Hi Lynette,
At the risk of giving you the usual consultant's answer, "Hire a
consultant", you may wish to do that as there are a number of steps involved
in getting effective electronic records management going.
For example, you need to inventory the electronic information to determine
what you have and don't - which can be problematic for centralized servers
and mainframes, and even more so for email and PCs due to the volumes and
their decentralized nature.
You need to determine exactly how to store electronic information to ensure
it is stored in accordance with the various regulatory requirements you face
- in some cases you may need to store on optical rather than magnetic or mag
tape. If you have retention periods longer than 5-10 years, you need to look
at the digital preservation aspects: media, hardware, and software
compatibility.
I don't mean to trivialize or exaggerate the issues involved - but I want to
remind everyone on the list: there's a difference between saying "We manage
records by content, not by media" and actually doing it, given the relative
fragility of electronic information and the volumes and various formats and
media involved. I really suggest you have an experienced electronic records
consultant examine your organization and help you plan an effective approach
that incorporates the tools and technologies as well as the processes and
recommended changes to those processes to ensure a successful program. There
are a number of them out there, many of whom are members of this list.
IMERGE is one (and we have an office in St. Paul) but if you look in the
list archives you will see a number of others who are capable of assisting
in this process.
I hope this is of value - please don't hesitate to contact me offline if I
can provide any additional assistance. If you will be in Chicago next week
I'd be happy to meet you as well.
Cheers,
Jesse Wilkins
CDIA+, LIT, EDP, ICP
IMERGE Consulting
(303) 574-1455 office
(303) 484-4142 fax
[log in to unmask]
Yahoo!: jessewilkins8511
ARMA ID: 131073
>From: Lynette Yohn <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Records Management Program <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Retention of Electronic Records
>Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 09:34:44 -0500
>
>Good day,
>
>I'm looking for responses from those members who have been able to
>implement retention on their organization's electronic records.
>
>Please share any successes, suggestions, recommendations you have
>regarding applying retention to electronic records stored on various
>platforms. My organization has electronic records stored on a network,
>mainframe, as well as desktop applications and e-mail.
>
>Thank you,
>
>Lynnette
>
>Lynnette S. Yohn
>Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota
>Records Management Coordinator
>(651)662-6617
>(651)629-3162 - Pager
>
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