do archivists identify and capture records?

8/14/2019 Do Archivists Identify and Capture Records?

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QUESTION

lHow do archivists identify andcapture records?

AUTOMATED SYSTEMSMEETING THE CHALLENGE

lCritical Skill Set: InformationSystem Analysis and DesignSkills

lBeing able to create conceptual

models for representing records,documentation and systemrequirements


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WHAT IS CONCEPTUAL ORLOGICAL MODELING?

lConceptual models show what a

system does or must do. They

are implementation-independent

models; that is, they depict the

system independent of anytechnical implementation.

CONCEPTUAL MODELS

l Why use conceptual models?

l 1) Employing conceptual models is a moreeffective strategy for analyzing systemswhere physically reviewing records orbrowsing the system is not a realistic

alternativel 2) Modeling techniques are well

documented and tested


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Models and Information Systems

l Models:

Conceptual/logical/physical representations

For the purpose of analysis, design,construction

l Data Models: focus on things and facts

l Process Models: focus on information-orientedactivities

l Object Models: focus on things and their behaviors

l Business Models: context for business activities

DATA MODELING

l Defined as a technique for organizing

and documenting a systems data

l The actual model is frequently called

an entity relationship diagram

because it depicts data in terms of theentities and relationships described

by the data


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Data Models

l Items of business interest - facts aboutthem

Entities: items of interest

Relationships: between entities

Attributes: facts about items of interest

l Relatively static representation of contentl Oriented to database design

Process Models

l Activities or functions defined in termsof data capture, storage, or distribution.

l Data flow diagrams Data flow: data in motion

Data store: data at rest

Process: data manipulation, transformation,decision-making

Source/sink: origin or destination of data

l Oriented to software analysis and design


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Object Models

l Items of business interest - their behaviors

l Basic elements of object-oriented models

Object: class (general) and instance(specific)

Attributes (variables): data about anobject

Operations (methods): behaviors of anobject

BUSINESS PROCESS MODELS

Prominent types of Models include:

Business process decomposition

descriptions or diagrams

Business process data flow

models


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FUNCTIONAL DECOMPOSITION

l An iterative process of breaking a

system into its componentsubsystems, processes, and

subprocesses. Each level ofabstraction reveals more detail about

the overall system or a subset of thatsystem

PROCESS MODELING

l A technique for graphically

representing the functions andprocesses, which capture, manipulate,

store and distribute data [or records]between a system and its environment

and between components within a

system


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BUSINESS PROCESS MODELS

Most common technique is called ModernStructured Analysis, which is:

A process-centered technique that is usedto model business requirements for asystem. The models are structuredpictures that illustrate processes, inputs,outputs, and files required to respond tobusiness events.

BUSINESS PROCESS DATA FLOWMODELS

l In structured analysis, the primary deliverablesfrom process modeling are a set of coherent, inter-related data flow diagrams

l A data flow diagram is a tool that depicts the flowof data through a system and the work orprocessing performed by the system

l Data flow models can be used to effectively depictbusiness processes, inputs, and outputs, and the

relationships and interaction between them.


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PROCESS

lWork performed on, or in

response to, incoming dataflows or conditions

l

A synonym is TRANSFORM

BUSINESS PROCESSES

lBusiness Functions are

transformed by processes, which

can be decomposed into:

lBUSINESS EVENTS OR

TRANSACTIONS

lELEMENTARY PROCESSES


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BUSINESS FUNCTIONS

l Functions group the logically related activities andtasks

l A function is a set of related and ongoing activitiesof the business

l A function has no start or end; it just continuouslyperforms the work as needed

l

Functions are decomposed into subfunctions andeventually into discrete business processes thatperform specific tasks

BUSINESS FUNCTIONS

l An example of a function and sub-functionsfrom the business area of the Office of theRegistrar include:

l Function: Student Recordkeeping

l Subfunctions: Official Student Record

Maintenance, Student Degree Recording,Semester Data Maintenance, and StudentGrades and Credit Maintenance.


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BUSINESS EVENT ORTRANSACTION

l A business event is something thathappens, and that causes business data tochange.

l An event is a logical unit of work that mustbe completed as a whole. An event istriggered by a discrete input and iscompleted when the process hasresponded with appropriate outputs.


l There are two basic types of inputs that

will trigger a business event ortransaction: an external event that is

initiated by agents outside the systembeing reviewed, and a temporal event

that is triggered by the arrival of a

predetermined point in time


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l Most events or transactions arerepresented by a single process, althoughoccasionally, the event may include two orthree processes. An event process ortransaction is described in a singlesentence that identifies the individual oragency initiating the action (subject-phrase); the official action (verb-phrase);and the individuals or objects acted uponor interacted with (object-phrases).


l Examples of event processes or transactions takenfrom the Office of the Registrar work area include: ForSubfunction: Student grades and credit maintenance,the event processes or transactions include: 1) Postgrades for students upon completion of course work(Input: grade roster from faculty member, and Output:Create a grade and credit record); 2) Assign credit for

student work done at other academic institutions (Input:Record of work completed at another institution, andOutputs: Create a credit articulation or evaluationreport, and modify student record to reflect thedecision).


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ELEMENTARY PROCESSES

l Defined as discrete, detailed activities or tasksrequired to complete the response to an event. Inother words, elementary processes are the outputsgenerated by the business event. Types ofelementary processes include: creating a newoccurrence of an entity (add), updating anoccurrence of an entity (change or modify), anddeleting an occurrence of an entity. The

methodology omits any processes that do nothingmore than move or route data, thus leaving therecord unchanged.

ELEMENTARY PROCESSES

l Elementary processes are named with a strongaction verb followed by an object clause thatdescribes the work being performed.

l Examples of elementary processes from theFinancial Aid work area include: Create reportlisting federal aid recipients with unsatisfactoryacademic progress, record appeal information in

students financial aid record, complete work-studyverification form received from employer, andprovide certification information to the lender.


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WHERE ARE RECORDS CREATED?

l Record creation occurs at the businessevent or transaction level

l The actual records to be analyzed are thosedocuments received as inputs to thesystem and those created as a result of theoutputs or elementary processes generatedin response to the event

DATA FLOW DIAGRAMS SYMBOLS

l Data Flow: Data in Motion Data moving from oneplace in a system to another

l Data Store: Data at Rest A data store mayrepresent one of many physical locations for data,e.g., a file folder, a computer-based file

l Process: Work or actions performed on data sothat they are transformed, stored or distributed

l Source or Sink: Origin or destination of data Sources or sinks are sometimes referred to asExternal Entities because they occur outside thesystem

do archivists identify and capture records?

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