Hi Lynette, At the risk of giving you the usual consultant's answer, "Hire a consultant", you may wish to do that as there are a number of steps involved in getting effective electronic records management going. For example, you need to inventory the electronic information to determine what you have and don't - which can be problematic for centralized servers and mainframes, and even more so for email and PCs due to the volumes and their decentralized nature. You need to determine exactly how to store electronic information to ensure it is stored in accordance with the various regulatory requirements you face - in some cases you may need to store on optical rather than magnetic or mag tape. If you have retention periods longer than 5-10 years, you need to look at the digital preservation aspects: media, hardware, and software compatibility. I don't mean to trivialize or exaggerate the issues involved - but I want to remind everyone on the list: there's a difference between saying "We manage records by content, not by media" and actually doing it, given the relative fragility of electronic information and the volumes and various formats and media involved. I really suggest you have an experienced electronic records consultant examine your organization and help you plan an effective approach that incorporates the tools and technologies as well as the processes and recommended changes to those processes to ensure a successful program. There are a number of them out there, many of whom are members of this list. IMERGE is one (and we have an office in St. Paul) but if you look in the list archives you will see a number of others who are capable of assisting in this process. I hope this is of value - please don't hesitate to contact me offline if I can provide any additional assistance. If you will be in Chicago next week I'd be happy to meet you as well. Cheers, Jesse Wilkins CDIA+, LIT, EDP, ICP IMERGE Consulting (303) 574-1455 office (303) 484-4142 fax [log in to unmask] Yahoo!: jessewilkins8511 ARMA ID: 131073 >From: Lynette Yohn <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: Records Management Program <[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Retention of Electronic Records >Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 09:34:44 -0500 > >Good day, > >I'm looking for responses from those members who have been able to >implement retention on their organization's electronic records. > >Please share any successes, suggestions, recommendations you have >regarding applying retention to electronic records stored on various >platforms. My organization has electronic records stored on a network, >mainframe, as well as desktop applications and e-mail. > >Thank you, > >Lynnette > >Lynnette S. Yohn >Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota >Records Management Coordinator >(651)662-6617 >(651)629-3162 - Pager > >---------------------------- >Important news about email communications: > >If our business rules identify sensitive information, you will receive a >ZixMail Secure Message with a link to view your message. First-time >recipients will be asked to create a password before they are granted >access. To learn more about ZixMail, ZixCorp Secure Email Message Center, >and other ZixCorp offerings, please go to >http://userawareness.zixcorp.com/secure4/index.php >---------------------------- > >The information contained in this communication may be confidential, >and is intended only for the use of the recipient(s) named above. >If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you >are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or >copying of this communication, or any of its contents, is strictly >prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, >please return it to the sender immediately and delete the original >message and any copy of it from your computer system. If you have >any questions concerning this message, please contact the sender. > >Unencrypted, unauthenticated Internet e-mail is inherently insecure. >Internet messages may be corrupted or incomplete, or may incorrectly >identify the sender. > >List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html >Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance