The LAWS category list has been designed for external facing local
authorities website content, and so is not sufficient to cover all records
a local authority creates or holds.
I do not believe that the use of LAWS is compulsory. The only compulsory
schema at the moment is the GCL (government category list).
Currently the Records Management Society's Local Government Group is
developing a Classification scheme (file plan) for local authorities mainly
using Functions and activities to develop the scheme, but also utilising a
case file to make it simpler for all staff within our authorities to use.
The first draft of this scheme should be available for comment and
discussion at the RMS conference in Bournemouth.
One thing to bear in mind in this area is the use of technology to support
as many different schemes as there are available. So in fact we can have as
many schemes as we like as long as they can and are mapped sufficiently.
I think as records managers we have a responsibility to our organisations
to be involved in developing the information infrastructure structure to
take into account RM.
Tony May
Documents Manager
Hertfordshire County Council
Phone: 01992 556 729
Comnet 26729
Adam Pope
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Sent by: The UK Records cc:
Management mailing list Subject: Local Government and LAWS categorisation
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26/01/2004 16:46
Please respond to Adam Pope
Hi Records Managers!
I was wondering if any Records Managers in local government were aware of
the undertaking, largely by IT people it appears, of a 'categorisation',
which is essentially a Thesaurus or classification scheme, for local
government
websites (including Freedom of Information and its associated Publication
Schemes) available from:
http://www.esd-toolkit.org/laws/
More information about the project can be found at:
http://www.laws-project.org.uk/index.shtml
As I understand it websites record many transactions and the associated
records will have metadata that use this scheme. As electronic documents
become more prevalent IT departments in Council's that accept LAWS will
force Records Managers either to classify their records accordingly, based
on subject, rather than function, which I personally find distressing,
attempt
to merge two Thesauri (mapping synonyms etc.,) or deal with two systems!
How do other Council Records Managers feel about this? Has anyone been
consulted? Or has this debate already been conducted on this list (I'm
a newbie here!)?
All the best
Adam Pope
Records Manager
Camden Borough Council
Ph 020 7974 5643
Adam Pope
www.adampope.net
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