Records Management Basics-Laws Apply to Records in Any Media-November 15, 2004

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Steven HirschRecords Manager, Department of

AdministrationSummary Slide

Overview

Overview

Records are importantMemories may fade, become biased, or simply

change over timeRecords do not

Overview

Records Management Rules If you don’t need it, don’t keep it. If you do need it, keep it in a way you can find it. The more you keep the harder it is to find. The more you keep the more it costs. When it has outlived its purpose get rid of it. If it is worth more, spend more to protect it. Ann Balough

Overview

RM:The application of accepted practices and standards to control the creation, dissemination, utilization, organization, retrieval and eventual disposition of records.

Overview

Records means all books, papers, maps, photographs, films recordings, optical disks, electronically formatted documents or other documentary materials regardless of physical form or characteristics, made, or received by any state agency or its officers or employees in connection with the transaction of public business…Wis. Stat. 16.61

Overview

Exclusions Records and correspondence of legislators State documents received by a state

documentary library Duplicate copies “maintained for convenience

or reference” Library materials Unsolicited notices and invitations

Overview

Drafts , notes and preliminary computations and like materials prepared for originator's personal use by self or staffer-interpreted narrowly by DOJ

Routing slips and envelops

Overview

Record Series are records kept together as a unit because they relate to a subject; result in related activity or have the same form. Wis Stat. 16.61(2) (c) Record series have the same retention requirements and the same disposition.

Overview

Retention Schedule means instructions as to the length of time, location, and form in which record series are kept and the method of filing record series. Wis. Stat.16.61(2)(cm)

Overview

Life Cycle of Information/Records Active Time (Creation or receipt) “instant

access” Inactive (activity reduces over time but still

needs to be retained) “near line/off line”-Records Center

Destruction or transfer to an archival repository “off line” No longer needed

Retention/Disposition

Retention schedule=Records Disposal Authorization (RDA).

Retention=How long is the record series needed. What is the shortest time period the records must he retained to meet a business purpose.

Retention/Disposition

Administrative value=business need Fiscal Value=document financial transactions;audit needs-Legislative Audit Bureau Legal Value=due process; protect legal rights;document practices Historical Value=records document some facet

of Wisconsin history that is deemed noteworthy for preservation by professional archivists

Retention/Disposition

Retention Types Creation or receipt and time or no time Ex. CR+1 year Event (some date triggers the clock) and time or no

time Ex. Personnel File=EVT+8 years; As Built Plans for Life of the Structure (EVT+0 time)

FIS-the current fiscal year and “x” back years of complete fiscal years

Permanent (forever) Agencies sometimes confuse historical value with administrative value

Retention/Disposition

DispositionWhat happens to records after the established

retention time period Destroy Transfer to another agency (rare) Transfer to an archival repositoryWisconsin Historical SocietyUW Archival Repository

Retention/Disposition

Retention is the longest of the administrative/business; fiscal and legal values

Adm. Value=CR+1 years Fiscal value=FIS+4 years Legal value=CR+2 yearsThis record series must be maintained for FIS+4

years even though this is longer than what is needed to meet agency business needs

Components of Records Management A file plan which is a

enterprise/organizational wide classification schema for records.

Approved RDA’s that cover all an agencies records is analogous to this file plan at a high level

Components of Records Management Declaration-the act of identifying a piece of

information as a recordFiling versus placing in the “circular file/recycle bin for

paperSaving versus deleting in the e-worldCan declaration be automated based on content

mining?Can end-users be expected to make this

determination?

Components of Records Management Classification-indexing or associating the record

for a length of time specified by the file plan and approved procedures for record disposition at the end of the retention period.

The State Records Center serves this function particularly well for paper records.

There is no comparable classification-indexing mechanism for e-records whether maintained on servers or mainframe platforms.

Components of Records Management Retention-preventing alteration or destruction of the

record for the length of time specified in the file plan and approved procedures for record disposition at the end of the retention period.

Process must be able to demonstrate that records were destroyed in the normal course of business” at regularly defined intervals. Not randomly or when the records should be “frozen” because of pending litigation, audit, or an opens record request.

Challenges with e-records

End-user training in a distributed environment Storage is cheap so save everything

mentality exists. Costs and risks of maintaining records longer than necessary are not properly considered

Lack of enforcement mechanism to motivate compliance or following the rules.

Challenges with e-records

This is a good place to end and turn it over to the two presenters who will talk in more detail about some of challenges and opportunities associated with managing e-records.