Carla,
The biggest issue would be finding your e-mails afterwards. Try to find any file in windows explorer, specially indexed with thousands of other E-mails.
There would be an issue regarding authenticity of the record (in this case E-mail), because the record is not stored in a static environment (anybody can change the content of an E-mail saved in windows explorer.)
You also require Outlook to open the .msg file in the future, which would be questionable in 20 Years.
There are probably ways you can assign security to the E-mails with the help of your Network Admin and there are probably ways you can save your E-mails into folders that identify specific retention needs, but I can tell this is so much easier done with a good electronic recordkeeping system.
A Records Management solution would be to save E-mails into a trustworthy recordkeeping system. Where the E-mails metadata & content gets indexed, security & retention automatically get assigned to the E-mails and the E-mails get saved in the original format (.msg) and in a archival text format in a (Network) secure & static document store.
We use TRIM Context from Tower Software to accomplish this in a user-friendly way.
This is my 2 ¢
Simon T. De Witt
Tampa Bay Water
Records Information Analyst
727.669.1360
-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Carla Hemsing
Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 11:53
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [RM] Saving e-mail from Outlook to a recordkeeping system [was E-mail policy]
Speaking of "saving e-mail to a trustworthy recordkeeping system" -- in Outlook, you can save an e-mail (with attachments) by choosing "File" "Save as", change the type of message to "Outlook message format", browse to choose where you want to save the e-mail outside of the e-mail system, revise the file name if desired, and click "save". Voila, it's saved outside the e-mail system, looking exactly like it does in e-mail, and you can delete it off the e-mail system. If you have never done this, save a message with an attachment to your desktop for a look-see. Beats printing it out on paper to get it off the e-mail system.
Are there any issues with this type of e-mail recordkeeping? What I have always wondered is -- does this method of saving an e-mail impact the authenticity of the metadata?
Carla
Carla Hemsing
Records / Information & Privacy Coordinator [log in to unmask]
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