Managing Records in Electronic Formats. An Introduction

Transcription

1 Managing Records in Electronic Formats An Introduction Jefferson County Public Schools Archives and Records Center November 2012

2 Managing Records in Electronic Format As we create and use more and more records in electronic format, we must plan for the management of those records. We must properly manage JCPS records to comply with federal and state law and regulation. The statutes and regulations also apply to electronic records. Some electronic records are held in large enterprise systems such as MUNIS and Infinite Campus. These may be managed at the system level. Most records creators are producing other electronic records locally as well. These frequently are in the form of , word processing documents, PDF files, spreadsheets, and other common formats. If these records do not have hard copy equivalents being retained for the required periods, we must ensure that the electronic records are preserved and accessible as required under law. We are required to create a hard copy equivalent for records whose retention is permanent under the Kentucky Public School District Records Retention Schedule. This equivalent must be in an eye readable format in either paper or microfilm. Non permanent records may be maintained in electronic format if records management requirements for that format are followed. Considerations for Electronic Records Characteristics of electronic records require us to start the management and preservation process at the point of their creation. We may have been able to store paper and return to it later to prepare for its preservation, but electronic records are more fragile and need attention from the beginning. Paper records might survive by accident, but electronic records will not. Electronic records, like other records, must be appraised for value and properly identified according to the Kentucky Public School District Records Retention Schedule. In addition, technical characteristics of electronic records must be identified. Adequate and accessible metadata for electronic records must be preserved as well. Technical characteristics to be considered: Hardware requirements (including but not limited to computers, disk drives, or other media) The operating system needed for the records The records software or programming language Are the records in a proprietary or open format? Are files compressed and/or encrypted? Ongoing responsibility for technical support File sizes in megabytes (or GB or TB) The number of files in the system must be determined

3 In addition: Data validity in terms of accuracy and completeness, system security, auditing, and verification must be established. Security must account for the district s need to prove that the record is unchanged and to protect against improper access. Depending on the record, an audit trail may be required. Records subject to audit must be available in hard copy or on a current computer system according to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) procedures. Further Security Routine backups of electronic records should be created. These backups do not substitute for records storage or management but are created and maintained for emergency restoration only. Backup media should be stored offsite at another district facility. Backups should be encrypted for security. Continued Change To keep records in electronic format, staff managing electronic records should plan for the migration of records to newer formats as needed. Ongoing technological change may quickly make media, systems, software, and other characteristics obsolete. Don t forget: newer versions of common software frequently drop support for records created in older versions so take this into account. Normalization is frequently required the transfer of records to a more normal or common format. Formats for normalization Choose non proprietary, standard formats. The primary examples are: TIFF (.tif) used for image files PDF (.pdf) used for text based documents, retaining the original layout and formatting Text files (.txt) used for plain text without layout or formatting The preferred type of PDF is PDF / A. This is an open source, non proprietary form of PDF created for long term preservation of documents. Users may save documents in PDF /A format in Microsoft Word 2010 and convert PDFs to that version in Adobe Acrobat. When we are looking for standard (sustainable) formats, they are:

4 Formats expected not to change, or change slowly Widely supported and used Easily Transferable Compatible with other applications Forward/Backward Compatibility Non proprietary / open source Records may be migrated item by item or through a programmed mass migration. There are issues to consider in choosing to migrate records to keep them in electronic format. Migration is often expensive Migration is often time consuming and labor intensive Some information loss may occur Staff must institute time consuming quality control When planning for records management, take the following into account when determining whether to store the records electronically: Do you need to retain the functionality? Do you have the resources in funding and staff? Inventorying and Eventual Destruction of Eligible Records Management of all types of records require an inventory of records be taken. This inventory for electronic records should record all the necessary characteristics as listed previously. In planning for the management of electronic records for the required retention period, we must also plan for their destruction with clear procedures. This process of destruction must account for all copies as duplicates are still open to legal discovery if they continue to exist. Policies on copying electronic records should be established and enforced for accountability and destruction of all copies. Maintaining a central file repository for electronic records allows managers to track file copies. Regular and systematic records management and destruction shows that records are not singled out but are managed to the end of their retention periods as governed by federal and state law and regulation. The delete key is insufficient for destruction of electronic files. Deleted files may be located again on the physical media holding them with tools to find deleted files. Destruction utility programs, reformatting media or physical destruction of media are the appropriate means of destroying these files. Be sure to destroy any copies on backup media as well.

5 Web Sites and External Networks and Media Are records displayed on JCPS web sites duplicate copies or the official copies? With what frequency and regularity is content changed? Official copies should be maintained for any information disseminated on non JCPS networks or sites, such as social media (Facebook, Twitter, and so forth) For further assistance in managing records in electronic or other formats, please contact the JCPS Archives and Records Center at 3098.