1 / 17

Electronic Records Management: A New Understanding of Policy, Compliance, and Discovery

Electronic Records Management: A New Understanding of Policy, Compliance, and Discovery. Robert J. Sobie , Ph.D. Director Information Systems Department Eaton County October 2007. Purpose.

rianne
Télécharger la présentation

Electronic Records Management: A New Understanding of Policy, Compliance, and Discovery

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Electronic Records Management: A New Understanding of Policy, Compliance, and Discovery Robert J. Sobie, Ph.D. Director Information Systems Department Eaton County October 2007

  2. Purpose • To improve our understanding of any deficiencies with our current electronic records management policies and practices. • To improve our understanding of the requirements for electronic discovery of records. • Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were amended in 2006. The amendments address the treatment of electronically stored information (ESI) during discovery. • To establish a collaborative framework (i.e. committee of stakeholders) for successful design, implementation, and administration of electronic records management.

  3. Electronic Records Retention and Litigation (e-Discovery) • E-Discovery is the process in which electronic data is sought, located, secured, and searched, with the intent of using it as evidence in a civil or criminal legal case. (Preimesberger, 2007) • The medium used to document official government activity is irrelevant. • The content of the activity determines if it is an official government transaction, action, or activity. (Anonymous, accessed on 7/24/2007: http://www.mnhs.org)

  4. HAL’s Classification of Records • Official Records (must follow general or agency-specific retention schedule). • Transitory Records (recommend retention for a maximum of 30 days). • Non-Records (recommend immediate destruction). • Personal Records( don’t use government assets to create them).

  5. Electronic Records Retention and Litigation (e-Discovery) • Managing a discovery request must begin before a request is made. Even if your agency never receives a request, preparation remains critical. • Policy, procedures, systems, staff training, and supporting plans must be collaboratively developed by a diverse group of stakeholders to adequately respond to a discovery request. (Schwarz and Wetmore, 2005)

  6. Policy Process

  7. Electronic Records Mgmt Committee • Consists of stakeholders representing the diversity of business functions that permeate the organization. • Reaffirm with all members that this is a document management, not IT, committee. Retention, accessibility, security, and destruction must not be viewed solely as a technical issue. This would undermine the importance of overall records management requirements.

  8. Committee Structure

  9. Research and Consultation • Many governments, particularly at the local level, do not have in-house expertise to conduct research and evaluate the impact electronic records retention and litigation can have on the organization. • Need to identify appropriate resources to perform, or assist with, suitable research and review of statutory mandates and case law.

  10. Inventory Records Mgmt Assets • Do we know: • What technologies we have? • Who is using them? • How and where records are stored? • On what media records are store? • A pre-discovery meeting must identify storage assets and ability to restore files for discovery (Semsroth v Wichita, 2006). • Critical IT assets (servers, hosts, SANs) are known, but with the proliferation of peripheral storage devices, compliance with retention/destruction/hold policies is anything but certain.

  11. Electronic Records Management Strategic Plan • Define goals. • Define action steps to achieve each goal. • Define timelines suitable for each action step. • Include an evaluation requirement to inform stakeholders of compliance progress and allow appropriate plan revision when necessary.

  12. Formalize Electronic Records Policy • A “new” formalized policy of records management must be the first action item described and acted upon, in the strategic plan. • A draft, based on a HAL template and current county policy is pending. • Submit appropriate resolution and seek approval (i.e. board, council, etc.). • Disseminate the policy to departments, divisions, branches of government and their respective employees. • Provide suitable training to inform staff.

  13. A Process of Evaluation • How do you know if your electronic records management strategic plan is effective? • Evaluate it! • Using previously defined metrics. • You can use sampling strategies to search for actual records based on government transactions and actions. Annually target pre-determined transactions (i.e. budget discussions, IT purchases, etc.). • Periodic surveys and interviews. Include training within the new employee orientation program administered by the Personnel Office.

  14. Mock e-Discovery • Test the county’s readiness for e-discovery. • Predetermined: • Parties • Theme: Internal Promotion • Disclaimer/Authorization • Keywords or phrases

More Related