APPRAISAL OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS

Hal KeinerAppalachian State University

UNC Records Managers MeetingJune 8, 2006

BACKGROUND: Appalachian State University

•14,500 Students•800 Faculty in Five Colleges

•91 Undergraduate Majors•81 Graduate Majors

University Archives & Records

• 3.5 Full Time Employees

• One Graduate Assistant

• Two Work Study Students

• 4,500 cu. ft. of records in Record Center

• 1,000 cu. ft. of records in Archives

• “Crisis Management”

ELECTRONIC RECORDS

• Our Strategy will be tailored to our resources

• The Centerpiece of our Strategy will be our participation in the Library’s Institutional Repository (built on D-Space)

APPRAISAL PRINCIPLES

• Based on a review of current theories for appraising electronic records

• Based on traditional theories of appraisal

FOUR CATEGORIES OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS

1. Electronic mail

2. Records produced using desktop software (i.e. Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop)

3. Records produced from large relational databases

4. Websites

PRO-ACTIVE ARCHIVISTS

• Recent commentators and theorists recommend that Archivists be “present at the creation” of electronic record creating and keeping systems.

• Easy to say, difficult to do in the Real World

GOOD OLD RECORD RETENTION SCHEDULES!

• Based on the NC Public Records Law and are binding, legal documents

• Enumerate many records, REGARDLESS of format, that are to be deposited in the University Archives, or appraised

• Shifts the onus of maintaining records for the designated retention period to the records creators

OVERALL APPRAISAL STATEGY

MUST recognize that each type of Electronic Record requires a separate appraisal approach

E-MAIL PROBLEM

• Tibbo/Pyatt research demonstrates the wide variety of e-mail practices among university faculty

• Huge volume of e-mail

E-MAIL SOLUTION

• Archivist needs to CAREFULLY select a limited number of faculty and administrators

• Education: Managing e-mail

• Regular transfer of folders to Archives

• The Format Problem: Simpson’s research

DESKTOP DOCUMENTS

• Often appear on Retention Schedules

• Unorganized mess, but many records also exist in hard copy

• Printed versions more authentic, but electronic versions useful for access

• Archivist should assist in promoting good electronic record file keeping

DATA BASES AND RECORDS

• Electronic Records reside as disconnected data sets only

• You cannot (or should not) schedule a data base

• Archival records produced from data bases ARE scheduled and should be requested

• Data Base maintenance the responsibility of the CREATOR

WEB SITES

• Dynamic, complicated, constantly changing

• The problem of embedded pages and links to other sites

• Sampling as a partial solution

• HTTrack Website Copier may help

CONCLUSION

For institutions with limited resources, the appraisal of electronic records, based on in-place and approved retention schedules, is a good starting point.

Thank you