Capstone ain't records management. There, I said it.

But it is *retention management* and I continue to think that it strikes a
reasonable and defensible balance between the theory that it's the content
that determines a message's "recordness" and the sheer volume of email and
other communications traffic that comes in & goes out. It is absolutely
ludicrous to assume that most of the people making records are also
managing them effectively or that it's simply a matter of resources to do
so.

I've been making this point for more than a decade: email is different.
Because of attachments. Because of the tendency to address many topics in a
single message. Because of the fragmentary nature of communications such
that a simple "Approved" message could be a record - or not - depending on
what email it is in response to. And of course because of the volume
involved which is at least an order of magnitude higher than most other
types of official content created. As we move from email, to IM and SMS, to
social, etc. all of these issues become even more exacerbated.

So I would even submit that a Capstone-like approach is the ONLY way for an
agency to approximate consistency in how its email communications, many but
not all of which should be records, are managed over time. It still won't
address things like private email addresses, servers, personal mobile
devices, and the like, but it will be substantially better IMNSHO than what
agencies currently (don't) do today. And it's arguably about the only way
to comply with  both the Presidential Records Directive and NARA's guidance
on "streamline and automate" as the path forward for improving Federal
records management generally.

My .02 as I wait for the snow to start falling in CO,

-- 
Regards,

Jesse Wilkins, CIP, CRM, IGP
Denver, CO
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blog: http://informata.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jessewilkins

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