under david ferriero's leadership, the archives have moved forward a lot more than before to make sure that the archives is most pleased that i'm involved with. >> what happens after that? did you bequeath it to the archives? what will be done with it? >> everybody in life has certain things they like. i guess one of the things i like is buying these documents and owning them. as an owner of them, i'm responsible for the insurance on them. i'm responsible for the expense of the encasement and so forth. but you can't be buried with these documents as far as i snow. so you can assume the appropriate place will see these documents when i'm not on this earth. >> are there any other questions? if not, if you all would like to come up and take photographs. remember, i'm sure you've been told before, no flash, please. then we'll take you up for a tour in the rotunda. and you can actually learn more about the document up there. >> my name is marvin pinkert and i'm director of the national archive experience, the name we give to the museum here. the encasement you saw downstairs actually will s

i am david ferriero. this is a very special day for us.m pleased to welcome you all to the national archives to officially launch the 1940 census. these pages have been sealed. it is almost like christmas. the anticipation grows as the date approaches. the census schedule has become more fascinating and a valuable the more we use them which is a good thing because we have to wait 10 years. in the past, we have flown open research doors, throngs of research is taking their places eager to get their first glimpse of the list of names. some of our original archives held at midnight madness openings to offer an early as possible look. this year, we are doing things a little bit differently. we are releasing the 1940 population census digitally. in a few minutes, anyone will be able to view the pages online. it is the largest single series of records that the national archives has released online. 3.9 million pages. getting it ready today was the responsibility of a dedicated staff. more than 70 staff members have worked to make the 1940 census