Doug Allen wrote:
<I'm not sure that there would be any business continuity plan that
could
accommodate the disaster that has befallen New Orleans.  How would one
be
able to protect against such flooding? How would any organization have
the
time and the ability to move records to another facility, somewhere
else?>

The truth is - all records cannot be protected.  This is the basis of a
Vital Records Program and Business Continuity planning.  We have to make
choices - in advance - about which records, data and information to
protect and how they will be protected.  I have been teaching vital
records workshops all over the U.S. and the Caribbean for the past
several years, and at every workshop the initial assumption is that
there is some miraculous way to save or protect or salvage everything.

A vital records program establishes the identity and protection methods
for "mission critical" records - not all records.  There are techniques
and processes available to help in determining vital records and in
designing and implementing vital records programs and business
continuity (or disaster prevention) plans.  Most protection methods rely
on some type of redundancy, which can be costly.  So we have to choose
what records, data, and information must be protected based on logical,
proven concepts and best practices.  The two ARMA publications Larry
Medina recommended are a start.  Another good template, especially for
IT systems, is the NIST special publication 800-34 "Contingency Planning
Guide for Information Technology Systems." More info and a link to the
publications can be found at
http://www.itl.nist.gov/lab/bulletns/bltnjun02.htm.


Ginny Jones
(Virginia A. Jones, CRM)
Records Manager
Information Technology Division
Newport News Dept. of Public Utilities
Newport News, VA
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