Dana, thank you for a thoughtful response on a subject I confess some
ignorance on (particularly regarding what exact metadata is being
scrubbed), and agree with your well stated points. This actually has
come up in previous conversations regarding email and whether printing
email is a sufficient replacement for electronic versions. In my
opinion, if the printed email retains information on who, what, when,
where, and why, the printed version is sufficient. 

Maintaining the ability to reconstruct these elements is fundamental to
records authenticity. Records integrity also plays a role if the
metadata is the only element establishing links, for example, to
attachments. Here issues have been raised as to whether a letterhead
image link to a corporate logo (for example) is critical to maintain for
records authenticity purposes; in other words, how important is
maintaining the original "look" if the content is sufficiently
maintained (I would generally say "look" is not as critical as content,
and point out that process can often better establish authenticity in
such circumstances). If these fundamental elements of authenticity and
integrity are lost during the scrubbing, I would then have concerns, and
really question the purpose of the scrubbing. If not, its probably fine.


If you haven't already seen this, I think ISO 15489-1 provides an
excellent and concise description of these fundamental records keeping
principles. One raises risks when violating these principles, but I also
recognize that a risk assessment may establish that the risks raised are
acceptable ones in any given situation. Might I also offer a suggestion
that you develop a policy or procedural statement explaining why the
scrubbing is needed beyond the ones you have offered, which directly
addresses the issues of records authenticity/integrity?

Dwight Wallis, CRM
Records Administrator
Multnomah County Fleet, Records, Electronics, Distribution and Stores
(FREDS)
1620 S.E. 190th Avenue
Portland, OR 97233
Phone: (503)988-3741
Fax: (503)988-3754
[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]