Gillian Lonergan wrote:
> Can anyone point me in the right direction for advice on what
> modern electronic records (intranet, email etc) should be kept by
> organisations for addition to their archives?
Others have pointed you to some useful guidance. My own opinion on
the matter of what you should keep is that you should do what you
have always done. Whether you do or do not retain records is primarily
a function of what they are a record of, rather than the particular
form that they take. The only factor that might affect this decision
is storage cost. In general, digital records will have lower storage
costs than paper records, although unfortunately some of your other
costs may be higher.
>
> An additional question is the method of retention. I know I have
> read material on these subjects in the past, but am wondering what
> the current advice is.
There is, as yet, no universally-accepted single method of retention.
A great deal depends on circumstances: volume and expected retention
period will be two influencing factors. The format in which the
records are created is also of importance. For short periods of
retention (say, up to five years) storing things in their original
format on CD-R will be adequate for most small organisations and
relatively inexpensive.
Your primary problem is likely to be capturing the records in the first
place. In this respect computerised records are no different
from paper: if everyone is their own filing clerk and there is no
centralised records repository for current records, then locating
what needs to go into the archive is a fraught business.
Kevin Ashley
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