Score, on Public Records
CTS Repository Health, Measured on Public Data From the US National Archives
AITS pulled the catalogue descriptions for Record Group 49: Records of the Bureau of Land Management from the public data the US National Archives publishes, checked every one against the KPIs below, and rolled the results up into one composite Repository Health score.
The CTS score is a composite index of KPIs that measures the health of a document repository
Measured October 5, 2026 across 7,896 catalogue records. Seven of the eight dimensions were measured and count equally. Security was not included: everything in this collection is already public.
Open the CTS Dashboard 7 actionable recommendations, worth +7.7 points
What this is and what this is not. The score is measured from the catalogue descriptions, not from the documents themselves, and against KPIs AITS chose for this presentation. The National Archives would choose its own validated KPIs. For example, it may be perfect reasonable to have no Description or Subject Terms. That would impact the CTS Score. This page is not endorsed by, or connected with, the US National Archives.
The Dimensions Behind the CTS Score
| Dimension | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Content | 99.3% | |
| Structure | 100.0% | |
| Metadata | 100.0% | |
| Search | 69.0% | |
| Data Quality | 97.3% | |
| SecurityNot measured. Every record in this collection is already public, so there is no restricted content to check. | Not measured | |
| Governance | 80.6% | |
| AI Readiness | 37.6% |
A dimension's score is the average of its KPIs. The composite is the average of the measured dimensions.
The KPIs
| Dimension | KPI | Passed | Assessed | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Content | Records with a title of their own within their parentMeasured across: all records | 7,782 | 7,896 | 98.6% |
| Content | Physical form of the record is statedMeasured across: all records | 7,896 | 7,896 | 100.0% |
| Structure | Record sits in a complete hierarchy, up to its record groupMeasured across: all records | 7,896 | 7,896 | 100.0% |
| Structure | Record has a recognized level and records typeMeasured across: all records | 7,896 | 7,896 | 100.0% |
| Metadata | Required fields completed: title, level, and a date of its own or from its seriesMeasured across: all records | 7,896 | 7,896 | 100.0% |
| Metadata | Dates are valid: in order and not in the futureMeasured across: records that carry a date | 1,064 | 1,064 | 100.0% |
| Search | Title is meaningful, not a placeholder or a numberMeasured across: all records | 7,880 | 7,896 | 99.8% |
| Search | Record has a description or subject termsMeasured across: all records | 3,030 | 7,896 | 38.4% |
| Search | Digitized record has searchable textMeasured across: records with a digital copy | 1,988 | 2,885 | 68.9% |
| Data Quality | Dates fall within the dates of the parentMeasured across: records where both carry dates | 514 | 543 | 94.7% |
| Data Quality | Digital copy has its address, type and size recordedMeasured across: digital objects | 135,997 | 136,001 | 100.0% |
| Governance | Access and use status are both recordedMeasured across: all records | 7,896 | 7,896 | 100.0% |
| Governance | Custodian is named, and the container for files and itemsMeasured across: all records | 4,826 | 7,896 | 61.1% |
| AI Readiness | Record passes every check an AI assistant relies onMeasured across: all records | 2,965 | 7,896 | 37.6% |
"Not measured" means the source data did not carry what that KPI needs, so it is left out of the score instead of being counted as a failure.
Actionable Recommendations to Raise the Score
7 actions, largest gain first. Completing all of them raises the composite score from 83.4% to at least 91.1%. AI Readiness is not on the list because it is not fixed directly: it rises as these are completed, so the real result would be higher.
| Action | Affected | KPI now | Expected gain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Add descriptions or subject terms (Search) Add a scope note or subject terms to records that have neither. CTS drafts them from the extracted text where there is any; an archivist confirms, corrects or dismisses each one. Examples in the National Archives Catalog: "Drawing for Kiowa, Comanche, Apacha and Wich... · Wilderness Study Areas Map · Homesteading Certificate of Eligibility for D... · Microstorms (M*S), as of May 2006 [Oregon]: F... · Microstorms (M*S), as of May 2006 [Oregon]: F... |
4,866of 7,896 | 38.4% | +2.9 points |
| 2 |
Record custodian and container (Governance) Name the custodian on every record, and the container for files and items, so each can be found on the shelf. Examples in the National Archives Catalog: The Last Frontier · Truck trails. The jackhammer and compressor c... · Truck trails. Springfield-Big Butte Road as i... · Reservoirs. Crude salt is being loaded into t... · Wells. Well No. 1 finished. Location in Sec. ... |
3,070of 7,896 | 61.1% | +2.8 points |
| 3 |
Make digitized records searchable (Search) Run text recognition on the digitized records that have no searchable text, and check a sample of the results. Examples in the National Archives Catalog: Truck trails. The jackhammer and compressor c... · Truck trails. Springfield-Big Butte Road as i... · Reservoirs. Crude salt is being loaded into t... · Wells. Well No. 1 finished. Location in Sec. ... · Freakish formations. The mouth of a huge tunn... |
897of 2,885 | 68.9% | +1.5 points |
| 4 |
Reconcile dates with the parent (Data Quality) Review records dated outside their parent's range. Correct the record, or widen the series dates if the record is right. Examples in the National Archives Catalog: Nevada District Boundaries Files · Land Patents · No. 3, Proclamation by his Excellency Thomas ... · Anchorage, AK: Plat of Amended Survey Block 1... · Anchorage, AK: Amended Plat of Anchorage Town... |
29of 543 | 94.7% | +0.4 points |
| 5 |
Give each record a title of its own (Content) Review records that share a title with others under the same parent. Give each a distinguishing title, or link true duplicates to one retained description. Examples in the National Archives Catalog: Serialized Land Entry Case Files That Were Ca... · Inactive Grazing Files · Serialized Land Entry Case Files That Were Ca... · Inactive Grazing Files · Abstracts of Desert Land Entries |
114of 7,896 | 98.6% | +0.1 points |
| 6 |
Replace placeholder titles (Search) Replace placeholder and number-only titles with descriptive ones. Where a digital copy exists, CTS proposes a title from the document's own text and an archivist approves it. Examples in the National Archives Catalog: Retreat · Wyoming · Iowa · Maps · Montana |
16of 7,896 | 99.8% | +0.0 points |
| 7 |
Complete the digital copy details (Data Quality) Record the address, type and file size on every digital object that lacks one. Examples in the National Archives Catalog: Relinquished Entry · N - McDougall Enclosure 1 - Robert Navarre's ... · 2/2 WSI · Project report 2/2 1969 |
4of 136,001 | 100.0% | +0.0 points |
| All actions: from 83.4% to at least 91.1% | +7.7 points | |||
Expected gain is what the composite score rises by if every affected record is brought to a pass on that KPI. In an engagement, CTS recommends action on each record, staff confirm or correct, and the score is kept current as records are added.
Where the Risk Sits: The Largest Series
| Series | Records | Checks passed | Ready for AI | Digitized |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serialized Land Entry Case Files That Were Cancelled, Relinquished, or Rejected | 3,850 | 88.9% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Homestead Final Certificates | 425 | 88.9% | 99.8% | 100.0% |
| Homestead Final Certificates | 362 | 88.9% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| Homestead Final Certificates | 336 | 88.9% | 99.7% | 99.7% |
| Homestead Final Certificates | 313 | 88.9% | 99.7% | 100.0% |
| Homestead Final Certificates | 237 | 88.8% | 99.6% | 100.0% |
| Railroad Maps Related to the 1875 Act Granting to Railroads the Right-of-Way Through the Public Lands of the United States | 200 | 87.0% | 83.0% | 0.0% |
| Public Land Survey Township Plats | 184 | 77.5% | 1.1% | 98.9% |
| Homestead Final Certificates | 176 | 88.9% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| Railroad Right-of-Way Maps | 132 | 86.0% | 74.2% | 0.0% |
| Homestead Final Certificates | 110 | 88.9% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| Records Establishing Private Small Holdings Claims | 109 | 88.9% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
"Checks passed" is the share of the nine record-level checks each record passed, averaged over the series. "Ready for AI" is the share of records that pass every check an AI assistant relies on. "Digitized" is shown for information and is not part of the score.
How This Was Measured
- The source: the National Archives Catalog dataset on the Amazon Web Services Registry of Open Data, 20 files of Record Group 49: Records of the Bureau of Land Management, as published September 28, 2026.
- Every record, not a sample: each description was checked as it was loaded, the same way CTS assesses each item as it arrives in a your virtual data repository.
- Nothing was edited: the data was read from the published copy. The National Archives' own systems were not involved.
- What is different in an engagement: you choose the KPIs, the weights and the target; the documents themselves are assessed as well as their descriptions; Security is measured; and the AI learns from every finding for your staff to confirm or correct. This teaches the AI so that it get better over time.
Source data: US National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives Catalog, a work of the US Government. Record titles link to the Catalog.