1/ 4 OCTOBER 2007 Electronic Records Retention Issues Frank Nemeth NMCI Engineering

2/ 4 OCTOBER 2007 Electronic Records Retention Issues Agenda What are records? History of Records Management Problem of Today The Electronic Records Challenges Technology Considerations

3/ 4 OCTOBER 2007 Electronic Records Retention Issues Difference Between Records and Documents The fundamental difference is a question of ownership Records are owned by the organization – not individuals Records are assets of the State

4/ 4 OCTOBER 2007 Electronic Records Retention Issues A Brief History of Records Management Typing Pool –Content published by specific staff –File copy always produced Central filing rooms were the norm –Professionally staffed –Strictly controlled PCs and word processing arrives –Individuals now responsible for content –Records stored on local hard drives and in desk drawers The advent of

5/ 4 OCTOBER 2007 Electronic Records Retention Issues The Result The Era of Lost History Records inadequately maintained Records lost Legal exposure

6/ 4 OCTOBER 2007 Electronic Records Retention Issues The Problem of Today Information is a critical asset that needs the at least the same care and management as tangible assets New and varied types of content –Web pages –Audio –Video Escalating volumes Accelerating rate of creation Lack of central control

7/ 4 OCTOBER 2007 Electronic Records Retention Issues The tools, methods, and technologies used to preserve content in accordance with its defined lifecycle. Content = Information What is Records Management?

8/ 4 OCTOBER 2007 Electronic Records Retention Issues Lifecycle vs. Continuum Philosophies Lifecycle Approach –US Federal practice –Records Declared Continuum Approach –Content is treated as a record at birth –Records declared final

9/ 4 OCTOBER 2007 Electronic Records Retention Issues Content Preservation Content Creation Search and Retrieval Content Re-use Content Use The separation is an illusion… Content Authoring Content Collaboration Business Processing Preserving Archiving Disposing Publishing Versioning The Content Management Lifecycle they are components of the same lifecycle

10/ 4 OCTOBER 2007 Electronic Records Retention Issues The Electronic Records Problem Information technology life cycle is faster than the information life cycle Preserving digital information for the long term is more difficult than for paper Hardware and software becomes obsolete quickly

11/ 4 OCTOBER 2007 Electronic Records Retention Issues Long-Term Issues with Electronic Records The archived information must be useable by people who are far removed the producers by time, distance, and background –producers no longer available Unable to answer questions –software may become obsolete information created by the software becomes unavailable –documentation is lost over time

12/ 4 OCTOBER 2007 Electronic Records Retention Issues Three Electronic Records Challenges The Data Loss Challenge –Need to preserve the bits The Authenticity Challenge –Need to maintain provenance The Accessibility Challenge –Need to be able to access and understand in the future

13/ 4 OCTOBER 2007 Electronic Records Retention Issues Technology Considerations Comprehensive vs. Dedicated Systems –Leading content management systems support records management (i.e., SharePoint, Documentum, FileNet) –Specialized Products (i.e., Tower TRIM, CA FileSurf) Use DoD as a baseline –A Federal Standard for records management systems –Provides a clear list of basic functions a records management application should meet. –Found at: Invest in Records Management Systems

14/ 4 OCTOBER 2007 Electronic Records Retention Issues Technology Considerations (continued) Deploy systems that are flexible and open Use open and well adopted standards –PDF/A –TIFF –XML –JPG, GIF, BMP –MPEG –WAV No long-term guarantees with technology, bet on the marketplace Avoid Proprietary Technology and Formats

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