Hi Paula and others
The advice I give our clients when deciding whether an email is a
record of value or ephemera is:
Does it take the place of a face-to-face discussion or phone call? If
yes would you make a file note? If no then it is ephemera and may be
disposed of under Normal Administrative Procedure (NAP). Please note
this is according to Australian practice and may be known slightly
differently in the UK.
If it takes the place of a formal commuincation such as a memo or
correspondence then it should be treated as though it were the
traditional paper.
This advice holds for electronic document management decisions as well
as the print and place on a paper file decision. Either way the
document should be kept in accordance with the relevant Disposal
Schedule.
Hope this helps.
Anethea Ulvestad
Project Officer
Department of the Premier and Cabinet
WA, Australia
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 2004 12:55:33 -0000
From: Bleasdale Karin <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Emails
Can anyone help me with the following queries that have come from two
of my
colleagues. My thoughts are that these emails should form part of a
structured file therefore not really being a problem. Any thoughts?
Are retrieving emails considered to be of a disproportionate
effort.
The answer to this will also help FOI - as it can go in our
Publication
Scheme....
Do we need a council policy on record retention that advises
managers and staff on how long records must be kept.
Subject Access requests and disproportionate effort - I agree
that
this can be used but all the more reason to have a clear policy that
states
upfront how long we strive to keep information for in permanent/easily
available form, and that any requests for information from an earlier
period
must be judged on a case by case basis, taking required effort into
account.
Another point to consider is how we would locate emails, both
for
Data Protection and Freedom of Information purposes. The former would
hopefully be easier to locate than the latter. And who would do this?
Records Management Officer SSD
LB Hammersmith & Fulham
Tel: 020 8753 5118
Fax: 020 8753 5103
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