Trends (and Some Issues) in Electronic Records Management

William Saffady, ProfessorCollege of Information and Computer ScienceLong Island University

Important characteristics of electronic records

Contains machine-readable rather than human-readableinformation

Information originates as electronic signal

Any type of information

Quantitative data

Character-coded text

Images

Sound

Electronically encoded: digital or analog

Important characteristics of electronic records

Originating devices

Computers of all types

Scientific and medical instrumentation

Video recorders

Audio recorders

Obsolete devices

Physical forms

Magnetic media

Optical media

Other

Issues and Concerns

Growth of electronic records

Quantity: paper vs. electronic records

The cause: proliferation of information processing technology: computers, storage, software

E-business and E-government initiatives

Importance of electronic records

Many support mission-critical applications

Computers automate most important activities, store mostvaluable information

Computer records more complete than source documents

Issues and Concerns

Inadequate controls for creation, storage, retention

Computers are commonplace but operationalguidelines are rare

Many records management decisions guidedby user discretion

Information redundancy

Same information in electronic and non-electronicformats -- the problem of “official copies”

Problems of space, control, coordination ofretention actions

Issues and Concerns

System dependence

Hardware

Software

Media stability

Data migration requirements

Periodic recopying of media

Periodic conversion of records to new file formats

Remote access: an advantage and a security problem

Issues and Concerns

E-discovery issues

The duty to preserve evidence in all formats

Amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

Broadens discovery process to include records of all types

Electronic records must be produced in usable format

Attorneys must understand electronic recordkeepinginfrastructure

Accessibility of backup copies, archived copies, legacydata

Some Ideas and Trends

The declining cost of storage

Do retention guidelines play an important role in cost reduction?

Are retention actions cost-justifiable?

Concept of Total Cost of Ownership for electronic storage -- is purging more expensive than keeping?

Cost consequences of indefinite retention beyond storage costs

The problem of email and fileshares

Problem of discretionary retention

Does a uniform maximum retention period make sense?

Some Ideas and Trends

Electronic records as official copies

Definition

Advantages: compactness, reusability, backup

Complications for long retention

Data migration requirements

Keeping legacy systems in service

“Born digital” vs. conversion of paper records to digital formats for retention

Some Ideas and Trends

Software solutions

Email “vaults”

Records management application software

Concept -- relationship to document management software

Role of DoD 5015.2-STD

Preconditions for successful implementation

Retention schedules cover electronic records

File taxonomy to organize records

Document management software for active records

Automatic categorization