RM101: An Introduction to Records Management

Presentation for the Department of Human ServicesAugust 2004

Today’s presentation

• Part of an ongoing RM project • Informal• Opportunity to share information, raise

questions, identify options• More opportunities: meetings, listserv,

web site

Material to cover

• Legal framework• Records management practices• Information technology and electronic

records management issues• Tools and resources

Legal framework (1)

• Data Practices Act (Ch. 13)• Health Insurance Portability and

Accountability Act, Privacy Rule

Legal framework (2)

• MN information policy statutes (15.17, 138.163-138.225)

• Uniform Electronic Transactions Act• Electronic Signatures in Global and

National Commerce Act• E-Government Act of 2002

What is a government record?“Government records" means state and local records, including all cards, correspondence, discs, maps, memoranda, microfilms, papers, photographs, recordings, reports, tapes, writings, optical disks, and other data, information, or documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, storage media or conditions of use, made or received by an officer or agency of the state and an officer or agency of a county, city, town, school district, municipal subdivision or corporation or other public authority or political entity within the state pursuant to state law or in connection with the transaction of public business by an officer or agency.

Basic considerations

• Comprehensive definition• Transaction of public business• Everything’s discoverable• Any medium or format• Legal, administrative, fiscal or historical

value

Official Records Act: M.S. 15.17

• Requires public officials and their agencies to make and preserve all records necessary to a full and accurate knowledge of their official activities.

• Government records defined in an all-inclusive manner.

Records Mgmt. Act: M.S. 138.17

• No records disposition without authorization

• Records disposition panel• One-time only authorization or records

retention schedules• All-inclusive definition of records

underscored

Who is involved?

• Agency chief administrative officer• Every government employee• Information Policy Analysis Division,

Dept. of Administration• Records disposition panel• State Archives

Basic tools

• Preserving and disposing of government records

• State Archives web site • Application for the authority to dispose

of records (PR-1)• Approved agency records retention

schedule• General records retention schedule

What me worry?

• Routine designed for paper – transition to e-government

• Horror stories: privacy, identity theft, legal catastrophes

• “Good cases make bad law”• Costs of compliance• Lack of knowledge and experience

NARA study results

• What’s a record?• Few recordkeeping cultures• Many recordkeeping lapses• No plan for electronic records• Business needs drive recordkeeping

(e.g., legal risks, case files, agency tradition)

http://www.archives.gov/records_management/initiatives/report_on_recordkeeping_practices.html

E-recordkeeping challenges

• Paper-based practices• Volatile technologies, unstable media• Public perception: privacy and

accountability• Costs: increasing demands, decreasing

resources• Legal uncertainties• No one-size-fits-all solutions• Steep learning curves and resistance

E-recordkeeping opportunities

• New services and products • E-government• Convergence on the Web • Cost-effective and efficient solutions • Much greater use value• Return on investment - information as

an asset

Definition of electronic record

Information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. An object created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means.

- Uniform Electronic Transactions Act

Some issues to consider (1)

• Legal admissibility• Discovery• Privacy and security• Access• Costs• Governance

Some issues to consider (2)

• Official record? Paper? Electronic?• Email• Web content• Signatures• Storage• Description

A working strategy

• Legal framework• Stakeholders and partners• Program goals and priorities• Management roles and procedures • Educational system• Tools and technologies

Some ideas that will help

• Information as an asset• Risk management• Priorities: the general schedule, unique

records and functions• Standards and architectures• Collaboration

End of the rainbow

• Documented systems• Cost-effective systems• Trustworthy records• Complete records• Accessible records• Durable records

State Archives products

• Trustworthy Information Systems Handbook

• Electronic Records Management Guidelines

• XML and metadata workshops and standards

• Project expertise (e.g., ERER, PAT)

Resources• Project web site

http://www.mnhs.org/dhs• State Archives web site

http://www.mnhs.org/preserve/records• Preserving and Disposing of

Government Recordshttp://www.ipad.state.mn.us/records2.html

• MN’s enterprise architecturehttp://www.ot.state.mn.us/

Questions?

Bob Horton651 215 5866, robert.horton@mnhs.org

Maria Plonski651 297 1261, maria.plonski@mnhs.orgCharles Rodgers

651 297 2344 charles.rodgers@mnhs.orgShawn Rounds

651 296 7953 shawn.rounds@mnhs.org