On 6/15/07, Graham Kitchen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> The definition of a vital record is any record that is essential to the
> resumption of a business in the event of a disaster.
>
> Are your reservoir studies essential to the resumption of business?  Are
> the
> quarterly reports essential?  Are there ways to capture a summary of
> information at year-end instead of each quarterly report?
>
> Then again, there are varying levels of "vital".  Some things have to be
> available immediately, while others can be made available over a scheduled
> period of time but the records are still vital.



Further to Graham's comments above and Ginny's earlier, there is vital and
there is vital.

There is vital to the continued success and long-term ability of an
organization to perform its work and be able to remain viable.

There is also vital to resuming business and ensuring continuity of
operations during and immediately following a disaster or other catastrophic
event.

The degrees to which these are protected and are available for access can
vary.  The first category may not be necessary to have access to for an
extended period of time following an event, maybe as long as 30 or more
days, but the second category is necessary for an organization to have near
immediate access to.

I second Ginny's advice that you consider purchasing a copy of ANSI/ARMA
5-2003, which is appropriately titled "Vital Records: Identifying, Managing,
and Recovering Business-Critical Records" and while she didn't include this
in the list of must have publications, =)  I'd also seriously suggest you
consider a copy of "Emergency Management for Records and Information
Management Programs" by Virginia A. Jones, CRM, and Kris E. Keyes at the
same time http://arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1184.

Larry

-- 
Larry Medina
Danville, CA
RIM Professional since 1972

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