Ginny,  A great answer as usual. 

 Another problem with the electronic records, in larger systems, is that 
you can have authenticity and integrity problems if the master data isn't 
tightly controlled.  Alot of times when some of the master data 
changes-say and address,company name, payment terms,etc the only way the 
record can be recreated is in its most recent version.  Unless you've got 
old logs or templates the record will not look like it did originally.

Most of the larger systems can be broken into objects that are made up of 
fields in or complete tables spread across the database.  These objects 
make-up can be charted and then compared for common fields.  Once the 
retention period has been defined for each object you look for the longest 
retention period for the objects containing common fields/tables.  The 
retention period in your schedule will be the longest period and will list 
the objects contained in them.

To maintain the complete record you can also create a snapshot of the 
object-say a PO,sales order ,etc and save them as the original.  It's like 
an electronic version of the paper record.  These can then be stored and 
maintained as a record and can be left seperate or attached to a 
transaction in your large database system.  In effect you're actually 
defining 2 different record series which can contain some of the same data 
elements.

When used in conjunction with the explanation of how you handle the 
fields,tables and master data it should be enough to satisfy the retention 
requirements.  You need to remember to purge the objects and the scans in 
a timely and consistent manner and be sure that new archiving projects are 
handled with a similar script.

My 2 cents

Steve Petersen CRM
Records Manager
Rockwell Collins Inc
319.295.5244

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