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The management & retention of electronic records: some

issues & trends

Anna MorrisSenior Research Analyst

Queensland State ArchivesRMAA’s Professional Development Program: the Electronic

Record as Evidence

18 September 2007

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Challenges of managing electronic records include…

� Volume

� Dynamic, Changeable Content � Duplicability

� File formats� Federated services� IM capacity and literacy

� Technology obsolescence

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Electronic Transactions (Qld) Act 2001The object of this Act is to provide a

regulatory framework that:� recognises the importance of the information economy

to the future economic and social prosperity of Queensland; and

� facilitates the use of electronic transactions; and� promotes business and community confidence in the

use of electronic transactions; and� enables business and the community to use electronic

communications in their dealings with government.

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Evidence Act 1977 (Qld)

� ‘An Act to consolidate, amend and reform the law of evidence and for related purposes’

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Courts look for:

� Systematic management

� Integrity� Authenticity

� Non-repudiation of authorship � Non-repudiation of receipt � Time and date information

� Maintenance of confidentiality controls

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Recordkeeping controls & tools

� Information Standard 40: Recordkeeping

� AS/ISO 15489: Records Management

� Recordkeeping Metadata

� e-Government Policy Framework for Electronic Records Management

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Queensland State Archives Digitisation Disposal Policy

� Policy on the authorisationof the early disposal of original paper records after digitisation

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Legal framework

The development of the Digitisation Disposal Policy was based on the interplay between:

� Evidence Act 1977 and common law

� Electronic Transactions Act 2001

� Public Records Act 2002

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Prerequisites� Public authorities need to have 5

prerequisites in place before authorisation can be granted:

1. Business Classification Scheme2. Retention and Disposal Schedule3. eDRMS or system with recordkeeping functionality4. Recordkeeping policies and procedures5. Appropriately skilled staff

Without these, an agency would not be able to determine what records are eligible for

authorisation or to maintain authentic digital copies of original paper records

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Eligible record classes

To be eligible for authorisation for early disposal, classes of records must:

Have a total retention period of 10 years or less;Not be subject to any format-specific retention requirements; andBe at low risk of continued need for access to the originals for legal or other purposes.

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Conditions for authorisation

� To ensure accuracy of reproduction and the authenticity of the image over time, the policy sets out seven conditions that need to be met.

� These relate to systems and procedures for creating the digitised copy and managing it.

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Contact details

� Email – anna.morris@archives.qld.gov.au� Website – www.archives.qld.gov.au� Telephone – (07) 3131 7767