Basic Electronic Records

Management
The Lone Arranger’s Dilemma
What Is A Record?
 A physical entity that
provides “first-hand
evidence” or proof of
a transaction or event
 Electronic records
have no physical
attributes
 An electronic record
presents only a partial
view of a database
Electronic Records
 Include digital images, e-mail,
databases, word processed
documents, spreadsheets,
CAD, GIS, web pages, etc.
 Dependent upon specific
hardware and software to be
accessed and used
 Original technology used to
create electronic records will
eventually be obsolete
 Need to work with
information technology staff
to develop preservation plans
for retaining electronic
records long-term (more than
10 years)
 Provenance and Electronic
Records
 Maintain and understand the relationships between
records and records creators and the relationships
among records. Contextual information.
 Contextual information includes “knowing where
a document was created, in the framework of what
process, to what end, for whom, when and how it
was received by the addressee, and how it came
into our hands.” (Charles Dollar).
 Understand the business functions and activities
underlying the information system that produced
the records.
 Provenance and Electronic
Records: Problems
 Electronic records do not exist as discrete
physical entities.
 Contextual information is either not visible
or not captured.
 Information is easily moved from network
to network, office to Office.
 Information is easily manipulated and
changed to new formats.
What Is Metadata?
 Data about data.
 Corresponds to the
finding aids in
traditional archives.
 Tracks the life cycle of
a record.
 Incorporates all
contextual and records
retention information.
 Acid-free paper 500
Media Longevity
years
 Acidic paper 100 years
 Microfilm
(silver/polyester base)
500 years
 Hardware and software
10 years
 Most computer
technology will become
obsolete before its life
expectancy is met, and
before the records
dependent upon it have
fulfilled their retention
 Use and Application of
Records Retention Schedules

 Functional Analysis

 General Schedules

 Application of
retention periods
Retention Schedules:
Functional Analysis
 Appraisal of common
business functions rather
than the records themselves
 A business function
represents an area of
standard business activity
such as accounting,
marketing, public relations,
legal, and human resources
 Business functions always
remain the same
Special Appraisal Issues

 Documentation that
describes readibility
and use is non-existent
 Doubts about
reliability and
completeness of the
record
 Cost of Preservation
 Application of Retention
Schedules: Electronic
Recordkeeping System
 Records Retention Module
 Link electronic records to the module
 Calculate destruction dates
 Module permits a hold to be placed on records
 Identifies candidate records for destruction
 System oversees records for destruction
 System maintains information on records
destroyed
 System does not permit destroyed records to be
recovered