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Hi there,

I've just been directed to the list by the RMS. I'm currently implementing
a records management policy in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

I've seen RM policies from various councils across the UK but have found
next to nothing in terms of actual business process. We have a good
understanding of the requirements of an RM policy and now need to determine
the processes by which council employees can turn their output into records.

We have undertaken a inventory of existing paper records and through
consultation with business units, have developed an Analysis of Business
Functions. Our next step is to link the two by taking each business unit in
turn and linking existing Record Series to our Analysis of Business
Functions.

From the information I have seen, the suggestion appears to be that each
potential record/ files (e.g. doc, email, map etc) requires a cover sheet
with metadata and each Record Series requires similar. A Record Series is
synonymous with either a hanging file or a box file. It seems to me that
creating a file cover for each potential record is a very bureaucratic way
of doing things. My concern is that 'buy in' from the business units to
such a labour intensive process will be low. I would prefer to be able to
create record cover sheets for Record Series and ensure that all new
potential record/ files are added in the appropirate place, but obviously
wish to make sure we adhere to best practice.

We are currently evaluating our approach to a future EDRM solution (likely
to be bespoke), but this will not be implemented in the short term.

Any suggestions/ information about existing examples of good practice would
be greatly welcomed.

Regards,

Fraser