Please join the IRMS London group for an informative and interactive session led by David Bowen on "Preserving E-mails – Which? Why? How long?". E-Mail is still a serious Information and Records Management problem for most businesses and government departments. E-mail preservation, whether for 2 years or 200 years, is also a stumbling block. It is made worse as e-mail becomes integrated with social media, telephones and text (SMS) messaging.

David Bowen has worked in Information Management for many years and has built two digital archives. He has now moved into independent Information Management, completing projects in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. David has also taught short courses in the Middle East (Dubai and Abu Dhabi, UAE;  Muscat, Oman;  Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and in Asia (Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Djakarta), and is currently Director and Consultant for Audata Ltd.

The session is designed to facilitate discussion, focussing on which e-mails need to be preserved and why; looking at standard records management retention questions and at historical archival reasons.  We will ask how long the e-mails need to be preserved, and see what differences this makes to the preservation methods selected.  Finally we will look at methods for selecting, capturing and preserving e-mails, ranging from manual methods (which require personal responsibility) to fully automated systems (which can require a significant budget).

Our usual format for the evening will include networking, sandwiches, tea and coffee from 5.30pm-6.30pm followed by David's session at 6.30pm-8pm with time for questions.

The meeting will be held at the OFWAT offices in meeting room 4 on 21 Bloomsbury Street, London. The closest tube stations are Tottenham Court Road, Goodge Street, and Holborn.