Introduction to Digital Records

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INTRODUCTIONTODIGITAL

RECORDS

Contents


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NationalArchives Introductiontodigitalrecords

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1Welcome 3

2Lessonobjectives 4

3Whatisarecord? 5

4Examplesofrecords 6

5Digitalrecords 7

6Bornorconverted? 87Recordcharacteristics 9

8Givingrecordsmeaning 10

9Removecharacteristics 13

10Characteristicsmatter 16

11Reviewingadigitalrecord 17

12Informationtypes 20

13Structuredversusunstructured 21

14Recap 23

15Movingtodigital 24

16DigitalTransitionPolicy 2517Managingdigitalinformation 26

18Digitalcontinuity 27

19ArchivesAct 28

20Otherlegislation 29

21Digitalrecordssystems 30

22Protectingrecords 31

23Summary 32


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1WELCOME

WelcometotheNationalArchivesofAustralia's Introductiontodigitalrecords eLearningmodule.

Themoduleshouldtake30minutestocomplete,andisintendedfor:

informationandrecordsmanagersandstaff ICTmanagersandstaff,and businessmanagers.


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2LESSONOBJECTIVES

Theaimofthismoduleistointroduceyoutodigitalinformationandrecordsmanagementconcepts.

Theseconcepts:

provideanessentialfoundationforthemanagementofdigitalinformationandrecordsinallAustralian

Governmentagencies,and

areakeypartofensuringrecordsareaccessibleandusablebythosewhoneedthem.

Aftercompletingthismoduleyouwillknow:

whatdigitalrecordsare characteristicsimportanttodigitalrecords conceptsofstructuredandunstructuredinformation conceptsofdigitaltransitionanddigitalcontinuity,and keylegislation,standardsandguidelinesrelatingtodigitalrecords.


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3WHATISARECORD?

Putsimply,arecordisanyinformationcreated,sentor

receivedinthecourseofyouragency'sbusiness.

Recordsprovideevidenceofyouragency'sbusinessand

underpinaccountabilityandefficiency.Theycanbe

paper,digitalorinotherformats.

Peopleoftenworryaboutwhatarecordis.Forpracticalpurposes,youshouldfocusonmanagingall

youragency'sbusinessinformationwell.Insteadoftryingtofigureoutwhatisorisn'tarecord,you

shouldmanageallinformationasrecords.

Howevernotallrecordsareofequalvalue,sotheydon'tallrequirethesamelevelof

management.Forexampleadeliverydocketdoesnotrequirethesamelevelofmanagementasa

Cabinetsubmissionaboutnewlegislation.


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4EXAMPLESOFRECORDS

Recordsincludeinformationfoundinmanyformatsandlocations,suchas:

email faxes spreadsheets mapsandplans samplesandobjects informationinbusinesssystems,suchasdatabases,casemanagementandfinancesystems letters textmessages minutes policyandbriefingpapers photographs researchdata,and socialmediasites.

Sowhatdowemeanwhenwetalkaboutdigitalrecords?


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5DIGITALRECORDS

Digitalrecordsarerecordscreated,communicatedandmaintainedbymeansofcomputer

technologyorotherdevicessuchasmobilephones.

Digitalrecordscanbeborndigital,ortheycanbeconverted.

Borndigital

Recordsthatareborndigitalarerecordscreated

usingcomputertechnology,includingemail,web

pages,digitalphotographs,digitalaudiofiles,

geographicinformationsystem(GIS)filesordatabaserecords.

Converted

Converteddigitalrecordsarerecordscreatedin

anotherformatandthenconvertedintodigitalform

forexample,ascannedordigitisedversionofa

paperrecord.


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6BORNORCONVERTED?

Togiveyouabetterunderstandingofwhichrecordsareborndigital,convertedandwhicharenot

digitalatall,let'slookatsomeexamples.

Firstatweetsentfromanagency'stwitteraccount.

Thisrecordwasborndigital.

Secondisascannedtaxinvoice.

Thisrecordhasbeenconverted.

Thirdisanemailbetweenaprojectmanager

andteammember.

Thisrecordwasborndigital.

Fourthisphotocopieddeliverydocket.

Thisrecordisnotdigitalatall.


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7RECORDCHARACTERISTICS

Recordsareusedtoprovideevidenceofyouragency'sbusiness,whichmeanstheyensureor

underpinaccountability.

Forthisreason,therearecertaincharacteristicsthatrecordsneedtohave.Theyneedtobe:

Authentic

Arecordmustbeauthenticsothatwecanbesurethatit

iswhatitsaysitis,includingwhocreateditandthetime

itwascreated.

Reliable

Arecordmustbereliablesowecanbesurethatthecontentisanaccurateaccountofwhathappened.

Secure

Arecordmustbesecurefromunauthorisedtamperingor

alterationtopreserveitsintegrity.

Usable

Arecordmustbeusablesothatuserscanlocate,access

anduseitovertime-forexample,whensoftwareis

upgraded.


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8GIVINGRECORDSMEANING

Inadditiontothecharacteristicsthatensurerecordsareacceptableasevidenceofagencybusiness,

thereareothercharacteristicsthatgiverecordsmeaning.

Thesecharacteristics:

helpyouunderstandtherecords,and ensurethattheymaintaintheirvalueasevidence,nowandinthefuture.

Thecharacteristicsthatgiverecordsmeaningare:


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Content

Thecontentofarecordisbasicallywhatitsays.Forexamplecontentcanbethe:

textofanemailmessage,SMSmessageorblogpost imagesonawebpage audiooutputofapodcast,and substanceofareport.

Structure

Thestructureofarecordisitslayoutorform,andthewaytheelementsareorganisedand

interrelated.Forexamplea:

navigationpathandmenuofawebpage report'stitlepage tableofcontents,and bibliographyandappendicesproducedinadocument.


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Context

Thecontextinwhicharecordiscreatedgivesitmuchmoremeaning.Forexample,toproperly

understandarecorditmaybeimportanttoknow:

whichbusinessactivityitisevidenceof whocreateditandthepositiontheyheldwhentheycreatedit,and whenitwascreated.

Appearance

Appearancereferstotherecord'svisualpresentationandincludesthingslikethe:

fontsizeandstyle backgroundcolour,and widthofmargins.

Theappearanceofarecordcanhaveasignificantimpactonthemeaning.

Behaviour

Describesthe'feel'orinteractivecharacteristicsofdigitalrecordsthatallowustomanipulateand

usethem.Forexample:

thewaypopupsappearonawebpage theabilitytoopenanattachmenttoanemail,and theabilitytoopenahyperlink

Theseareallbehaviouralcharacteristics.


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9REMOVECHARACTERISTICS

Sometimestheimportanceofthecharacteristicsthatgiverecordsmeaningisntclearuntilafter

they'vebeenlost.Let'slookatsomeexamples.

First-yourorganisationhascreatedaseriesofspreadsheetsregardingexpenditureonahighrisk

project.

Fig.1

Thecontentandcontextareobviouslyimportanttomaintain,butwhatelseisimportant?What

happensifwechangetheappearance?

Fig.2

Asyoucansee,althoughthechangedappearancemakesthespreadsheetmoredifficulttoread,the

informationisstillavailableandcoherent.

Whileitmaynotbenecessarytoretainallofthelookandfeelofthespreadsheets,itneedstobe

clearwhatcontentbelongstowhatcolumnsandrows.

Ifthelayoutorformatofthedatachanges,themeaningmaybeobscured.Whathappensifthe

structureofthedatachanges?


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Fig.3

Asyoucansee,changingthestructureofthisdatamakesitmeaninglesssomeelementsofthe

structureofadocumentlikethisareessentialcharacteristics.

Let'slookatanotherrecord.

Fig4.

Adigitalreportiscreatedbyanagency.

Thereportcontainsacolouredmap:thecoloursrepresenttheareaswithinthatregionwherethe

soilhasbeencontaminated.


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Fig.5

Toreducethefilesize,oneoftheprojectteammembersconvertedthemaptoblackandwhite.As

youcansee,withoutthecolour,thereportcannotbeunderstoodinthewaythatisintended.

Inthiscase,appearanceintheformofthecoloursonthemapisanessentialcharacteristicwhich

mustbeidentifiedandretained.


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10CHARACTERISTICSMATTER

Aswe'vediscussed,recordsprovideevidenceofyouragencys

business.Tobeusedasevidence,theymustretaintheir

meaning.

Akeyissuewhenmanagingdigitalrecordsisthatthe

characteristicsthatgivemeaningmaybealteredorlost

overtime,orduringprocessessuchassoftwareupgradesor

changingfromonesystemtoanother.

Ifthereisonlyminimalloss,recordscanstillfunction

effectivelyasevidence.However,significantlosscan

meanthatrecordslosetheirmeaning,andtherefore

cannolongerfunctionasevidence.


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11REVIEWINGADIGITALRECORD

Byidentifyingandunderstandingthecharacteristicsthatgiverecordsmeaning,weareabletobetter

manageandprotecttheessentialcharacteristics.Thismeanstheyretaintheirvalueasevidenceof

business.

Tofurtherdevelopyourunderstandingofthecharacteristicsthatgiverecordsmeaning,let'slookat

eachofthecharacteristicsthatmakeuparecord.Therecordyouarereviewingisareportonfish

populations.

First,thecontentofthereport.Animportantpartofthecontentofthisreportwouldincludethetext

andimageswhichindicatethenumberoffishpresentinthearea.


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Secondisthestructureofthereport.Anelementofthestructureofthisreportisthereport'stable

ofcontents.

Thirdisthecontextofthereport.Inthisreport,keycontextualinformationincludesthenameofthe

personwhocompiledthereport.


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Fourthistheappearanceofthereport.Anelementofappearancewouldincludethecolourinthe

barchartlegends,whichisimportanttounderstandingwherefishpopulationsarefound.

Finally,thebehaviourofthereport.Thisreportcontainsanindexthatallowssectionsofthereport

tobedirectlyaccessedbyclickingonthem.Thiswouldbeconsideredpartofthebehaviourofthe

report.

We'velookedateachofthecharacteristicsthatmakeuparecordandyoushouldnowhavean

understandingofthecharacteristicsthatgiverecordsmeaning.


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12INFORMATIONTYPES

We'vetalkedaboutstructureasacharacteristicofrecords,buthaveyoueverheardtheterms

structuredandunstructuredinformationordata?

Everwonderedwhattheymean?

Structuredinformationisinformation

capturedinanorderlyformwithstrict

controls.Itisusuallyinorganisedfieldsina

database.

Unstructuredinformationisinformation

createdwithoutstrictcontrols.Examples

includeinformationcontainedindocuments,

emailsandblogs.

Themajorityofbusinessisconductedusingunstructuredinformation.


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13STRUCTUREDVERSUSUNSTRUCTURED

Togetabetterunderstandingofthedifferencebetweenstructuredandunstructuredinformation,

let'slookathowdifferentlythesamepieceofinformationcanbeinterpretedwithoutlabellingor

tagginginanunstructuredenvironment.

InAustralia,thiscouldbereadasadatethefirstofApril,2012.

IntheUS,itwouldreadasadatethefourthofJanuary,2012.


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Itmightbeatelephonenumber(orpartofatelephonenumber)oranaccountnumber.

Withoutlabellingortaggingthenumbers,thecomputercannotinterprettheinformationandasa

result,understandingtheinformationwillrequirehumaninput.


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14RECAP

Sofar,we'vecovered:

whatrecordsare whatdigitalrecordsare thecharacteristicsofrecordsneededtoensurethey

provideevidenceandunderpinaccountability

thecharacteristicsthatgiverecordsmeaning,and thedifferencebetweenstructuredandunstructured

information.

Nextwe'lllookathowweensuretheserecordscanbeusedforaslongastheyareneeded.


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15MOVINGTODIGITAL

RapidadvancesintechnologyandtheonlineenvironmentmeanthatAustralianGovernment

agenciesfacemanytechnicalchallengescreating,usingandstoringinformation,inawidevarietyof

digitalformats.

However,therearemanybenefitstobegainedfrommovingtodigitalinformationandrecords

management:

improvedbusinessprocesses betterinformeddecision-making moreefficientuseofstafftime moreinformationsharing lowercompliancecosts,and reducedstoragecosts.


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16DIGITALTRANSITIONPOLICY

TheGovernmentrecognisesthesebenefitsandhasreleasedaDigitalTransitionPolicytomove

agenciestodigitalinformationandrecordsmanagementforefficiencypurposes.

ClickonthefollowinglinktoviewtheDigitalTransitionPolicypageontheNationalArchivesof

Australia'swebsite:

DigitalTransitionPolicypage

Sowhatisdigitalinformationandrecordsmanagement?


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17MANAGINGDIGITALINFORMATION

Digitalinformationandrecordsmanagementmeansthat

mostofyouragency'srecordsarecreated,storedand

manageddigitally.Wherepossible,incomingpaperrecords

aredigitised,sothatnewpaperfilesarenotcreated.

Mostinformationisnowcreatedindigitalform.Printing

digitalinformationtopapertostoreandmanageitis

becomingincreasinglyimpracticalasGovernmentbusiness

becomesmorereliantondigitaltechnologies.

Creatingnewpaperrecordsinadigitalworldiscostly,

reducesefficiency,stiflesinnovationandintroducesrisks

toagencybusiness.


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18DIGITALCONTINUITY

Toprovidepracticalguidanceonmanagingdigital

informationovertime,aDigitalContinuityPlanhas

beendevelopedbytheNationalArchivesin

consultationwithotheragencies.

Theaimofdigitalcontinuityistoensurethatdigital

informationisaccessibleandusableforaslongasit

isneeded.

TheDigitalContinuityPlanisbasedonsixprinciples

anditincludeskeyactionsaimedatachievingdigital

continuity.

Youcanfindoutmoreaboutdigitalcontinuityfrom

theNAAwebsite.


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19ARCHIVESACT

Sowhatarethelegalrequirementsthatneedtobemetwhenmanagingrecords?

TheArchivesAct1983isoneofthekeypiecesoflegislation

thatrequiresustomanagerecordsintheAustralian

Government.

UndertheAct,theNationalArchivesregulateswhenAustralian

Governmentrecordscanbedestroyedoriftheymustbe

transferredtotheArchivesforpermanentretention.

TheActprovidesforpublicaccesstomostrecordsoncetheyreachacertainage(between20and30years).


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20OTHERLEGISLATION

InadditiontotheArchivesAct,therearemanyotherpiecesoflegislationthatincludeatleastone

requirementtocreate,keepordestroyrecords.Someexamplesare:

FreedomofInformationAct1982

PrivacyAct1988

CrimesAct1914

FinancialManagement&AccountabilityAct1997

Telecommunications(InterceptionandAccess)Act1979

AnumberofActsfacilitatethespecificuseofdigitalrecordsandtheiracceptanceasevidence.

Twothatarethemostrelevanttodigitalrecordsare:

ElectronicTransactionsAct EvidenceAct

ElectronicTransactionsAct1999specifiesthatdigital

communicationmaybereliedupontoconductbusiness,

providingcertainconditionsaremet.

EvidenceAct1995statesthatdigitalrecordscanbeintroducedinto

courtasevidenceandcopiesofrecords,includingdigitalcopies,can

beaccepted.


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21DIGITALRECORDSSYSTEMS

Thesystemsweusetocreate,manageandstorerecordsplayanimportantroleinensuringrecords

areusable,trustworthyandreliableforaslongastheyareneeded.

TheNationalArchivesendorsesinternationalstandard ISO16175-PrinciplesandFunctional

requirementsforrecordsinElectronicOfficeEnvironmentsforusebyAustralianGovernment

agenciesfordigitalsystemsthatmanagerecords.

Thisstandardshouldbeusedtoreviewandevaluateexistingsystemsorwhendesigning,upgrading

oracquiringnewsystems.Thisensuressystemsareappropriatefortherecordsthattheycreate,

manageandstore.


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22PROTECTINGRECORDS

Animportantpartofmaintainingthecharacteristicsofdigitalrecordsismakingthemsecuresothey

cannotbetamperedwithordeletedinappropriately.Accesstosomerecordsshouldberestricted.

Tofindoutmoreaboutthespecificsecurityrequirementsforyouragencysdigitalrecords,you

shouldconsultyourAgencySecurityAdviser.

Formoreinformationandadvice,youcanalsorefertotheProtectiveSecurityPolicyFrameworkand

theAustralianGovernmentInformationSecurityManual.

TheProtectiveSecurityPolicyFrameworkorPSPFismanaged

bytheAttorney-General'sDepartmentandprovidespolicy

andguidanceonprotectivesecurityforpeople,information

andassetsintheAustralianGovernment.

TheAustralianGovernmentInformationSecurityManualor

ISMisproducedbytheDefenceSignalsDirectorateandapplies

toinformationthatisprocessed,storedorcommunicated

digitally.


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23SUMMARY

Thatbringsustotheendandyoushouldnowhavean

understandingof:

whatdigitalrecordsare thecharacteristicsofrecordsneededtoensurethey

provideevidenceandunderpinaccountability

thecharacteristicsthatgivedigitalrecordsmeaning whatisdigitalinformationandrecordsmanagement digitaltransitionanddigitalcontinuity,and keylegislation,standardsandguidelinesrelatingtodigitalrecords.

Moreinformation,standardsandguidelinesareavailableontheNationalArchiveswebsiteat

naa.gov.au

Documents

Introduction to Digital Records