I think it is dangerous to assume "anything you add to the website will most likely be taken from other documents you already have established retention schedules for, so any information given to your website audience should already be backed up with more 'traditional' records." Intranet, Extranet and Internet pages are becoming a key distribution method for documentation for many businesses. It is entirely reasonable to expect the final version of this documentation to be that which appears on the web page.
Even if every word, phrase and sentence that appears on the web page appears in other more "traditional" records, a web page is more than the text. How the information is portrayed or provided could be as important as the exact text of the page. The web page appearance or design may be the focus of a query. It is important to retain exactly what the users of the information saw [or heard] when using the WebPages.
Keeping previous versions of a website is important for similar reasons why we keep previous records retention schedules beyond the current version. The previous website copies may not be relevant to the present, but they are relevant if your business ever has to determine what appeared on your website at a previous date, or to prove that something didn't appear at a previous date. While previous records retention schedules are often kept for the life of the company, there probably is not a need to keep previous WebPages so long. However, it is quite possible that the length of time it would be prudent to store the WebPages may exceed rotation time for the backup tapes. In such a case, an alternative method of storage would be mandatory.
Paul Dennis Waltman
Data Administrator
Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP
999 Peachtree Street, NE
Atlanta, GA 30309-3996
Tel: 404-853-8781
Fax: 404-853-8806
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-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Laura Steinberg
Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2004 12:13 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Snapshot of website
Hi...new member here. Your question piqued my interest. I'm thinking
this through as I write, so some of my thoughts/questions will be "duh"
while others may be thought provoking (?).
I agree that you should think about adding the website to your retention
schedule, but why not simply regard it as an informational
record/topical/time sensitive, and complete the retention period as "for
the life of the information as it remains relevent to the intended
audience." I would then include an explanation in the document
description of the process used to complete the website changes. I
would also write an explanation of the backup processes used by your IT
department that provide for a current copy of the website should any
catastrophic event make it necessary for you to provide a backup to your
service provider for publication. My thought process is this: anything
you add to the website will most likely be taken from other documents
you already have established retention schedules for, so any information
given to your website audience should already be backed up with more
"traditional" records. The staff person responsible for creating the
updated website could be charged with keeping his/her working files for
a specified period of time (for the year/until the next update is
created?).
I've worked in the IT department of a law firm here in San Diego,
California, for the last 4 years before returning to my first love,
records management (yeah, believe it or not, I left the exciting world
of IT of my own accord!). If your IT department is like most others
I've known, they see the nightly backup as a fulfilment of their duty in
preserving the information in a responsible manner. I might ask them if
they would consent to a formal notification process anytime the backup
schedule changes or problems occur when it comes to any of their backup
jobs. I would then work out a written procedure and have the IT
director review/put in his 2 cents worth/and sign off on it.
Thanks for letting me put in my "2 cents worth."
Laura A. Steinberg
[log in to unmask]
Records Management Supervisor
Epsten, Grinnell & Howell APC
www.epsten.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Benay Berl [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2004 8:42 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Snapshot of website
We are in the process of updating our records retention schedule (a
yearly adventure.) I suggested that we add our website to the schedule.
This started a conversation about what to put in the retention column.
Hmmm. Of course "current" was suggested. Long boring and familiar story
followed.
Our website is hosted by a service provider (SBC.) The files are created
by a staff member here in our organization. She makes changes to the
files and sends them to the service provider, who then loads them.
Our IT department handles the contractual issues with the host. I asked
IT if the host captures the site prior to making changes. IT gave me the
phone number of the service provider.
I called the service provider and was told that they back up their
system every night and write over the tape every 14 days. I asked if
they can provide me with a copy of the website prior to changes. They do
not provide this service and suggested that we do this at our end and
drop it on a CD.
I should mention that IT does a full backup of our servers every night.
Back to the IT department this morning who sent me this message:
"What is it you are trying to do? To make a backup onto CD every time we
make a change would be pretty time consuming. We make changes to the
copy of the site that we have here and then we move the local files
we/have changed to the SBC site You know our backup schedule, why isn't
that sufficient."
How would you answer this message
Benay Berl
Records Coordinator
Olivenhain Municipal Water District
Encinitas CA
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