The Moray Council along with other local authorities in Scotland uses the Phoenix database
to record pupil information including admission and leaving dates.  It replaced the
traditional paper admission registers in 1999/2000.

Educational Services, ICT and records management are now in a position where we need to
look at archiving information from the database.  We have agreed to retain the complete
information from year of leaving (18 years) + 7 years on the system where it can be
accessed for administrative purposes. This ties in with the guidance issued by the Records
Management Society in their retention schedule for educational records which says retain
in the school for date of last entry plus 6 years before transferring to the archives.

After this period we decided that only that information held in the traditional paper
admission registers should be kept and transferred to the archives (name, address, parent
or guardian, DoB, school, date of admission, date of leaving, reason).  All the other
information which the Phoenix database collects and collates will be deleted from the
system automatically and a script run to keep only that information which can be
transferred to the archives.

The retained information will be made available in the archives under guidance issued by
Association of Scottish Local Authority Archivists (ASLAWG)who recommend closure from 30 -
75 years to researchers (currently under review) under the Data Protection Act.

Needless to say all of the information is subject to the Data Protection Act.

The questions are:-
 - How have other local authorities dealt with the retention and archiving of pupil
information held electronically?
 - How has the information been archived - we have a variety of practices in the north
east of Scotland from printing onto paper, copying onto cd, copying onto floppy disk.  We
think these are not future proof and are open to tampering and interference and lack
security in themselves i.e. they need a further level of security to ensure their safe
keeping.
 - Has anyone looked at archiving the information electronically - locally or centrally,
in isolation or on a shared system between authorities - an electronic archive available
to several organisations.  A commericial organisation.  How did you achieve this?
 - Anyone using an electronic method for the long term storage - how did you address
migration and future proofing of the information held?
 - Given that the electronic archive has to be kept closed for a period of time how did
you address security, access to and checking of the data (e.g. just check that in 2008 we
had 25,000 records are there still 25,000 in 2010?)
 - Should other information be considered for archiving - given that the database contains
information which could be of use to future generations of researchers?

Any discussion, views, advice, suggestions, help and comments gratefully received.

Thank you
Eleanor

Eleanor Rowe
Records Manager
The Moray Council
Elgin Library
Elgin
IV30 1HS
Tel 01343 562633
Email:- [log in to unmask]
Website: www.moray.gov.uk



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