uring regulatory audits and lit-igation-related discovery activ-ities, electronic records are a major focus of requests for in-formation. Recordkeeping re-quirements, such as those prescribed in the revised United States
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the
Sarbanes-OxleyAct of 2002, the Secu-rities and Exchange Commission Rule 17, and the Health Insurance
Porta-D
Although most records are created electronically, physical records continue
to proliferate and demand that organizations seek software solutions that
meet the requirements for ef fectively managing records in both media.
John T. Phillips, CRM, CDIA, FAI
SELECTING SOFTWARE
FOR MANAGING PHYSICAL & ELECTRONIC RECORDS
bility and Accountability Act, indicate records in all formats must be man-aged appropriately.
For these reasons, properly man-aging electronic mail, office documents on personal computers, website pages, and reports derived from software ap-plications demands the attention of everyone in an organization.
However, despite the exploding creation and consumption of
informa-tion in digital formats, physical records created on paper media still dominate many workplaces. Paper-resident correspondence, memoranda, reports, drawings, charts, presenta-tions, invoices, and travel expense itemizations require organizations to properly manage current and histori-cal physihistori-cal files.
employ paper as their primary means of information exchange because of the low infrastructure costs and mini-mal computer system requirements needed for a paper-based business model.
Paper-based systems are used not only because they are cost effective, but because paper works for most everyone. In many instances, organi-zations must interact with the public in a manner that allows anyone to par-ticipate in the information exchange, and paper is still the best medium for many of these environments. For ex-ample, visitors to a school or doctor’s office usually sign in on a paper roster (record) because it would not be rea-sonable to expect individuals who don’t have computer keyboard skills to log into a public terminal when they enter. While personal computers are often employed for document creation, physical printouts may be used for reading and filing. Depending on the document management and informa-tion exchange culture of an organiza-tion, paper-based filing systems are still the preferred method of commu-nication for some law firms, doctors’of-fices, tax consultants, engineering organizations, construction companies, and a variety of government agencies. Organizations also often use paper records for long-term retention due to the expense of implementing full scale integrated electronic content manage-ment/electronic records management (ECM/ ERM) systems and the lack of universally accepted long-term solu-tions or standards for preserving elec-tronic records.
Differentiating Software Features
for Managing Paper vs. Electronic
The backlog of paper records re-tained due to long-term legal and reg-ulatory mandates that needs to be managed is enormous. Considering the volume of records received today in paper format from business partners, customers, and the public at large, even very technology-enabled
organi-zations must continue to plan for the retention of some physical records (p-records).
Shared Features
Software for managing physical and electronic records share some fea-tures. Metadata must be used to de-scribe all information objects, and each object, regardless of format, will have an expected workflow for appro-priate records processing. All records must be subject to retention policies, legal holds, and disposition
instruc-tions.Auniversal file plan that can be used to organize information is needed, and an organization’s security model must be applicable to all records types.
Unified Query Interface
Information and records must be located and retrieved due to customer inquiries, litigation-related discovery requests, auditing requirements, or operational needs. In any case, the for-mat of the record is usually of second-ary importance to ensuring all relevant information is retrieved – and the important issue for informa-tion users will be the speed and accu-racy of retrieval.
Rather than incurring the expense and delays associated with duplicative document searches across two infor-mation indexes and stores – paper warehouses and electronic repositories – most organizations would be best served if the file plan and indexes to documents in all formats were search-able through one database query and
one information retrieval interface. For this reason, many ECM/ERM software vendors offer a unified ap-proach to managing records in all media formats through one consistent browser-based query interface as can be seen in Figures 1 and 4. Software features required for managing differ-ent media will differ because physical
media are simply tracked, whereas, electronic records are both tracked and stored within the software system as
can be seen in Figures 2 and 3. For example, the metadata used
to manage and track paper and elec-tronic correspondence is similar with respect to the author, date of origin, title, or descriptions of sub-ject matter. However, the informa-tion filing, storage, retrieval, and workflow associated with these dif-ferent information formats diverge considerably.
E-mails are typically filed by key-board data entry into logical directo-ries within a central ECM/ERM computer-based repository, whereas paper records must be filed manually into hard copy folders, filing cabinets, or records storage centers. For paper records, much of the object manage-ment activities occur outside of the tracking database in actual box and file folder processing.
Unique Features for Physical Records
Examples of p-records manage-ment-specific software operational issues that affect software system features include:
reader integration
2.Printing of paper container labels for folders and boxes
3. Transmittal slip and records re-trieval (pick) list generation 4.Shelf or storage container specific
numbering conventions
5. Accounting reports for invoicing records services users
Unique Features for Electronic Records
Examples of issues primarily that affect e-records system features in-clude:
1. Auto-classification of e-mails and personal computer files based on metadata identification and con-tent analysis of the record during filing
2. Automatic application of records retention rules at the moment a records creator declares and files a record into the official electronic records repository
3. Integration of the records creation system user interface with the e-records repository to facilitate storage and eventual records re-trieval
4. Data format standards to enable long-term preservation and view-ing of records by anyone needview-ing access to the records in the future 5. Networking technology
infrastruc-ture and information security pol-icy considerations that can affect access to e-records
Differences in Accessioning
P-records and e-records work-flow and procedures can vary greatly. A major question for sys-tems that integrate the manage-ment of both physical and electronic files will be how to implement the traditional accessioning phase of the records life cycle. Accessioning for paper records is the process during which records center personnel typ-ically evaluate materials sent for po-tential storage in a records center. This workflow component is the phase when records management
Figure 1: Screen Showing Multiple Record Types
Figure 2: Specific Metadata Options for Electronic Records
Figure 3: Specific Metadata Options for Paper Records
value is added to overall operations. The staff determines if records transferred to the records center are unique record copies of infor-mation or duplicate records of the same basic information from differ-ent departmdiffer-ents.
When users of ECM/ERM appli-cations file objects directly into a repository, the assumption is that records management considera-tions went into the design of the system. So, a user’s records filing options foster some consistency and accuracy in records classification, filing, and retention. Unfortunately, the volume of e-records filed often
makes it difficult for records man-agement personnel to cost effec-tively review any significant volume of filed electronic records. Accessing may be done by executing statistical sampling of e-records being filed.
Metadata Helps Track Records
Many of the informational re-quirements for records tracking in a physical records management model (e.g., bar codes, transmittal slips, containers) are assumed by metadata management within an electronic system (e.g., unique record identifier, e-mails with at-tachments, directories/drives) for
e-records. These functions require metadata to work effectively. How-ever, when an information audit is being conducted, one system query should allow the retrieval of all types of information from one inter-face as seen in Figure 4.
When does a document still being revised in paper or electronic format become an official record? When and how are retention rules applied? Business rules require records-asso-ciated metadata to take actions. The organization’s overall records reten-tion policy may prescribe retaining correspondence for three years. The actual workflow procedures for re-taining e-mail correspondence in electronic format (declare and file into the ECM system) will vary greatly from the procedure for taining paper correspondence re-ceived through the postal system (place into folders labeled correspon-dence and transmit to the records center). Figure 5 illustrates an ex-ample of multiple options.
Terminology consistency and clarity becomes critical in systems that track records in multiple media formats. Is a “container” a box, a manila folder, a disk directory, an optical disk, or an online magnetic disk drive? Retention rules are often applied at the disk directory/folder level in electronic systems, but they are usually applied at the box level when managing physical files. A comprehensive integrated file plan that encompasses both electronic and physical records filing is needed for one software system to assist with both types of records. Meta-data used to characterize records must be compatible between differ-ent object types being described.
Subject terms, such as accounting or engineering, should be useable to describe information received as e-mails with attached word process-ing files, as well as paper-based faxes and invoices received by postal mail. Some metadata that indicates data
Figure 4: Query Retrieving Multiple Record Types
Figure 5: Screen Showing Multiple Actions Possible for One Record
format or a software version used to create an e-record may have little use for describing print media-based records. Engineering drawing size or other paper sizes important in planning container size, shape, or shelf space may have no value for managing electronic versions of the same basic records. For this reason, some vendors allow the display of different metadata properties for e-records and p-records from one user interface.
Records System Protection Issues
Digital preservation and disaster protection issues will vary for paper and electronic records. For example, paper records are not usually dupli-cated to distribute to multiple locations for disaster protection pur-poses. But this idea is a common practice in the management of elec-tronic systems, when redundant copies of data are stored regionally as a protection against local natural disasters. This accepted practice is due in part because of the fragility of computer-based data and its de-pendence on the technology infra-structure.
Paper and microfilm records need protection only from fire, flood, humidity, temperature extremes, and other environmental issues, such as physical security. However, electronic records are subject to ad-ditional concerns, such as electrical current reliability and stability for equipment, network access controls, and user authentication manage-ment requiring additional metadata.
The space to store physical records is much more expensive per page of stored data, and labor in-volved in storing p-records can be large. If hard copy records are stored onsite, software must imple-ment in-house procedural workflow for centralization of low-use, inac-tive records. For example, the owner of the records often must be identi-fied so services can be charged back. If hard copy records are stored off-site, they must be tracked to
syn-chronize inventories with the offsite records storage vendor’s system. In some cases, a certain level of inte-gration with the data maintained by the offsite records storage vendors’ recordkeeping systems may be needed to allow one global query that identifies the location of all records.
In addition, system access con-trols must differentiate between an ECM/ERM system user’s ability to retrieve stored information objects and the need to specify the person-nel who can access physical records. Each system implementation will vary in considering how to deal with document security and ex-pected procedures for retrieving records. For example, checking out an electronic record from a digital repository has different system se-curity configuration issues than those activities associated with sub-mitting a request for a record to be retrieved from an offsite, vendor-owned records center. Overdue no-tices are not typically sent to users
of an ECM repository who have checked out a copy of a file; whereas, it can become an important feature in a hard copy records management system.
Integration Requires Consistency
and Flexibility
To manage both physical and electronic records from one consis-tent user interface requires the im-plementation of a consistent view of information and processing capabil-ities that are independent of infor-mation type. Instead of using one module for paper records and one for electronic records, an integrated system will offer considerable con-ceptual flexibility and data integra-tion capabilities.
The metadata offered for de-scribing records will be sufficiently robust to manage retrieval and workflow for paper correspondence, but it will also allow direct filing of objects into a digital repository. This level of complexity in information management requires consistent metadata and filing conventions that are also sufficiently flexible to work across large organizations with many different business de-partments and functions.
The continuing attention focused on responsibly managing both physical and electronic records by organizations and an increasingly records- conscious public will only heighten the demand for effective and responsive information systems over time. Any organization consid-ering the selection and implementa-tion of software to manage infor-mation today will be expected to treat paper and electronic records as valuable resources and implement systems that enable excellence in managing all types of information media.
John T. Phillips may be contacted at [email protected]. See his bio on page 54.
