<We document every destruction done through the Records Center. That is
part of our service, and it has proven valuable when it becomes an issue
with our customers, but, to be honest, it is very rare that that
happens. I believe I've had to produce documentation twice in the past
20 years, although questions on whether records were destroyed or not is
a regular occurrence - primarily for operational, not legal, purposes.>

Documenting final disposition (including destruction) of records in
accordance with the retention schedule is a fundamental concept of RIM.
I think we all agree it needs to be done is some manner for paper
records.  I don't understand the reluctance (especially by the legal
folks) to document the deletion (destruction) of e-records.  I realize
documenting the deletion of individual records, files, and e-mails is
cumbersome and time consuming.  So is doing so for individual paper
records and files.  It's why we document by record series groups and
inclusive dates, not individually.  The most frequent requests for
formal verification of records destruction in my organization in the
past 5 years have been for e-records.  We don't keep our customer
transaction records in paper format.  Because we have formal disposition
procedures that include the deletion of e-records, I am able to give the
requested verification and can defend it in court, if necessary.

One does not need an EDMS or RMS to group e-records and apply retention.
Just some common sense and IT assistance (and agreement).  As I've
mentioned before, we are in the process of converting a 20 year old
proprietary customer information system to a SAP customer information
system.  One of my primary tasks on the project is to establish the
appropriate e-record series retentions and see that the appropriate
archive and purge rules are in place in SAP for the retentions to be
applied and the subsequent purge documented.

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