Washington State Archives Defensible Disposition: Electronic Records Management Presented by: Scott Sackett Electronic Records Management Consultant, Eastern

Washington State Archives

Defensible Disposition:Electronic Records

ManagementPresented by:Scott Sackett

Electronic Records Management Consultant, Eastern Washington

May 24, 2012

Electronic Records Management: The Wild

West?• Volume of records created and received

• Number of employees creating and receiving records

• Variety of formats/platforms: emails, texts, websites, social media…

• …Less likelihood that electronic records will be treated as “records” in the way that paper is

Washington State Archives Documenting Democracy

What is a Public Record?• For the purposes of retention and

destruction, two criteria:1. Made or received in connection with

the transaction of public business (Chapter 40.14 RCW)

2. Regardless of format

• For public disclosure, refer to chapter 42.56 RCW.


When Can Records Be Destroyed?• Per chapter 40.14 RCW, no public

records shall be destroyed until approved for destruction by the Local Records Committee.

• Per chapter 434-630 WAC, the Local Records Committee grants disposition authority for public records in the form of records retention schedules.Washington State Archives Documenting

Democracy

Why Not Keep Everything?

Digital storage may seem cheap, but:• Records remain subject to public

records requests, litigation, discovery• Harder to find what you need (the

Google effect)• Ongoing data migration costs; need

for monitoring of system/application/version compatibilityWashington State Archives Documenting

Democracy

Agency Goal:Defensible Disposition

• Bring consistency to the records management (RM) and disposition process for all records

• Be able to demonstrate that records are lawfully and systematically destroyed/transferred – Paper– Born-digital– Scanned recordsWashington State Archives Documenting

Democracy

First Key: Development of RM

Policies/Procedures• Clarity for employees – RM roles and responsibilities

• Basis for training, compliance checks

• Crucial evidence that agency is aware of and following retention requirements on ongoing basis


Second Key: Collaboration Between IT, RM and Legal• Silo effect – separate mandates =

divergent understandings of the problem/solution

• Policy/procedure development must involve all three groups

• Cross-training is GOLD


• Retention schedules already exist • Focus on end users of system,

creators of records• Mirror your business workflow,

rather than creating a new business process

• Mirror successful paper RM filing structures throughout electronic environment


Third Key: Building on What You Have

• Implementation - Pilot project in one office/department (usually Finance)

• Automate as much as possible – de-duplication, drag-and-drop…

• …But auto-delete and auto-classification are blunt instruments


Other Strategies and Trends

Agencies wishing to scan paper records and then destroy them before their

required retention has been met must meet or exceed State Archives

requirements as set forth in the document Requirements for the

Destruction of Non-Archival Paper Records After Imaging.

http://www.sos.wa.gov/archives/RecordsManagement/

DestructionofPaperRecordsAfterImagingScanning.aspx

Defensible Disposition and Scanned Records

You Are Not Alone

For advice and assistance:

[email protected]

Subscribe to listserv for the latest

updates:http://www.sos.wa.gov/archives/

RecordsManagement/

Washington State Archives: Partners in preservation and access.

http://www.sos.wa.gov/archives/recordsmanagement/

Thank You!

Documents

Washington State Archives Defensible Disposition: Electronic Records Management Presented by: Scott Sackett Electronic Records Management Consultant, Eastern