The Australian Records Management Standard Adrian Cunningham, Sue McKemmish, David Roberts and Barbara Reed

The Presentation zOverview of AS 4390, Australian Records Management Standard zFeatures of AS 4390 zRelationship to ISO initiative zExample of implementation: Australian Federal Government zCompliance issues zThe Standard and software vendors

Overview of AS 4390 zOrigins and development zPurpose yvoluntary code of best practice yapplicable to all sectors ylink to ISO 9000 quality standards and certification zStructure: General Principles, Responsibilities, Strategies, Control, Appraisal and Disposal, Storage

Features of Standard zConcept of record yrecorded information in any form, including data in computer systems, created or received and maintained by an organisation or person in the transaction of business or the conduct of affairs and kept as evidence of such activity zEvidential purpose zTransactional context

Features of Standard zElectronic and traditional records zMethodology for designing and implementing recordkeeping systems zStrategies for ensuring records creation and capture zIdentification of attributes that records need to function effectively as evidence

Features zAppraisal defined as: ythe process of evaluating business activities to determine which records need to be captured and how long they need to be kept, to meet business needs, the requirements of organisational accountability and community expectations zClassification serving multiple purposes: yinvolving devising & applying schemes based on business activities that generate records

Features of Standard zFocus on business functions and activities zA continuum based approach which recognises the need for: yan integrated regime of management processes for the whole of the records existence - from the time of records creation (and before creation in the design of recordkeeping systems) through to preservation and use as archives

Links to ISO Initiative zResponse to world wide agreement to internationalise AS4390 zScope: yrecordkeeping principles, assigning recordkeeping responsibilities, production of records, management and control of authentic, reliable, useable, full and accurate records zBuilt on and extends many of features of AS 4390

Adoption of AS 4390 by the Australian Government zThe Standard has been endorsed by the National Archives of Australia zAS 4390 forms the basis of a radical transformation of recordkeeping in the Australian Government zThe National Archives has reinvented itself as a proactive promoter of best practice recordkeeping - our core business now spans the entire records continuum

National Archives of Aust as a standards setter zNAA is doing its utmost to encourage agencies to comply with AS 4390 zNAA is developing various detailed manuals and standards that expand upon AS 4390

AS 4390-based toolkit for government agencies (1) zDIRKS Manual - Designing and Implementing Recordkeeping Systems y8-step methodology drawn from AS 4390 yAnalysis of functions and activities leading to a business classification scheme zRecordkeeping Metadata Standard for Commonwealth Agencies yRecords registration, classification and management metadata at/from point of creation within an agency domain

AS 4390-based toolkit for government agencies (2) zKeyword AAA Thesaurus of General Administrative Terms - a functions-based thesaurus for classifying general administrative records zGuidelines for preparing agency-specific functions thesauri based on a BCS zFunctional analysis/business classification scheme will provide the basis of new functions-based agency disposal authorities

AS 4390-based toolkit for government agencies (3) zNew General Disposal Authority for general administrative records based on the functions identified in Keyword AAA

AS 4390-based toolkit and software vendors zSoftware vendors have been consulted in the development of many of the new AS 4390-based manuals and standards zOne of our objectives is to exert a positive influence on the software market zOur detailed standards and manuals can provide the basis for auditing product and system compliance with the Standard zAS 4390 is not a compliance standard yet!