If your IT will  add a worm device and some storage mananagement
software at some point  to back-up your staff folders on your network
file system on some regular basis, you can add a final step to your
non-repudiation diligence on process. Optical media (dvd)doesn't pass
the archives test, but it seems to pass the " this item has been
unaltered since [datetime]" test..... Of course, you still have to have
someone support the storage management software and the worm
device...and be sure your software will let you find an item  if you
need to produce it off of the platters.......




Heather P
====

Heather M. Pike
Business Analyst
State of New Hampshire
Application Software Division
29 Hazen Drive
PO Box 95
Concord, NH 03302
[log in to unmask]

[log in to unmask]
TEL 603-271-0682
FAX 603-271-6463







-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Steven Whitaker
Sent: Monday, June 26, 2006 12:31 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [RM] Keeping records in non-admissible format


Electronic records are great as evidence.  Make sure due diligence on
process, etc. is done.

I hate paper.

Best regards, Steve
Steven D. Whitaker, CRM
Records Systems Manager; City of Reno

>>> [log in to unmask] 06/23 2:34 PM >>>
I am finding that our IT department has set up (or rather purchased)
several electronic systems to improve productivity and workflow. A
couple of them hold documents in formats that are modifiable. Users want
these as their record copy rather than having to print and file. My
initial reaction is that we don't want to designate any e-docs that are
not kept in a legally admissible format as the official record. The
attorneys posed this scenario: If there is no regulatory or legal
requirement to keep these documents in a particular format, we can
choose for operational reasons to assign these records as the official
copy. If we don't believe we will ever want to produce them in court for
evidence, we should be OK. If the other side requests the documents in
discovery, we say that this is the way we keep them and the fact that
they may not be considered admissible is not really our problem. 
 
Do we have an obligation to keep all company records in a manner that
would be acceptable as evidence? Or if they are just operational records
and would not be a record we would choose to use in our defense, is
whatever manner we choose OK? Are there other issues we have not
considered?
 
Nolene
 
Nolene Sherman | Director of Records Management | Standard Pacific Homes
| 949.789.1668 | [log in to unmask]
 

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