Refreshing Your Records Management. Tracy Rebstock, Southwest Regional Archivist

Transcription

1 Refreshing Your Records Management Tracy Rebstock, Southwest Regional Archivist WASBO Conference 2017

2 Overview What is a Public Record? Disposition Authority Records Retention Schedules Non-Archival/Archival Records Electronic Records Resources

3 Public Records Statutes Core Principles Consistent Over Time Revised Code of Washington (RCW) Essential Records Preservation and Destruction of Public Records Penal Provisions for the Destruction of Public Records Reproduced Records Public Records Act aka Public Disclosure Act (Under the authority of the Attorney General s Office) And there are 13 WAC s that apply too!

4 What is a Public Record? For the purposes of retention and destruction, two criteria (chapter RCW): 1. Made or received in connection with the transaction of public business 2. Regardless of format For public disclosure, refer to chapter RCW.

5 Chapter RCW All public records shall be and remain the property of the state of Washington. They shall be delivered by outgoing officials and employees to their successors and shall be preserved, stored, transferred, destroyed or disposed of, and otherwise managed, only in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

6 Public Disclosure Help Public disclosure is under the authority of the Office of the Attorney General, per chapter RCW. Some useful resources include: Municipal Research and Services Center Attorney General s Open Government Page

7 Real reasons to keep records Administrative value Audit value Fiscal value Historical value Legal value Records are evidence of the agency s business

8 How Do I Know What to Keep? Agencies are granted ongoing legal authority to disposition (get rid of records) through legal documents called records retention schedules Records retention schedules for local government are approved by the Local Records Committee (RCW ; chapter WAC)

9 What Do the Schedules Tell You? Types of records by function, activity, common examples Minimum period that the agency is required to keep the record What to do once retention requirements have been met

10 Local Government Page Select Type

11 School District/ESD Homepage

12 SDs/ESDs Use Two Retention Schedules

13 Features of the Retention Schedule First Page Legal Authority Revision History Table of Contents Indexes Subject, Archival/Permanent, Essential, Disposition Authority Number Keyword searchability (Ctrl+F) Glossary Database search tool available

14 What authority?

15 What Do Agencies Do With NON-ARCHIVAL Records? 1. Retain for the minimum required retention period; THEN 2. Destroy. Records subject to current public disclosure requests or litigation (current or reasonably anticipated) must not be destroyed. The Archives strongly recommends documenting records destruction.

16 CORE Non-Archival

17 SD/ESD Non-Archival

18 Identify the Agency s Primary/ Record Copy Ask yourself: At what point does the transaction of business take place? At what point does the transaction become official? Signature? Once sent? Once received? Does that take place with a paper or electronic record?

19 QUESTION: Why not keep everything?

20 What Do Agencies Do With ARCHIVAL Records? Archival records must not be destroyed. Agencies must either: 1. Retain the records themselves indefinitely; OR 2. Arrange with Washington State Archives for appraisal/transfer (at no cost) after the records have met their retention.

21 CORE Archival

22 Two Archival Designations Permanent Retention No appraisal needed. Contact the Archives to make arrangements for transfer. Appraisal Required Contact the Archives to arrange appraisal for historical value. Records appraised and not selected for transfer may be destroyed by your agency as Non-Archival records. Documentation is a good idea!

23 Are agencies required to transfer? No. They may choose to continue retaining their Archival-designated records indefinitely. However, if/when an agency later decides that it no longer wants to retain them, the Archives is the only other authorized custodian. (Libraries, historical societies, individuals, etc., are not authorized custodians of Archival public records.)

24 Practical Application What does my position/department do for the school district? What types of records do I create and receive? Which records retention schedule will have what I am looking for?

25

26 SD/ESD Reporting to OSPI

27 SD/ESD Report from OSPI, Budget Revision Requests

28 RM then and now VS

29 Don t assume Records management is a team sport, and not just an IT concern

30 WHAT TO DO?!? The need to systematically organize, store, retrieve and dispose of records is even more important than ever Information Governance is the new records management It necessitates a multi-disciplinary, holistic approach and strategy to managing informational assets No matter what you call it!

31 TOUCH IT ONCE Spend some time developing a structure and workflow for records Consider content and context Tie/link to processes, retain related records together if possible Manage the whole

32 Why Isn t There a Series for ? As with paper records, the applicable retention will be determined by the content and function of the record NOT the format. You will not find retention requirements determined by format.

33 GAME Work to control the volume Should it stay or should it go? Does it relate to agency business? Am I the appropriate contact?

34 Electronic Records Nightmares Drafts Multiple copies Old Technology Filing systems (Newman Example) Keyword searching Who has what? Retrieval

35 Structure and control By developing standardized structures, you align and manage records together If not possible to use just one place, LIMIT the locations for storage and use implement CONTROLS using policies and procedures Back to basics!

36 Born Digital Records Electronic records must be retained in electronic format for the length of the designated retention period. Printing and retaining a hard copy is not a substitute for the electronic version. (WAC )

37 Can I Scan and Toss My Paper? Yes, if. Agencies wishing to scan non-archival paper records and then destroy the originals before their required retention has been met ( scanning and tossing ) must meet or exceed State Archives requirements as set forth in the document Requirements for the Destruction of Non- Archival Paper Records After Imaging.

38 Hybrid Records But what if you have both paper and electronic records

39

40 Bringing Your Own Device? BYOD There should be boundaries drawn between personal and business through policy or software (there are apps for that!) BEFORE you start, check with agency policy and IT, and develop a strategy for any public records to land in agency custody (on agency server)

41 My device = my records? It may be your personal device or account, but if it s being used for agency business, keep in mind that you are accessing (and sometimes creating) public records

42 The Challenge of Text Messages Utilized for business purposes at many agencies Used with agency-owned devices And often on personal devices too. Retention based on function/content Some need to be captured/retained How? Manual forwarding, screenshots, agency enterprise server, 3rd-party service? Does the agency have policies and procedures addressing this?

43 From the State Supreme Court Ruling Nissen v. Pierce County Text messages sent and received by a public employee in the employee s official capacity are public records of the employer, even if the employee uses a private cell phone.

44 Text Message Resource Page

45 Social Media Resource Page

46 The Cloud

47 Can t go it alone Records managers Legal IT Risk managers Users Records are at the center of it all!

48 Ideas to Help Select a time at the end of the day or work week to organize Pick a time of year to apply the retention schedules April is Records and Information Management Month Electronic Records Day October 10 th (1010)

49

50 You are not alone Questions? Thank you! Washington State Archives