Records Management

Electronic records are information stored on disks, e-mails, tapes, optical disk and any other form of digital media. The same basic principles of records management apply to electronic records management as well. Electronic records however, have extra issues that need to be looked after. Basically it is much harder to preserve the content and structure of an electronic record and to protect it than it is with a physical record.

Electronic records are more complicated than preserving and managing physical records,in order to successfully manage electronic records you need to be aware of the following:

• Management strategy of electronic records
• Preservation
• File naming
• Metadata
• File formats
• Digital media
• Storage Facilities
• Management systems of electronic documents
• Management of e-mail correspondence
• Digital imaging
• Management of web content
• Digital and electronic signatures

Although not all of that is necessary to successfully manage your electronic records at first, it is crucial for a successful company to have all those aspects taken care of.

Electronic Records Management Strategy

Electronic records managementstrategy is the most important part as it refers to almost every aspect needed to successfully manage your electronic records.

• First part of the strategy is legal framework. Your electronic management must follow certain legal guidelines:
• Providing public responsibility
• Telling the difference between not-public and public records
• Creating  retention schedule
• Establishing and maintaining a trustworthy method for management of electronic records

To explain things a little better, the official definition of an electronic record is: An electronic record is a record created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means. With that being said you know what items belong to the electronic records category, and all those documents need to be managed and stored.

The first part of the strategy is organizing the records, or placing the electronic records in series. Record series is a group of electronic records placed together because those records belong to a certain group, type or function. Every single record series ought to be managed on accordance to the records retention schedule. By doing that you will easily manage those records because each of those series fall under a certain law or rule of storage and disposition. So a certain record series may need to be kept for 10 years before it can be disposed.

There are three basic record components important for electronic records management:

• Content, the facts that document your business and your operations.
• Context, information showing relation of the records to your business or other records.
• Structure, records technical details and characteristics.

The next step, once you manage the informational stage is records continuum. Records continuum is defined as use, manage, and retaining of the records throughout the life cycle of the records. To put it differently, real records management. The steps are similar to physical records management:

• Identification, identifying a document as a record
• Intellectual control, deciding related to the records
• Provision of access, access to the records by the staff
• Physical control, managing the location and the format of records

Once you identify your electronic records and sort them you need to place them in storage. There are several different ways in which you can store an electronic record.

Online storage is very easy to use and maintain, it has great functionality and allows different users to connect through the network. The downside to online storage is that you will need to build a high security, so this option is not the best for important records.

Nearline storage is storing the records in a system that is not directly connected with your network, but it needs to have some access to the network. This has a little less functionality but it’s more secure.

Offline storage is storing the records on a system that can’t be accessed through your network. This option has the least amount of functionality but it is the safest method and probably the best suited method for important records.

If you choose nearline or offline method of storage there are several methods to preserve your records. If you use a CD-R or DVD-R you can protect your records from being copied by making them read only. If you are using CD-RW or other media that can be recorded several times however, the best option would be to use them for public records. Not only the privacy issue is in question here, but the lifespan of the media you are using. Depending on that you may need to perform a backup every now and then to make sure the documents are held through the required time by the law.

Electronic records management can be an easier and more accessible method than physical records management, but it bears the risks of low security if not attended properly. Although most companies are switching to electronic records management you should make sure that you have a good plan before you follow their footsteps.

Brief introduction to electronic records management, planning and management strategy with possible storage options on various electronic media.

Records management is a practice of gathering documents classifying them as records and maintaining them through certain phases until their life cycle ends. That means that either they are destroyed or archived. There are two types of records, physical and electronic. Physical records management is a bit more complicated and slower than electronic records management and it requires a variety of expertise.

Identifying records

Identifying records is the first step required for physical records management. That includes that the declaration of the records had been completed and now needs to be authenticated. That is especially important if it is a legal record in question. Sometimes, depending on the importance of the record, forensic experts may need to inspect the document in question in order to determine the authenticity. Forensic inspection is also performed to determine if the document has been altered, damaged by any means or if some content is missing from the document. In some cases the forensic investigation may even require x-ray, microscope and radiocarbon dating to analyze the document. That is very rare and it is used only in important and special cases.

Storing records

Storing records is a very important step in records management. There are several reasons why storing of the records is crucial for good records management. First of all the records must be well protected. They should be stored in a safe place where they will be protected from environmental damage and theft. A special file room is the best choice for records storage. It provides a practical keeping of the documents as you may install electronics to monitor and maintain a certain level of temperature and humidity that will not harm the records and keep them preserved.

The most important records, the top priority ones, are often placed in a separate place. A well guarded and resistant safe is the best option. Important documents are protected from floods, fires, earthquakes and eventual theft this way. Another way of storing important documents is to have a copy of the original that will be for public display, while the original is protected in the safe. Another option of maintain those records is transferring them into electronic format, but certain type of records require to be held in their original form. There are some unwritten rules about storing records:

• It is important that the access to those records is limited to trustworthy personnel.
• Designated records storage rooms must have Employees assigned to managing the records, appropriate security procedures and eventually third party offsite storage.
• Records stored in off-site locations must have appropriate security.

There is also the storage of semi-active records. Semi-active records are not normally used records but they still need to be kept for possible reference or historical significance.

• Vital records are records are the most important records.
• Confidential records are records of private nature that should be stored separately.
• Archival records have historical value and they are transferred to the Provincial Archives as soon as they are no longer needed by the company.

Circulating records

When a record is out of the storage, tracking that record is called circulation. There are many ways to monitor the circulation of a record. Companies still use the basic writing method, but the new and most often used way these days is electronic monitoring. Most companies use computerized systems to follow the documents, which can be achieved with bar codes, or even radio frequency ID technology to track the records. Mostly the electronic marking and tracking of the records is used for unauthorized movement of the records.

Disposal of records

Disposal of the records is the last step in physical records management. Disposing of the records doesn’t necessarily mean the destruction of those records. Disposal can include placing them into public archives, historical archives, museums or even private archives. There are three ways of disposal accession, destroying and reviewing. Accession involves transferring the records to a third party before destroying the records. Review is used to eventually prolong the life cycle of a record if they are found important for further use. Destroy, or destruction of the records is plain burning, shredding or pulverizing of the records.

Before records can be destroyed the destruction must be authorized. That can be done by a certain operating procedure that has to be authorized by law or some other institution or regulation. When the records are being disposed certain measures must be taken in order to prevent the disclosure of information. The process of destroying the records must be documented. An inventory of the destroyed records must be composed, including the proof of destruction. One thing to remember is that documents should never be simply discarded once their life cycle ends. Doing that will breach all the safety protocols done during the life of the records and protecting those documents will be meaningless.

Physical records management description, from the declaration and identification of the records, through storage and eventual disposal of the records.

Crucial part of records management is the life cycle of a record. A record’s life cycle begins when a document is identified as a record and ends once the disposition takes place according to the retention schedule. Disposition is the last phase in the life cycle of a record and the record can be disposed in three ways.