Norman,

Thanks for the note..... I appreciate your comments.

Is there an alternate path to the rather messy situation that we IT and
RIM face today?  Yes, perhaps several that are worthy of exploration,
including two that I'll mention here:

	1 - Ensuring that storage network infrastructures are capable of
supporting records management requirements as reflected in the state and
federal regulations that user organizations face.
	2 - Working to establish some rational set of "time periods" for
retention ...... across multiple agencies...... that are consistent for
the records being required of those agencies for retention.  (this one
would certainly prove to be a challenge, since I think we've seen little
consistency across those agencies (federal and state)in the past)

As for the incorporation of retention requirements as a part of the
metadata that is needed for content management, that sounds great on its
surface.  Many factors, however may alter the initial retention
requirement...including audit requirements, litigation or anticipated
litigation, etc.  Such retention altering circumstances may affect a
small or a large percentage of records that fall within a particular
retention time period, and could be quite specific as to the records
series involved, or to the business unit, or one or more locations of a
particular business unit within a firm. Could whatever you would design
accommodate such changes?

My suggestion earlier focused primarily on whether "we" in the RIM
community and those in the IT community might seek some sort of advocacy
effort that would simplify life for both IT and RIM
professionals........ by establishing a limited set of retention
choices, and by insisting that different agencies agree on choosing one
such legal requirement for each record or report or record category,
etc. for which they require retention.  That would certainly be an
up-hill battle.....perhaps one that might fall short, but as an idea, it
might prove easier than trying to winnow down the records series to a
manageable level.

Could you try such an idea without any recognized legal authority?
Perhaps, but I'd recommend that you work with both legal and with your
organization's records manager before proceeding.  Each organization is
apt to have its own particular set of challenges, as Mimi Dionne pointed
out exists within her own organization.

Doug Allen, CRM, CDIA+

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