Records management, also known as records and information management, is an organizational function devoted to the management of information in an organization throughout its life cycle, from the time of creation or inscription to its eventual disposition. This includes identifying, classifying, storing, securing, retrieving, tracking and destroying or permanently preserving records.
An organization's records preserve aspects of institutional memory. In determining how long to retain records, their capacity for re-use is important. Many are kept as evidence of activities, transactions, and decisions. Others document what happened and why. The purpose of records management is part of an organization's broader function of Governance, risk management, and compliance and is primarily concerned with managing the evidence of an organization's activities as well as the reduction or mitigation of risk associated with it.
3.2.1 Concepts of Record
The concept of record is variously defined. The ISO 15489-1:2016 defines the concepts and principles from which approaches to the creation, capture and management of records are developed. While there are many purposes of and benefits to records management, as both these definitions highlight, a key feature of records is their ability to serve as evidence of an event. Proper records management can help preserve this feature of records.
Recent and comprehensive studies have defined records as "persistent representations of activities" as recorded or created by participants or observers. This transactional view emphasizes the importance of context and process in the determination and meaning of records. In contrast, previous definitions have emphasized the evidential and informational properties of records. In organizational contexts, records are materials created or received by an organization in the transaction of business, or in pursuit of or in compliance with legal obligations. This organizational definition of record stems from the early theorization of archives as organic aggregations of records, which is "the written documents, drawings and printed matter, officially received or produced by an administrative body or one of its officials."
3.2.2 Records management practices.
A Records Manager is someone who is responsible for records management in an organization. This part of ISO 15489 (2016) describes concepts and principles relating to the following:
a) Records, metadata for records and records systems;
b) Policies, assigned responsibilities, monitoring and training supporting the effective management of records;
c) Recurrent analysis of business context and the identification of records requirements;
d) Records controls;
e) Processes for creating, capturing and managing records.
Thus, the practice of records management may involve:
planning the information needs of an organization
identifying information requiring capture
creating, approving, and enforcing policies and practices regarding records, including their organization and disposal
developing a records storage plan, which includes the short and long-term housing of physical records and digital information
identifying, classifying, and storing records
Coordinating access to records internally and outside of the organization, balancing the requirements of business confidentiality, data privacy, and public access.
identification and maintenance of records per a specified retention period
Executing a retention policy on the disposal of records which are no longer required for operational reasons; according to organizational policies, statutory requirements, and other regulations this may involve either their destruction or permanent preservation in an archive.
Records-management principles and automated records-management systems aid in the capture, classification, and ongoing management of records throughout their lifecycle.
Such a system may be paper-based (such as index cards as used in a library), or may involve a computer system, such as an electronic records-management application.
3.2.3 Records Management Guidelines for Information Technology Systems
For information technology systems, there are two general categories of records: those records that are associated with the actual creation, maintenance and retirement of the information technology system itself and those records that comprise the data content of the system. Each of these sets of records must be managed in concert with the other. The records management requirements for the data content of the system are the same as if the records were kept in a non-electronic medium with the additional requirement that technologies must be maintained that enable the records to be accessible, accurate,
authentic, reliable, legible, and readable throughout the life of the data record. Records required for the creation and maintenance of the information technology system itself include implementation project documents such as procurement proposals and system support documentation. The records management requirements and retention schedules will likely vary between these two categories of records.
3.2.4 Records management requirements
Functional requirements are grouped according to the clusters in the high-level model:
a. Create- Capture, Identification, Classification
b. Maintain; Controls and Security; Hybrid records; Retention, migration and disposal; Long-term preservation
c. Disseminate; Search, retrieve and render d. Administer; Administrative functions
3.2.5 Retention schedules; A retention schedule is a document listing all the titles of the records series, length of time each document or record will be retained as an active record, the reason for its retention (administrative, legal, fiscal, and historical) and disposition agreed by the user, receiver, and Records Director and Records Retention committee. A clearly defined plan for a record retention and disposal is a vital component of a records program.
3.2.5.1 The Scheduling Process
A retention schedule is a policy document that is created by the Records Director and the department the record is used by (owner). It is reviewed typically once a year to verify that the current retention decisions should remain in effect. The following is the information is on the retention schedule:
Record series names
Series description
Retention period (based on material date)
Disposition methods
Approval dates for each series
Once the Department Head, Liaison, and the Records Director have reached agreement on the retention schedule for all stored material, the retention schedule is verified and signed by both parties.
3.2.5.2 Records Retention Committee
The purpose for the Records Retention Committee is to provide guidance for the Records Director for establishing and operating a retention and disposition program as a component for records management program covering:
Periods of time for records to be maintained
Appropriate methods for disposition of records
Measures to be taken when a record disposition must be suspended due to litigation or audit