Record Management in the Digital Age

Dollars & Cents, August 2003

At a recent ASAE Knowledge Network, "Records Management: Managing the Information Lifecycle in the Digital Age," H. Larry Eiring, president, Association of Records Managers and Administrators, Prairie Village, Kansas, and Michael P. Flanagan, CAE, association manager, Applied Measurement Professionals, Inc., Lenexa, Kansas, reviewed why managing information is essential to associations' daily operations.

With organizations partnering across the globe, information sharing is at an all-time high. Time is a commodity, and the amount of time spent organizing and retrieving information has grown. Organizations are realizing that information can be powerful only if it is managed strategically.

Problems associated with information overload include

• the cost of storage,
• more distracting clutter,
• an increase in the amount of time needed to sort through volumes of information, and
• legal issues.

Classifying information

Although technology allows organizations to store information indefinitely, the key is to understand the context of your information and to use it to bring value to your mission.

Information includes

• documents--electronic or paper;
• images--video, digital, and print pictures;
• voice data--audio or digital; and
• Web pages.

Issues to consider when managing information include

• privacy and confidentiality,
• control,
• security,
• intellectual capital versus clutter, and
• capturing the context of content.

Because more and more information is electronic-based, new challenges include how to

• access information stored on applications dependent on outdated software or hardware,
• tag information for easier retrieval, and
• use information to support and protect the organization while still maintaining a competitive advantage.

Taking inventory

Every organization should have a retention scheduling policy that outlines how long records should be maintained. Responsibility for educating staff and accountability for the policy should reside with one person; a team may be involved in the process, but only one person should have ultimate authority.

The first step in developing a record retention schedule requires taking a physical inventory of your organization's information. With your staff's assistance, scour offices, file rooms, file drawers, computers, and voice-based systems to see what is being stored. Look at administrative, legal, human resources, operations, program, and research records to see what your staff has. Find out why they have the information and what would happen if they did not have it. Also, ask how long they will need it. Because stored information becomes personal, this process will most likely be stressful for employees. So tread carefully, but be thorough.

You can also prepare a questionnaire for staff, although a physical inventory will provide more details. Whichever method you choose, be sure to include all physical and electronic records in your search.

Once an inventory is taken, determine

• why the information is necessary,
• how to account for the information, and
• how to control the retention and disposal of all records and related data.

Not only are you looking for operational efficiencies, you also want to avoid action arising from either destroying necessary items or retaining information that you should have destroyed.

Establishing retention guidelines

You can find record retention guidelines in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations.

Some general guidelines:

Remember that the decision of when to dispose of records is up to your organization. While these guidelines are good to follow, only you can determine the intellectual capital of your information. Your retention schedule should be determined by legal requirements and business needs.

Sifting through electronic information

Electronic data has three benefits.

1. It can be sorted easily.
2. It saves space.
3. It can be transferred easily.

The challenge is to integrate electronic information to make it useful across platforms.

When determining whether to keep or discard electronic information, keep in mind that the data is what is important, not the medium. When you have established retention schedules, they should apply consistently across all media and all areas of the organization.

Because of the growth in its use, e-mail requires special consideration. When you retain electronic information, consider sorting and storing e-mails according to an established guideline. You may want to establish folders for administrative, financial, and research e-mails, with each group having subcategories. An organizationwide e-mail storage policy can reduce storage of duplicate messages and also help staff manage their e-mails.

Remember to include Web pages in your inventory process; they may contain vital information. Your organization should be capturing and storing some of its Web pages, just as it does other media.

Before setting up an electronic information policy within your existing record retention policy, consider

• the cost, risks, and benefits of storage;
• when electronic records should be stored offline;
• the format; and
• whether the information is already being stored.

Finally, don't forget voice mail. New technology is changing the way we capture voice-based data. Make sure your policy contains a plan to monitor, retain, and dispose of voice data properly.

Setting rules for teleworkers

Although all staff need to be educated in proper record retention, teleworkers bring special considerations.

Be careful about allowing employees to take records with them. The company is responsible for the control, security, and management of documents regardless of where they are located. You must establish a policy that covers physical and electronic records for workers who wish to take them off site. You may want to provide remote access to electronic information and not allow employees to store documents on their home computers. Legally, you could be vulnerable, so include record storage and retention policies as part of any telework arrangement.

--Brenda Luper, CPA, is ASAE's director of management and community strategy.

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