Won't disagree Vlad.

I think where Federal Agencies (and especially Contractors TO Federal
Agencies) have to be careful are with records having a Permanent retention,
which have specific rules about gaining approval PRIOR to making a
change/decision to maintain in electronic format, specifically when they
were in hard copy format to begin with.

It's not that you CAN'T do it, it's that IF you are considering or you do
it, you have to have well documented process and procedures not only for
the conversion, QC, capture and storage, but for the subsequent retention,
migration and periodic conversion to meet required retention.

Even in the case of "born digital" records, 36CFR Part 1236 lays out
requirements for the development of and controls required for systems, the
avoidance of technological obsolescence, the criteria systems must meet,
even for the media, sampling of data and storage of media electronic
content is stored on.

In the case of Contractors, it's important to remember the records you are
managing DO NOT BELONG TO YOU; they belong to the Agency you are under
Contract with.  "Access and Ownership" clauses in the FAR give some
guidance on what must be done relative to these records and what
obligations you have, but most contracts defer to 36CFR or Agency Orders or
Directives for an organizations requirements.

And you're right about time frames for destruction after conversion (where
you have obtained prior approval to convert) in some cases it's 60 days, in
others it's one year. Again... provided you received approval first.  This
is not one of those cases where it's "Easier to ask for forgiveness after
than to obtain permission first".

Larry
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On Thu, Nov 8, 2012 at 9:27 AM, Alfaro, Vladimir
<[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Larry, I believe, in general, it is permissible, under federal and state
> laws, to maintain all types of records (converting physical to electronic)
> in an electronic format. However, several federal agencies and state laws
> impose certain requirements with which companies must comply in so doing.
> Among them, as I am sure you are aware, the e-record must/should
> (i)accurately reflect the information set forth in physical record;(ii)
> remain accessible to all persons who are entitled to
> access in a form that is capable of being accurately reproduced for later
> reference, whether by transmission, printing, etc.  IRS, ESIGN, EEOC, FMLA,
> and the list goes on, permit it with various caveats.  The main point here
> is that one must have a very robust and documented process and procedures
> for the conversion of physical records to e-records and governing the
> maintenance of the e-records through its lifecycle.  If you have this
> covered, I believe you can even destroy the physical record within a
> reasonable amount of time to the business (not retention time), since
> retention should be applied to the e-records...
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>


-- 
*Lawrence J. Medina
Danville, CA
RIM Professional since 1972*

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