Record Keeping Memo
On Monday, the President issued a memorandum to heads of Executive Departments and Agencies on Managing Government Records. This marks the start of an executive branch-wide effort to reform records management policies and practices.
I strongly support this Presidential initiative, which sends a very clear message to Federal agencies about the importance of managing electronic records. Records management must keep up with the technologies used to create records in the Federal government, and the President’s Memorandum underlines the critical nature of this responsibility.
Read the full post on the AOTUS blog.
Archives & Records Mgmt Hours, Nov 2-4
The Archives will close at noon on Wednesday, November 2, and will reopen on Monday, November 7. The Archives will not accept appointments or deliver reproduction requests during this time.
Records Management will be unavailable on Wednesday, November 2, but the Records Coordinator will return on Thursday, November 3.
We regret any inconvenience that this will cause our users.
Writing
I’ve spent a large part of this week working on a paper we’re hoping to get published in an academic serial. I particularly enjoy academic writing because to me, it is the best opportunity to stop and really think something through. I’m always surprised by just how much more insight you get when you look at your raw data, interpret it and contextualise that in the wider field of research. I also enjoy the editing process for some reason. Deleting great tracts of my own writing is very satisfying. Possibly because it amuses me to think, “who wrote this guff?! They’re lucky they’ve got me as an editor”.
My paper is on Records Management in Oil and Gas and is a product of the Benchmarking study we ran last year. The only problem with academic publishing is how long it takes. It’s not unusual for the time between first submission and eventual publication in a peer-reviewed journal to take over a year. Which is not ideal for a company that wants to make available good content now. Amor already has some things available, for example the Airport Security Operations webinar and white paper and the Information Management in the oil and gas context research, but there’s always room for more. So maybe next week I’ll put together something more appropriate while I wait for some colleague’s feedback on the main work.
Speaking of webinars, I attended one this morning from AIIM called “Almost everything you need to know about Scanning into SharePoint 2010” which was very interesting. Amor does some Sharepoint development and I’m keen to get more exposure to its potential in Information Management. I’ve got a training day booked next week that I’m very much looking forward to.
Records Management with a Backbone
I am pleased to report that on Friday, August 24th, 2012, Jeffrey Zients, Acting Director of OMB and I issued the Managing Government Records Directive. With lots of hard work on the part of National Archives and Records Administration, White House, Federal agency staffs and stakeholder groups, the directive charts new directions for the management of the records of the country.
Among the highlights:
- Federal agencies must manage all permanent electronic records in an electronic format by 31 December 2019 and must have plans to do so by 31 December 2013
- All agencies must manage both permanent and temporary email records in an accessible electronic format by 31 December 2016.
- NARA will issue updated guidance on managing, disposing of, and transferring email by 31 December 2013
- All agencies must have records management training in place for appropriate staff by 31 December 2014; and
- NARA will work with the Office of Personnel Management to establish a formal records management occupational series to elevate records management roles, responsibilities, and skill sets for agency records officers and other records professionals.
This is an historic moment for all of us charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the records of the country are being managed in a manner that will allow current and future generations to hold their government accountable and to learn from the past.
Read the full post on the AOTUS blog.
It’s funny that there seem to be two recurring topics regarding the web that come through on my archives and records management news feeds:
- Beware what you share about yourself on the web, because embarrassing details and photos will last forever!
- Our digital heritage is vanishing because no one has created a way to preserve the web!
It seems to me that only one of these things can be true. Perhaps the secret to digital preservation is to make sure that every scholarly paper includes a photo of the author taken while half-naked and drunk.
“A lot of this is untested in court,” said Sarah Koonts, the director of archives and records in North Carolina. “What kind of metadata do we need to have around an electronic record to prove it’s authentic?” ”
—Sarah Koonts, the director of archives and records in North Carolina (via)
Cloud Technology... the answer to finding your missing files??
cracked.com claims the reason you can’t find your files is because of storage and in what devices you store your information. Apparently, thumb drives, emails, computer files, etc. are the reason you can’t find your files and cloud technology is the answer to cure hunger, cancer, AND stop comet wormwood from ending the world. What a load of crock. No matter where you put your file you will still lose it! The best way to ensure you don’t lose your files is through proper records management techniques! I’m not going to go into it, but you should totally look it up. Because cloud is only another technology that will become outdated and be replaced by the next greatest thing - so use the one thing that doesn’t get replaced by new technologies: records management, dude.
Records Management: Periodic Assessments and Audits can Improve RM Programs
formtek.comA report by Canon Business Process Services, “On the Record: Is Your Organization’s Record’s Management Program Providing High Value or High Risk?”, looked at how a records management program contributes to “effective governance, risk management, litigation preparedness, reputation protection and strategic decision making”.
“Archiving – I’ve never been sure where archiving fits in the content management space. Part of me wants to think that archiving begins where ECM ends, at the “disposition” phase but part of me thinks it’s really just a different form of content management.”
—Daniel Antion, What a Difference Forever MakesRecords management – it’s just about storing stuff? Well, isn’t it?
intergen.co.nzMyth 3: Records Management staff are really librarians in disguise.
As a former librarian I especially liked this particular myth. But the other myths are definitely worth a read as well.
