The Ohio State University

Mention "electronic records" in a crowded room and all conversation may come to a halt...

Not necessarily out of interest (or lack thereof), but more often than not out of fear of the unknown. Electronic records are perceived to be more mysterious than their analog paper counterparts. The advice contained in this niche of cyberspace is meant to dispel that myth.

Electronic records or more accurately "technology dependent records" are those records that are not eye readable without some intervening technology, and:

• may be born-digital or converted
• may be created via computing devices, scientific and medical instrumentation, communications equipment, and audiovisual equipment
• exists in a variety of types including but not limited to: text, images, moving images, sound, databases, spreadsheets, geographic information systems (GIS), data warehouse, and specialized application.

On this page we will discuss:

Characteristics of a Trustworthy Electronic Record
Electronic Records Management Challenges
EDMS/ERMS/ECM Explained
Preservation Concerns & Possibilities

CHARCTERISTICS OF A TRUSTWORTHY ELECTRONIC RECORD:

There are four essential characteristics used to describe trustworthy records from a records management perspective:

• Reliability: A reliable record is one whose content can be trusted as a full and accurate representation of the transactions, activities, or facts to which it attests and can be depended upon in the course of subsequent transactions or activities.  
• Authenticity: An authentic record is one that is proven to be what it purports to be and to have been created or sent by the person who purports to have created and sent it. A record should be created at the point in time of the transaction or incident to which it relates, or soon afterwards, by individuals who have direct knowledge of the facts or by instruments routinely used within the business to conduct the transaction.   To demonstrate the authenticity of records, organizations should implement and document policies and procedures which control the creation, transmission, receipt, and maintenance of records to ensure that records creators are authorized and identified and that records are protected against unauthorized addition, deletion, and alteration.
• Integrity: The integrity of a record refers to it being complete and unaltered. It is necessary that a record be protected against alteration without appropriate permission. Records management policies and procedures should specify what, if any, additions or annotations may be made to a record after it is created, under what circumstances additions or annotations may be authorized, and who is authorized to make them. Any authorized annotation or addition to a record made after it is complete should be explicitly indicated as annotations or additions.   Another aspect of integrity is the structural integrity of a record. The structure of a record, that is, its physical and logical format and the relationships between the data elements comprising the record, should remain physically or logically intact. Failure to maintain the record's structural integrity may impair its reliability and authenticity.
• Usability: A usable record is one which can be located, retrieved, presented, and interpreted. In any subsequent retrieval and use, the record should be capable of being directly connected to the business activity or transaction which produced it. It should be possible to identify a record within the context of broader business activities and functions. The links between records which document a sequence of activities should be maintained. These contextual linkages of records should carry the information needed for an understanding of the transaction that created and used them.

An organization needs to consider these characteristics when planning to implement an electronic recordkeeping system and/or electronic signature technology so that it can meet its internal business and legal needs, and external regulations or requirements. The degree of effort an organization expends on ensuring that these characteristics are attained is dependent on the organization's business needs or perception of risk. Transactions that are critical to the business operational needs may need a greater assurance level that they are reliable, authentic, maintain integrity and are usable than transactions of less critical importance.

TOP OF PAGE

ELECTRONIC RECORDS MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES:

A generation ago one would dictate a letter to an assistant who would type and file the document in an appropriate manner; being a part of the record management process that person would handle the regular disposition of those records. With the advent of the personal computer more and more of us are directly responsible for creating and filing our own documents without the benefits of training within the records management process, which leads to inadequate institutional control over the creation and maintenance of records.. Further complicating matters is that of the issue of preservation (which is discussed below) and that:

When identifying and purchasing electronic records management tools one needs to understand the industry's "alphabet soup". There are three basic system types that one should understand:

• Electronic Document Management System (EDMS): An EDMS is a software system that controls and organizes documents throughout an organization, whether they have been declared as records or not. Depending upon the product, an EDMS may be as small as a stand alone desk top system or as large as an enterprise wide server-based system. An EDMS typically may include:

  • document and content creation
  • document and content capture
  • document and content editing and revision
  • image processing
  • document workflow/business process management (BPM)
  • document repositories
  • Computer-Output Laser Disk/Enterprise Report Management (COLD/ERM) and other output systems
  • information retrieval functionality
• Electronic Records Management System (ERMS): An ERMS is a software system that allows an organization to assign a specific life cycle to individual pieces of organizational information.. Like an EDMS, they may be as small as a stand alone desk top system or as large as an enterprise wide server-based system. Unlike an EDMS one cannot edit or revise documents or content once they are declared in an ERMS. An ERMS has the functionality to:

  • receive of records
  • use records
  • manage and maintain electronic records
  • manage paper-based and other analog records
  • manage the disposition of records
• Enterprise Content Management (ECM): An ECM system, the evolutionary successor to an EDMS, is a software system that has tools and methods utilized to capture, manage, store, preserve, and deliver all forms of content (not just documents sand records) across an enterprise. In addition to the tools found in an EDMS and an ERMS an ECM system has:

  • collaboration tools
  • digital asset management tool
  • web content management tools

TOP OF PAGE

PRESERVATION CONCERNS & POSSIBILITIES:

Preservation of electronic records which have a long term or indefinite/permanent retention may be the single biggest "fear factor" in contemplating management of electronic records. Moore's Law (original coined by Gordon Moore, founder of Intel, and meant to describe growth in the number of transistors/square inch able to fit on a silicon chip, and now generally attributable to all computer technology) suggest that there will be significant computing changes every 18 months to 2 years. This leads to a significant amount of obsolescence in a short amount of time in regard to file formats, hardware, and software. Since electronic records are dependent upon this technology to be interpreted, this is a significant problem to which there are no "silver bullets". Where we once had to consider "migrations" only after many years, decades, or even centuries, we now must consider them every 5 to 10 years. Although there are no "silver bullets" there are currently several approaches we may take to preserve our electronic records:

• Migration: Migration occurs when one copies the file to a new storage medium or when the bits in a file or program are altered to make them readable by new hardware and operating systems
  • PRO: Data is fresh & instantly accessible
  • CON: Copies degrade from generation*
• Emulation: Emulation occurs when one writes software mimicking older hardware or software, tricking old programs into thinking they are running on their original platforms.
  • PRO: Data doesn't need to be altered
  • CON: Mimicking is seldom perfect; chains of emulators may eventually breakdown*
• Encapsulation: Encapsulation occurs when one encases digital data in physical and software “wrappers,” showing future users how to reconstruct them.
  • PRO: Details of interpreting data are never separated from data themselves
  • CON: Must build new wrapper for each new format & software release; works poorly w/non-textual data*
• Convert to Acid-Free/Alkaline Buffered Paper, by printing an electronic document and storing it in a traditional manner.
  • PRO: Enhanced longevity; no specialized machinery necessary to read
  • CON: Potential loss of dynamic functionality (spreadsheets, databases, html, etc) and significant additional physical storage space
• Convert to Archival Quality Microfilm, by writing the digital file to microfilm via a digital archive writer.
  • PRO: Enhanced longevity (300-500yrs)
  • CON: Potential loss of dynamic functionality (spreadsheets, databases, html, etc); b&w only; magnification needed

* Adapted from Data Extinction, by Claire Tristram, October 2002 MIT Technology Review

TOP OF PAGE