On 1/17/07, Schildmeyer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>It's the troublesome third category that I think your compatriots are
talking about: information that requires some intelligence - human or
>machine - to make a determination that it does or does not qualify as a
company "record."  This is information that is generated from a >variety of
sources, but must at some time hit one of those diamond-shaped decision
boxes on your flowchart that asks: "Is this a record >or not?"  It then
branches into two or three different processes, "yes", "no", or "maybe". (Or
"It depends" in listserv parlance.)  The things >that are "records" then
need to have consistent approved retention and disposition rules applied to
them by the system.

Greg (and Steve),

An excellent observation.  We were attempting to resolve this challenge at
my former company as part of the ECM implementation.  In our environment
"documents" (a term I use somewhat loosely) are typically developed using
collaborative tool such as SharePoint, E-room or maybe (God forbid) e-mail.
These are typically out of the auspices of the Records Management
group/team.

At some point during the process the document is declared a "record" and
dropped into the repository (Documentum) with retention and disposition
rules assigned.   Determining that point for some records, such as invoices
(either receipt or payment) or contracts (signature or effective date) is
pretty straightforward.  It is other types, such are account ledgers,
project files, etc. that can be a problem.  And then there's e-mail, another
challenge altogether.

Based on my experience, if your business processes are already mapped out
then making the determination is much easier.  If not, then someone is going
to have make the decision, either using a "cheat sheet" or, in my
former employer's case, reviewing each record series and making a "best
guess" when the event happens; not an easy task.

-- 
Bruce L. White, CRM, PMP
Houston, TX
e-mail: [log in to unmask]

List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance