Hi all

I posted something on this subject on the Australian listserv last week.
 Here it is again:

Back in August 2011 I posted a note on the outcomes of a conference on
preserving email that took place in London in July that year, and a
reference to Chris Prom's blog on the same subject.

Chris' comprehensive and highly recommended report on the issue, titled
'Preserving Email', was published by the Digital Preservation Coalition (
http://www.dpconline.org) in December 2011.  I believe it is a must read
for all records managers trying to find answers to this issue.

The report notes that, despite being around for 40 years, organisations are
still struggling with managing one of the worlds most prolific and
effective communication mechanisms. Organisations appear to 'pursue
policies that amount to little more than benign neglect'.

I posted an article on my blog about this subject last week.  The following
is a summary, there is a link to the blog post at the end.

The three main 'records management' approaches to keeping emails by most
organisations (apart from leaving them in place or using email archiving
solutions) have been to (a) print to paper and file, (b) save to a
recordkeeping system in an attempt to keep them with other records in the
same context, and (c) save to a drive.  In most cases, the original email
remains on the email server.

The success or otherwise of each of these methods is debatable.

The format of the 'saved' email is often not defined and is either a binary
MAPI message (e.g., .msg), or some kind of alternative format (e.g.,
.vmbx).  The National Archives of Australia states that .eml is 'an
acceptable open file format' for preservation purposes.

It would be interesting to know how many records management policies (a)
define a format for preserving exported emails, and (b) are actually
followed.

Microsoft's approach to managing emails as records

Microsoft have attempted to address the issue by developing a form of
records management in Exchange Server. Originally called 'Mailbox Manager
Policies' in Exchange Server 2003, this developed into 'Message Records
Management' in Exchange Server 2007, and is now called 'Messaging Records
Management' (MRM) in Exchange Server 2010.

Through the use of 'Retention Tags', a mailbox may have a standard
retention policy applied, there may be a default policy tag for anything
untagged, or users may applied a personal tag to their own folders.  These
tags are collectively stored in the Exchange Server Retention Policies.

Essentially, these tags have the effect of deleting emails when a set
period (in the tag) has expired; they do not prevent a user from deleting
the email.  To prevent a user from deleting an email, a Legal Hold may be
applied.

A further option, primarily designed for when e-Discovery is underway, is
called Journaling.  Journaling ensures that all emails that are relevant to
the issue are stored securely.

Many thousands of business-related (and some litigation related) emails
escape the clutches of recordkeeping systems every day.

Leaving emails in place and applying retention tags to them is not a way to
keep business records in related context.  But, is this a pipedream that we
can only dream of?

Is MRM better than not doing, or continuing to not doing, anything?


Prom, Christopher, 2011. Preserving Email.  Digital Preservation Coalition.
Retrieved 1 June 2012 from
www.dpconline.org/component/docman/doc_download/739-dpctw11-01.pdf

Applying recordkeeping policies to email – Microsoft Messaging Records
Management (MRM).  Retrieved 1 June 2012 from
http://andrewwarland.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/applying-recordkeeping-policies-to-email-microsoft-messaging-records-management-mrm/

Andrew Warland
Sydney, Australia
(My views entirely)

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