Good Digital Records Don’t Just
‘Happen’
Embedding Digital Recordkeeping as an
Organic Component of Business
Processes and Systems
Adrian Cunningham, National Archives of Australia
The Current Situation
• Global market for software products that
make and manage records
• Good software is a prerequisite for good
recordkeeping
• ISO 15489 – Records Management
• ISO 23081 – Metadata for Records
• Various national/jurisdictional software
requirements/specifications
• Need for global harmonisation
Existing National Specifications
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US DoD 5015.2 Design Criteria Standard
European Union’s MoReq (Model Requirements)
Germany’s DOMEA Concept
Norway’s NOARK
UK National Archives’ Requirements
National Archives of Australia’s ERMS Specs
Archives New Zealand’s Systems Standard
Victoria’s VERS Standard
Project Modules
1. Overview document – principles, concepts
2. High level requirements for ERMS software
3. Guidelines and requirements for managing
records in business systems
Guiding Principles (records)
1. Electronic business information has to be actively
managed and maintained as evidence of business
activity
2. Business information has to be linked to its
business context by metadata
3. Business information has to be kept and remain
accessible for as long as required
4. Business information has to be able to be disposed
of in a managed, systematic and auditable way
Guiding Principles (systems)
5. Systems for capturing and managing business
information have to rely on standardised
metadata as an active, dynamic and integral
part of the recordkeeping process
6. Systems have to ensure interoperability across
platforms and domains and over time
7. Systems should rely as far as possible on open
standards and technological neutrality
8. Systems should have the capacity for bulk
import and export using open formats
Guiding Principles (systems)
9. Systems must maintain information securely
10. Most metadata should be system generated
11. Systems should support business
information management as an organic part
of the business process
12. It should be as easy as possible for users to
create/capture records of business activity
Module 3 – Business Systems
• New territory – existing national specs only focus
on eDRMS systems
• Main audience: business systems developers
• So, we tried to avoid records management jargon
• Business systems are applications that automate
structured business processes and/or facilitate
transactions between an organisational unit and
its customers. eg.:
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an e-commerce system,
client relationship management system,
purpose-built or customised database,
human resources systems
Characteristics of
Business Systems
• Hold dynamic data that is:
– Frequently updated (timely)
– Able to be transformed
(manipulable)
– Holds current data
(non-redundant)
• In comparison, records are:
– Fixed at a point in time
– Inviolate
The Challenge
• Traditional processes for paper records translate
well to eDRMS, ie. management of
correspondence-type records, such as emails,
reports, policies, minutes, drafts, etc
• Business systems do not as readily accommodate
traditional recordkeeping processes
• While the core function of an eDRMS is to
manage documents and records, this function is
at best ancillary in a business system
What is the Record in a Business
System?
• Key component of the guideline:
explaining how to determine what should
constitute the record in a business system
• Requires partnership of business owners,
records staff and system administrators
Step 1: Analyse the work process
Identification of
requirements for
evidence of business
being conducted in
the business system
Identification of the
information that
forms the evidence
Step 2: Identify linkages and
dependencies
Step 3: Devise strategies,
based on options assessment
Step 4: Implement
Key Recordkeeping Functionality
Creating Records in
Context
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Creating a fixed record
Record metadata
Management of aggregations
Records classification tools
Supporting Import,
Export and
Interoperability
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Import
Export
Managing and
Maintaining Records
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Metadata configuration
Record duplication,
reclassification, extraction
and closure
Reporting on records
Online security processes
Retaining and
Disposing of Records
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Compliance with disposition
authorisation regimes
Disposition application
Review
Destruction
Disposition metadata
Reporting on disposition
activity
Future Directions
• Engaging software vendors
• French, Chinese and Spanish translations
• Fast-tracking modules as ISO standards – ISO 16175
(ballot, 2010) and possible modifications
• ICA project to produce detailed scenario-based
implementation guidance, case studies + training packages,
2010-2012 (China is a participant in this new project)
• Links to the work of the USA Object Management Group
• Mappings to MoReq2 and US DoD 5015.2
• International software testing regime + testing scripts?
• Interactive web-based self-assessment tool?
• Process mapping and data modelling?
Questions
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