Sean,

I worked on a project where a similar issue arised.  A business unit wanted to "dump" records into the ERMS without any classification in order to move electronic documents (mostly reference copies where official records were stored elsewhere) from a shared drive. They were keeping the documents because of litigation/company Hold.

An ERMS should have a file plan designed from the RRS, so you need to file records based on their record series (capturing metadata, retention period, etc). So, the question is "What are your non-records". If they are truly not records, they should not go in the ERMS.  If they are reference copies used for business purpose or that need to be held due to litigation, then you may look into creating a record series to add to your record retention schedule.

In my case, my client had a Record Series in their Administrative Schedule called Reference Files-General with a description of: Copies of documents used as reference information. Originals or official copies are maintained by originators or other office of record. Must not be retained longer than the total retention period of the office of record copy. The retention period was ACTIVE meaning the decision can be made by the business when the record is no longer needed and can be destroyed (if not on Hold).

Having decided that most of the records on the shared drive could be classifed as this record series, it was still decided that you can't just "dump" the records into the ERMS.  Someone from the business had to make the decision for each document on where it should be filed. It's tough because the business wants easy solutions but correct Records Management practices need to be followed.

Hope this helps.

Jon

Jon Cohen
Rusco, Inc.
www.ruscoservices.com
267-261-2698








-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of McCaffrey, Sean
Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 11:17 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: EDM Retention Strategy


All,

I would be grateful for any input regarding retention strategies for "non-records" within an EDRMS. 

It seems there is a need to strike a balance between the needs of individual business units to retain and access the information needed to conduct business and the need of the corporation to mitigate risk and avoid re-creating a "shared-drive monster" whose content is poorly understood and to whom ownership is difficult to attribute. 

I have a few ideas percolating but would be very interested to hear what others have implemented.

Thanks for the thoughts,

Sean.

Sean McCaffrey
Information Analyst
City Of Ottawa
Information Technology Services
110 Laurier Ave.
(613) 580-2424 ext. 16444




This e-mail originates from the City of Ottawa e-mail 
system. Any distribution, use or copying of this e-mail or 
the information it contains by other than the intended 
recipient(s) is unauthorized. If you are not the intended 
recipient, please notify me at the telephone number shown 
above or by return e-mail and delete this communication and 
any copy immediately. Thank you.

Le présent courriel a été expédié par le système de 
courriels de la Ville d'Ottawa. Toute distribution, 
utilisation ou reproduction du courriel ou des 
renseignements qui s'y trouvent par une personne autre que 
son destinataire prévu est interdite. Si vous avez reçu le 
message par erreur, veuillez m'en aviser par téléphone (au 
numéro précité) ou par courriel, puis supprimer sans délai 
la version originale de la communication ainsi que toutes 
ses copies. Je vous remercie de votre collaboration.

List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
To unsubscribe from this list, click the below link. If not already present, place UNSUBSCRIBE RECMGMT-L or UNSUB RECMGMT-L in the body of the message.
mailto:[log in to unmask]

List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
To unsubscribe from this list, click the below link. If not already present, place UNSUBSCRIBE RECMGMT-L or UNSUB RECMGMT-L in the body of the message.
mailto:[log in to unmask]