Records Management in the Information Age – but how do you do that? (Part II)

re: Records Management in the Information Age – but how do you do that? (Part II)

Hef — Sun, 07 May 2006 16:35:34 GMT

"file plan" - if by this you mean a taxonomy, this is one of the interesting areas in developing records management systems - and by interesting I mean not easy, and requiring a large training component for users. Then there is the choice between functional, subject and aspect based classification schemes - will the tools handle all of them?

I guess the other question I have is how will this all fit in to an organisation that already has one of the large electronic document and records management systems? Is anyone acting to create standard schema such as those proposed by xml.org in other fields?

re: Records Management in the Information Age – but how do you do that? (Part II)

Samuel — Mon, 08 May 2006 16:52:36 GMT

You state "All of the contents in a records space are records (or metadata supporting your records): whereas a collaborative space contains drafts or work-in-progress information that mostly don’t become official records, records spaces are intended solely to keep store and managed records that have been declared." I find this distinction quite rigid. Looking at Document and Records Management systems, they usually allow editing records and versions of records. Why do you decide to make this strict distinction anyway? Or: why not use a records management system with version for collaboration?

- If my previous claim is correct then what you state next, "Define folder structure & metadata schema to match the file plan", will be much more difficult too. I see that defining such a structure is not the problem, working with it is.

- "A mechanism for accepting records declared in collaborative spaces in a way that ensures that they fit into the record space’s file plan & metadata schema." This is indeed very important. In our organisation you have early-phase projects, as we call them. With lots of draft documents. But soon some of these drafts are frozen (with corresponds to your distinction between the collaboration and records domain) and moved (manually!) to another domain. But there is one issue here that is also important: don't loose the context! The documents that lead to a record or a managed document are usually very important to understand that document. An email about a document, for instance, gives important info that is needed to understand the attached document. Most people throw away the email, with major consequences... Most systems don't support this "saving context" either.

re: Records Management in the Information Age – but how do you do that? (Part II)

recman — Sun, 14 May 2006 01:18:09 GMT

@Hef:

We believe that our system can handle all of the different types of classification schemes that you mention (although the decision of what type of taxonomy to use in a retention program is a subject worthy of its own discussion...)

Regarding your point about interoperability with other large document and records management systems, we've made some significant investments in making sure that our products can work well with other systems. And longer-term, we are participating in standards efforts like AIIM's iECM group (http://www.aiim.org/article-pr.asp?ID=29666) to help make it easier for different document & records management to work together.

- Ethan Gur-esh.

re: Records Management in the Information Age – but how do you do that? (Part II)

recman — Sun, 14 May 2006 01:29:55 GMT

@Samuel:

Regarding your first question – you’re absolutely right that even after a document has been declared as a record, it’s important for users to be able to create new documents (or versions) that are based on the record content. The “rigid distinction” is more about what guarantee of integrity the system needs to provide – i.e. the goal is that once something is declared to be a record, an “authentic” version/copy of it must be retained somewhere where users cannot subsequently alter/modify it in any way. But that goal needs to be met in a way that doesn’t prevent/deter knowledge workers from continuing to work with information that they need.

Your comment about the importance of “context” is also correct. For example, the “record” that a company may need to keep about a critical document may well include additional information beyond just the document content – such as an audit history of who contributed to or viewed it, e-mails documenting decisions that were made about the document, etc.

And now that we’re about to start talking about product capabilities in this blog, I’m happy to say that our product provides capabilities to meet both of these goals – and we look forward to hearing your feedback on those features as we get into the details.

- Ethan Gur-esh.

re: Records Management in the Information Age – but how do you do that? (Part II)

Kate — Mon, 15 May 2006 02:10:45 GMT

I am concerned about your suggestion that only final pieces of work are records.
I belive that a record should show the thinking process that contribute to a decision. This is generally illustrated in successive drafts. Therefore drafts are records

re: Records Management in the Information Age – but how do you do that? (Part II)

Aggie — Thu, 18 May 2006 11:04:04 GMT

Seems like some of the age old RM discussions are starting to rear their heads, including the classic "when is a record a record". So long as you are building flexibility into the system as suggested to allow clients requirements to be met that should be fine.

Haven'nt seen any comment yet about "what" is a record other than reference to emails etc. Example - in the AEC world drawings are clearly key artifacts and hence records. They also require specific handling and processing to be of any use with Engineering types. I am sure this has been identified!

re: Records Management in the Information Age – but how do you do that? (Part II)

recman — Thu, 25 May 2006 21:40:16 GMT

@Kate, Aggie:

You're both right that the notion of what constitues a record (different types of content, additional "context" about the etc. possibly including drafts or related files) is something that vary from one records management program to another.

So flexibility to be able to support those different types of objects as records is a critical requirement for any records management system, ours included.

And as we get further into the details of the records management functionality in the 2007 release, we'll definitely be making an effort to show how we've built that flexibility into our products.

Ethan Gur-esh
Program Manager

re: Records Management in the Information Age – but how do you do that? (Part II)

Martin — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 10:36:22 GMT

Hi,

just been recommended to your site.

I get the impression that most people who have commented are from the USA? Just to say that in the UK, public organisations are covered by the Public Records Act which defines what they must do to comply and keep information 'For the Record'. This covers Government Deaprtments and Agencies (Central Government) as well as Local Government.

key to all this is defining your Records Management (RM) policy which outlines what is a record. This could include keeping creating records at specific stages in the development of ...... well, whatever it is that you do.

Records are NEVER changed and any system that allows this is really going to cause you problems. However, it should allow you to copy a record, then amend this and save it as a new document or record.

I'll look forward to future discussions on RM.

Martin

re: Records Management in the Information Age – but how do you do that? (Part II)

Frank Big Hat — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 17:49:48 GMT

I am glad Martin, Kate and Aggie are reinforcing the issue I raised earlier.
The team should check out the UK Public Records Act, 1958.
I strongly suspect the DIRKS system has its origins in guidance issued by the UK Dominions Office in the 1930's but many current and former UK Commonwealth countries have legislation that reflects the concept that a record does not need declaring to be a public record. It is a record simply because it exists. It may not worth keeping for very long, e.g. most Post-It notes, but at times even a blank sticky patch stuck to a particular page can have long-term significance.

re: Records Management in the Information Age – but how do you do that? (Part II)

Cam — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 12:51:47 GMT

Can you please advise if and what laws or regulations govern the private sector in the UK in relation to records management?

re: Records Management in the Information Age – but how do you do that? (Part II)

recman — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 20:55:36 GMT

@ Cam:

While other members of this community may be able to offer some insight, we (Microsoft) are definitely not the right people to be giving advice of this nature. Determining what laws or regulations your organization needs to comply with based on the jurisdictions & industries in which you operate is a task for your company’s legal department.

There are some online resources that may be of assistance when making determination, including ARMA International’s resource page (http://www.arma.org/) .

- Ethan Gur-esh.

Office 2007, SharePoint Server 2007 e WSS

Raul Ribeiro — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 13:37:25 GMT

SharePoint 2007 - General information SharePoint Server 2007 - Hidden gems Microsoft Office SharePoint

Microsoft Records Management Team Blog Records Management in the | Cellulite Creams

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:47:08 GMT

PingBack from http://cellulitecreamsite.info/story.php?id=622

Microsoft Records Management Team Blog Records Management in the | Menopause Relief

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:18:23 GMT

PingBack from http://menopausereliefsite.info/story.php?id=208

Microsoft Records Management Team Blog Records Management in the | unemployment office

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 10:52:48 GMT

PingBack from http://unemploymentofficeresource.info/story.php?id=4148

Microsoft Records Management Team Blog Records Management in the | garden decor

Microsoft Records Management Team Blog Records Management in the | garden decor — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:14:56 GMT

PingBack from http://gardendecordesign.info/story.php?id=4459