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GCN Home > 10/09/06 issue

Closing in on records management

Defining what your agency means by “records” is as important as the systems that manage them

By Edmund X. DeJesus, Special to GCN

The business of government isn’t business—it’s records. People entrust vital records, legal records, historical records and other records to federal, state and local bodies. These government agencies must keep as many records as any business, while simultaneously providing public access and satisfying numerous regulations. Records management systems are needed to help acquire, categorize, store, query, recall and dispose of records quickly and efficiently.

“Government has had records managers forever; automated systems are different, but the basic concepts remain the same,” said Barry Murphy, senior analyst with Forrester Research of Cambridge, Mass.

Choosing features

In fact, there are many records management features to consider when deploying new systems—whether your agency is looking for a standalone solution or records management as part of another system, such as financial management or enterprise resource planning.

“A request for proposals for pure records management is rare,” said Kathleen Kummer, director of government solutions for OpenText Corp. of Lincolnshire, Ill. Nonetheless, records management permeates everything government does, and ensuring you acquire the capabilities you need means spelling out requirements.

The first question an agency should answer when looking for a records management system is, What is a record? This is not a philosophical or rhetorical puzzle, but a practical and essential point that needs settling at the outset of any new project. What does your agency consider a record? For many, paper forms are a natural. “But now it’s necessary to manage things that aren’t necessarily traditional records,” Murphy said.

Types of records

Slowly but surely, most records these days are in the form of electronic files: data, document images, e-mail, graphics, spreadsheets, presentations, sound files, video. “Your definition of a record should encompass a wide variety, not just paper, e-mail, and so forth,” said Rizwan Ahmed, CIO of Louisiana. “Many other formats, such as voice and video, may also be important.”

Any records management system must therefore be flexible enough to permit defining new, possibly unique, record types. For example, the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources needs to handle 200-page production logs for the oil and gas industry. “Accommodating nonstandard formats is essential,” Ahmed said.

More news on related topics: Hardware, Content / Record Management, Management, State & Local



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