Jay Maechtlen asked the question:

>When a copy of a document (which may be an "official record" in some 
context) is used in another context (software evaluation, etc) then can 
(should) it become an entirely different "official record" in that new 
context?


Yes. North American practice has been to assign retention to the record
copy at the record series level, not at the document level. A document
can serve a different function within the context of different record
series. Law enforcement is a good example - the District Attorney's case
file record series may contain police reports copied from the Police
Department as well as copies of any associated court papers. There is
nothing wrong with considering these documents to be "official records"
within each of their respective contexts. Removing these documents from
the DA file may seriously erode the usefulness of that file, even though
they are duplicates.

From an operational standpoint, the goal is to reduce the need for this
duplication to the degree that it does not become a question of
diminishing returns, or does not impact the trustworthiness of the
particular record keeping system. One way to do this is to ensure the
record copy holder maintains the "official record" in a manner that can
make it as easily available to other users as it would be if they were
maintaining their own copies. This can be a real challenge, particularly
as retention periods get longer.

For example, lets say the DA has an electronic system which provides
links to the police reports and court papers. Retentions of 10 years or
more are not uncommon with District Attorney records - what if the links
change?  What happens when you have three interdependent systems funded
in three different entities that may be subject to different budgetary
constraints, technical standards, levels of security, staffing
challenges, and cycles of obsolescence? You can see how that context may
begin to erode. In such an environment, maintaining individual copies of
documents within their separate "official" record series may be wise,
regardless of the technologies used, and even though that represents
duplication.

The correct answer to any of these questions really depends on the
particular environment one is dealing with. Records management has
always been a field where it takes considerable skill to reconcile
theory and practice, which is one of the reasons its such an interesting
profession.

Dwight Wallis, CRM
Records Administrator
Multnomah County Fleet, Records, Electronics, Distribution & Stores
(FREDS)
1620 SE 190th Avenue
Portland OR 97233
phone: (503)988-3741
fax: (503)988-3754
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