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8/8/2019 Q & a eRecords Federal Global Missions Outreach
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/q-a-erecords-federal-global-missions-outreach 1/6
http://concerningelectronicrecordmanagement.blogspot.com/2010/09/questions-answers-about-
electronic.html
Questions & Answers about Electronic
Records Management particularly pertinent toFederal Global Missions Outreach
It is essential that Federal Government Agencies manage their
electronic records appropriately. Like all other government
records, electronic records can also be used as evidence in
litigation (eDiscovery). Agencies can be held liable if they keep
their electronic records too long, if their electronic records are
not properly destroyed, or if they are destroyed too soon. Underall of these circumstances, the Federal Government Agency can
be publicly embarrassed by the events, and can lose significant
dollars attempting to protect itself to produce the required
records, to identify the relevant records, or to recover lost
records. Federal Agency’s are required by law to manage records
and this includes electronic records.
This Q&A template has been developed in response to Electronic
Records questions received during a recent TDY and some
questions received from missions via email. It is intended that
this Q&A will assist those mission workers who create, receive,
and retain electronic records.
Q: What are electronic records and how do they differ from paper
records?
A: An electronic record meets the definition of a record, and
is information recorded by a computer that is produced orreceived in the initiation, conduct or completion of business.
Examples of electronic records include: e-mail messages, word
processed documents, electronic spreadsheets, digital images and
documents produced in many of the systems owned and operated
by Agency. Electronic records maintained in many Agencies’
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consist of information systems which include financial reports,
contracts, personnel information, Foreign Service information,
legal information, etc.
Electronic records differ from paper records in three primaryways:
Frequency-There more of them
Fluidity-Electronic records are always moving, where paper is not
nearly as mobile
Federacy-They are more accessible
Q: Do the electronic records I create and use at work belong to
me?A: No. All electronic records that are created received or
stored by Agency employees are the property of the Federal
Government and its citizens. These records are not the property
of its employees, contractors, or other staff or volunteers.
Employees should have no expectation of privacy when using the
Federal Government computer resources.
Q: I sometimes use my home computer to conduct government
business. Am I creating public records?A: Yes. Records created in the performance of an official function,
regardless of where you are creating or receiving, must be
managed the same way as those created and received using
government computer resources in a government facility.
Q: Could my electronic records be released for the purpose of
litigation (eDiscovery)?
A: Electronic records might be released in for litigation or theeDiscovery process. Computers are provided to employees for
conducting official business. Employees should be prepared
to provide access to their electronic records under these
circumstances. This process usually begins with a litigation hold.
Electronic records that are created using home computers are
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also subject to eDiscovery.
Q: What are my responsibilities as a government employee who
creates electronic records?
A: The Government employee’s responsibilities for managingelectronic records are the same as those for other records.
Government employees are responsible for organizing their
electronic records so they can be located and used. Government
employees are responsible for using an approved Disposition
Schedule to identify how long electronic records must be kept.
Government employees are responsible for keeping electronic
records for their entire retention period, and for deleting
electronic records in accordance with an approved Disposition
Schedule.
Q: What is a Disposition Schedule?
A: NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) requires
that all Federal Agencies manage Federal Records regardless of
physical format and these records are to be managed according
to an approved Disposition Schedule. The records schedule
identifies how long the records must be kept, when they must
be destroyed and when certain records can be sent to NARA forpermanent preservation. No Federal records can be destroyed
without the authorization of an approved Disposition Schedule.
Q: Is there a Disposition Schedule that covers the electronic
records in my mission? There are three responses to this
question:
A. Your electronic records may be located within an Information
System that has been scheduled with NARA and that dispositionschedule should be reviewed for disposition instructions.
B. Many electronic records are covered under the General
Records Schedule (GRS), and this should be consulted for
disposition instruction.
C. If the electronic records in your mission are not covered by the
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GRS, and are not located in one of the Information Systems that
have been scheduled by NARA they may be covered under an
approved Agency Records Schedule
Q: What should I do if my electronic records are not listed on aDisposition Schedule as listed above?
A: You should contact the Information and Records Division for
assistance.
Q: My mission’s paper records were listed on a Disposition
Schedule; now most of our records are created electronically.
Does the Disposition Schedule still apply?
A: In most cases yes, but there may be exceptions. In most
cases the Disposition instructions are medial neutral. You should
contact the Information and Records Division for assistance if
you have questions determining if the Disposition instructions are
applicable.
Q: My mission is buying new software for a database or
Information System, and we do not know which data from the old
database or Information System we need to keep.
A: Electronic records must be retained in accordance with theDisposition Schedule as indicated, so it is very important that the
database or Information System be scheduled. The schedule will
tell you how long to keep the older data.
Note: Electronic records cannot be destroyed if they have been
requested for eDiscovery, even if their retention period has
expired. It is also important that you consult the Agency Policy
for information regarding the implementation of new software,
such as data bases or Information Systems.
Q: How should I store permanent electronic records?
A: Missions should know how long their electronic records must
be retained before they select their storage media for electronic
records that are permanent or have lengthy retention periods;
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therefore it is very important that Disposition Schedules be
reviewed before considering storage media. Missions should
consider authorized technology when considering storage media.
When considering storage media for permanent records it is
important that the media be approved by NARA. Currently NARAwill receive permanent electronic records stored on CD ROMs.
Information regarding authorized storage media may be obtained
by contacting the Information and Records Division.
Q: Will my older electronic records be accessible when new
technology (hardware and software) is upgraded or changed?
A: Electronic technology is a rapidly changing field. Many
electronic records will require that they be kept longer than theoriginal technology that was used to create them. New technology
is not always compatible with older technology that missions may
have used in the past. Missions are responsible for ensuring that
older electronic records are migrated to newer systems to remain
usable. As older technology becomes obsolete or unusable due to
the evolving field of electronic records in some missions it may
be necessary to contact CIO office or Information and Records
Division for assistance. Additional guidance for this question is
also found in the Agency Policy.
Q: Are deleted electronic records permanently destroyed?
A: Not necessarily. Electronic records should be deleted
in accordance with the appropriate Disposition Schedule
instructions. However, deleted electronic records may not be
completely deleted from the system and may still be latent within
the Agency infrastructure. For assistance in deleting electronic
records please contact your Agency Information and RecordsDivision or CIO office.
Q: My mission has piles of records which they would like to
convert to electronic format and destroy the paper files. What is
your guidance in regards to this question?
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A: This is a common situation in various missions. There are
many advantages to converting the paper records to an electronic
format, primarily that of space, convenience, and accessibility.
Unfortunately it is not always possible to convert all the paper
files to electronic format and destroy the paper. My responsewould be this: A. Make sure they are records that should be
kept, and that some if not many are not subject to deletion due
to their Disposition Schedule. A purge day (purge day=a day
when old records past their disposition can be destroyed) should
be scheduled prior to any type of conversion. B. Some records
may be managed in document management data base and the
original copy will have to be placed in an authorized storage
facility until it has reached its disposition. What this does is itaffords the convenience of having an electronic copy and moving
the paper to storage until it has reached its disposition. C. Some
paper records may be copies and the official record may be
contained in a scheduled Electronic Information System. In such
cases paper copies need not be retained, however if one wants
to retain the paper copy as a working copy it may be scanned
into the hard drive and e-filed for the convenience of having an
accessible working copy.