1. Data Retention and Disposition
Principle 7:
Data Retention and Disposition
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Understand the importance of quality data retention
Understand the responsibilities of the Data Steward
Understand the considerations when reviewing data for continuing value
Understand how to decide when to archive data
Understand when data should be considered for refresh/migration
Understand the different methods to dispose of data
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Student will be able to submit and review data for continuing value
Student will be able to determine when data should be archived
Student will be able to determine when data should be refreshed/migrated
Student will be able to correctly dispose of data
Page to have graphic representing secure data – lock on a file cabinet or treasure chest perhaps.

2. Terms and Definitions
Data retention — preservation, maintenance, and control of hard-copy and electronic data for future use or application
Data refresh/migration —periodic transfer of electronic data to updated configurations of hardware or software media to ensure that the media remains intact and the data can be retrieved and be usable
Disposal —deletion or destruction that results in the complete elimination of data from all storage media
Presentation:
As presented on slide. Voiceover with explanatory material
Explanatory Material:
There are a few key terms that must be clearly understood in order to apply the concepts within this module. Three key terms include:
Data retention — preservation, maintenance, and control of hard-copy and electronic data for future use or application
Data refresh/migration —periodic transfer of electronic data to updated configurations of hardware or software media to ensure that the media remains intact and the data can be retrieved and be usable
Disposal —deletion or destruction that results in the complete elimination of data from all storage media
Reference Material:
GEIA 859 HB - Section 6.2 Definitions

3. Why Data Retention? Value to the organization
Support to business decisions
Competitive advantage
Reduced waste for non-essential data storage
Presentation:
Slide in bullets one at a time with explanatory information pop-up or voice-over
Explanatory Material:
Bullet 1 -An enterprise must ensure that data are retained commensurate with their potential entrepreneurial, legal, contractual, and other worth to the organization, as well as to the customer.
Bullet 2 - Quality, accurate, and up-to-date data will aid in critical business decision.
Bullet 3 - Timeliness of the decision-making process with value-added data will increase competitive advantage.
Bullet 4 - Non-value-added data will be removed from the organization’s inventory to avoid waste of physical and electronic space and money associated with its maintenance.
Reference Material:
GEIA 859 HB - Section 6.1 Introduction
GEIA Standard 859 – Principle 7, paragraph 7.0
Quality Data Retention Contributes to the Overall Business Value Stream

4. Data Stewards Ensure Data Retention Works!
Retention Management and the Data Steward
Data stewards ensure:
Data with wide applicability are stored in an authorized, backed-up, and retrievable storage media
Planning is in place for data review and disposition
Inactive data are archived
Hard copies are protected
All data are currently indexed for retrievability
Presentation:
Voiceover or popup with explanatory material as follows:
Explanatory Material:
1st popup/voiceover upon slide opening:
Data assets deemed as having future value to an organization must be controlled and maintained in order to preserve the ability to retrieve the data when they are most needed. Data repositories may be centralized or decentralized, and the data may be in paper, electronic, or other media.
2nd popup/voiceover presents slide content:
Stewards of such repositories manage physical custody of their assets to ensure that, at a minimum:
electronic data with wide applicability are stored in a retrievable storage media
planning is in place for data review and disposition
inactive data are archived
hard copies are protected, and
all data are indexed for retrievability
Stewards ensure that data are in authorized repositories, with backups in authorized locations, and that indexes are always current. Further, they ensure that planning is in place to control data assets near the end of their useful lives such that the organization does not store items that no longer are of value.
Last popup/voiceover:
To ensure effective data management across programs and projects throughout their life cycles, enterprises should institutionalize effective stewardship processes. Stewards ensure that the process is managed such that valuable data can be retrieved regardless of personnel turnovers; organizational realignments; corporate mergers, acquisitions, or splits; major technology shifts; and data archiving practices. Stewards also ensure that key decision makers understand the risk of not protecting valuable data from disaster – namely , through the use of backups.
Reference Material:
GEIA 859 HB – Section Retention Management
GEIA 859 Standard – Principle 7 – paragraph 7.1
Data Stewards Ensure Data Retention Works!

5. Data Retention Decision Tree
Create, index,
and adequately
back up data
Monitor for media
refresh
requirements and
refresh as
necessary
Assign retention review
date based on
contract/corporate/legal
requirements
Review data
for continued
value
Review date
reached? No
Yes
Data retrievable?
Author and primary
stakeholders, legal, project
management, customer, etc.,
value data?
Data
properly indexed,
protected, and
backed up?
Media outdated?
Destroy data in
accordance with
policies
Properly index,
protect, and
Reset
retention
review date
Presentation:
Mouse-over or popup for each box in the flowchart with voiceover content as presented below.
Explanatory Material:
Upon opening this slide, voiceover: This flowchart presents the notional procedures for reviewing data for value and disposition
Box 1 (Create, Index, and Adequately Back Up Data) - Ensuring that data is accurately indexed and backed up from the time of creation will enable a smooth transition to later stages within the data retention and disposition cycle
Box 2 (Assign retention review date based on contract/corporate/legal requirements) – The retention review date should be set to the latest calculated date of all retention periods to ensure compliance with applicable retention policies
Box 3 (Monitor for media refresh requirements and refresh as necessary)– Ensuring that data is retrievable from storage media is crucial to the success of the data retention program.
Box 4 (Review data for continued valued) – Reviewing data for its potential entrepreneurial, legal, contractual, and other worth to the enterprise and customer will ensure that company assets for data retention are maximized.
Reference Material:
GEIA 859 HB - Section Retention Management Figure 6-1
GEIA 859 Standard – Principle 7

6. Stakeholder Involvement Increases Retention Effectiveness!
Who Reviews the Data
Principle Stakeholder
Secondary Stakeholders
Legal
Program Management
Customers
Tax Consultants
Presentation:
Voiceover for bullets as presented below.
Explanatory Material:
Voiceover upon slide open:
When reviewing data for retention decisions, it is imperative that relative stakeholders are involved and agree to the data value and disposition. Collaboration on the value of data assets will support appropriate decisions that will directly impact the effectiveness of an enterprise data retention program.
Popup (Principle Stakeholder) – The principle stakeholder is normally the primary author or owner of the data. This stakeholder possesses strong knowledge of the data content and a vested interest in the data for purposes of future value and reuse in support of continuing business operations.
Popup (Secondary Stakeholders) – Secondary stakeholders have vested interest in the data to the extent that the data may be required for and impact compliance regulations, ongoing litigation, future business proposals/activity, and customer relations.
Reference Material:
GEIA 859 HB – paragraph 6.5
GEIA 859 Standard – principle 7, paragraph 7.3
Stakeholder Involvement Increases Retention Effectiveness!

7. When to Review the Data Organizational changes
Process transfer from one organization to another
Physical movement of repositories
Technological changes or reasons
Designated retention periods
Presentation:
Slide bullets in one at a time with voiceover information as detailed below
Explanatory Material:
Data should be reviewed periodically to ensure that it has continued value and that it can be maintained for future uses. That review is best managed according to an enterprise’s comprehensive retention policies and can be managed by its DM, quality assurance, or other designated organization. Retention policies should specifically address the reassessment of data repositories and metadata assignments in situations such as the following:
(bring bullets in one at time here)
Organizational changes, for example, authorship of certain data transitioning to a new point of contact
Transfer of a process from one organization to another
Physical movement of repositories, particularly paper repositories
Technological changes or reasons, for example, obsolete technology or concern over CD corrosion
Designated retention periods as directed by company policy or regulations
Reference Material:
GEIA 859 HB – Section Maintenance of Data Assets and Associated Indices
GEIA 859 Standard – principle 7, paragraph 7.1

8. How to Review the Data for Current Value
Data Assessments for current value should:
Validate the accuracy of the metadata
Analyze any security protections from unauthorized viewing
Analyze deterioration of data products
Analyze the value of migration
Ensure that the data repository has a secondary source
Presentation:
Voiceovers/popups for each bullet below. Present bullets individually
Provide supplementary tables (6-1 through 6-3) as reference material for migration bullet
(I wanted to paste the tables here for DAU to present as reference material, but I can’t get it to paste in a formatted manner – ideas?)
Explanatory Material:
The assessment should include the following activities:
Validate the accuracy of the metadata (data location, primary author, and the like).
Analyze any security protections from unauthorized viewing (for example, determine if a former trade secret is now in the public domain and no longer needs password protection).
Analyze deterioration of data products (for example, the risk of callouts falling off Mylar) to ascertain need for action to protect the data.
Analyze the value of migration from paper to electronic media, eliminating floor space usage or off-site storage expense, for example.
Analyze the value of migrating data from native formats to neutral formats or to current versions of native formats if data are expected to have a long life. The analysis should also address whether software licenses will remain in place and whether platforms that read native formats will remain available.
Analyze the value of migrating data to other media if data are expected to have a long life. Continued refresh, migration, and evaluation ensure long-term physical protection. Refresh and migration processes need to be institutionalized to ensure future data retrievability. The following references provide additional information:
Preserving digital Information, Report of the Task Force on Archiving of Digital Information: ftp://ftp.rlg.org/pub/archtf/final-report.pdf
The NINCH Guide to Good Practice in the Digital Representation and Management of Cultural Heritage Materials, Chapter XIV, Preservation:
Digital Preservation Management: Implementing Short-Term Strategies for Long-Term Problems:
Ensure that the data repository has a secondary source (an electronic backup, for example) or that the risk of not having a backup is acceptable to the enterprise.
Reference Material:
GEIA 859 HB – Section Maintenance of Data Assets and Associated Indices
GEIA 859 Standard – principle 7 paragraph 7.3
Data reviews ensure valuable data are retrievable when needed!

9. How to Review the Data for Future Value
(I’m not sure how to present this concept – help?)
Assessing future value is somewhat more elusive. In some instances, data lose value with the passage of time. As examples, data of legal significance diminish significantly when the statute of limitations for filing suit passes. Data of point-in-time significance, for example, this month’s bank statement, may have little value beyond the upcoming month to one entity and tremendous significance to another party such as the Internal Revenue Service. Data generated by prominent people may enhance in value significantly over time.
Presentation:
Explanatory Material:
Reference Material:
GEIA 859 HB –
GEIA 859 Standard –

10. Archive Preservation Process
Presentation:
Voiceover of explanatory material below
Explanatory Material:
Review of data assets should determine the active or historical status of the data. This figure depicts a notional Data Archive Preservation decision process flow
Reference Material: ANSI/GEIA 859 HB –
Section Maintenance of Data Assets and Associated Indices Figure 6-2
(Comment - line 3184 in the draft handbook references a nonexistent section (7-2) within the handbook)

11. Data Disposal Maintain Records of Destruction! Disposal Methods: Paper
Non-sensitive – Trash System
Sensitive – Shredding or Burning
Digitized Paper – dispose of after thorough validation of digitization
Electronic Data
Non-sensitive – delete files
Sensitive – use disposal method
as prescribed
Presentation:
As presented with voiceover explanatory material – Need destruction record enabler as reference material.
Explanatory Material:
When data are reviewed for continued value and most, but not all, parties determine that the data are no longer useful, the enterprise should consider passing of the data to one of the interested parties. Once all parties with an interest in a class of data have determined that the data are no longer useful, the enterprise can dispose of the data.
A record should be retained to identify what documents were destroyed, when they were destroyed, and who authorized the destruction. An enterprise needs to have an effective process to ensure that qualified individuals or teams of potentially interested parties authorize destruction. In some cases, as in merger environments, other enterprises may be required to jointly authorize destruction.
Paper data that are not sensitive may be disposed of through trash systems. Paper data that are sensitive can be destroyed using methods such as shredding or burning, in accordance with enterprise practices.
Paper data, once transitioned to electronic format, are sometimes subject to federal regulations and contracting requirements that present specific retention schedules. If converted to electronic format in a commercial environment, the original document should be held until a complete validation is performed, at which time it can be properly destroyed.
Electronic data can be simply deleted if no longer useful. However, more care may be appropriate for sensitive electronic data. Disposal can be through such methods as prescribed by the customer, for example, destruction of classified media.
Reference Material:
GEIA 859 HB – Section Data Disposal
GEIA 859 Standard – Principle 7, paragraph 7.4

12. Quiz Questions – P7
Which of the following statements best explains why an Enterprise should plan for data retention:
a. Planning for data retention ensures appropriate funding is available for archiving when needed.
b. Clearly defined methods for data retention help ensure that the data will be available when and if needed.
c. Plans for data retention are needed to ensure facilities will be available to store data.
d. It is important to plan for data retention to ensure tasking is assigned to the Data Manager.
An essential element of preservation planning is to ensure planning for adequate protection of data against potential disaster commensurate with the age of the data.
True or False
Why is it important to use appropriate metadata when identifying
retained data?
a. To enable retrieval of those assets.
b. To enable development of detailed reports.
c. To enable timely destruction as appropriate.
d. All of the above.

13. Quiz Questions – P7 True or False
Which of the following is not a method to ensure data assets are
protected in an electronic environment?
a. Segregation of data by server
b. Padlock
c. Firewall
d. Password
When evaluating the current and future value of
data, some questions that may be asked are as follows:
What data is currently stored and for what purpose?
Is the data accurate and up-to-date?
What are the criteria for the storage life of data?
What are the costs associated with data retention?
Will retaining the data enhance network security?
Is there potential for this data to satisfy contractual or other legal requirements?
True or False

14. Quiz Questions – P7
Once data is considered non-value, which of the following is true:
a. The enterprise should arrange for disposal so that costly resources are not required to maintain non-value assets.
b. A record should be retained to identify what documents were destroyed, when they were destroyed, and who authorized the destruction.
c. Data assets of potential value to other parties should be destroyed in a way that prevents those assets from becoming publicly available.
d. All of the above