1. Washington State Archives Defensible Disposition: Electronic Records Management Presented by: Scott Sackett Electronic Records Management Consultant, Eastern Washington May 24, 2012

2. Electronic Records Management: The Wild West? Volume of records created and received Number of employees creating and receiving records Variety of formats/platforms: emails, texts, websites, social media… …Less likelihood that electronic records will be treated as “records” in the way that paper is Washington State Archives Documenting Democracy

3. What is a Public Record? For the purposes of retention and destruction, two criteria: 1.Made or received in connection with the transaction of public business (Chapter 40.14 RCW) 2.Regardless of format For public disclosure, refer to chapter 42.56 RCW. Washington State Archives Documenting Democracy

4. When Can Records Be Destroyed? Per chapter 40.14 RCW, no public records shall be destroyed until approved for destruction by the Local Records Committee. Per chapter 434-630 WAC, the Local Records Committee grants disposition authority for public records in the form of records retention schedules. Washington State Archives Documenting Democracy

5. Why Not Keep Everything? Digital storage may seem cheap, but: Records remain subject to public records requests, litigation, discovery Harder to find what you need (the Google effect) Ongoing data migration costs; need for monitoring of system/application/version compatibility Washington State Archives Documenting Democracy

6. Agency Goal: Defensible Disposition Bring consistency to the records management (RM) and disposition process for all records Be able to demonstrate that records are lawfully and systematically destroyed/transferred –Paper –Born-digital –Scanned records Washington State Archives Documenting Democracy

7. First Key: Development of RM Policies/Procedures Clarity for employees – RM roles and responsibilities Basis for training, compliance checks Crucial evidence that agency is aware of and following retention requirements on ongoing basis Washington State Archives Documenting Democracy

8. Second Key: Collaboration Between IT, RM and Legal Silo effect – separate mandates = divergent understandings of the problem/solution Policy/procedure development must involve all three groups Cross-training is GOLD Washington State Archives Documenting Democracy

9. Retention schedules already exist Focus on end users of system, creators of records Mirror your business workflow, rather than creating a new business process Mirror successful paper RM filing structures throughout electronic environment Washington State Archives Documenting Democracy Third Key: Building on What You Have

10. Implementation - Pilot project in one office/department (usually Finance) Automate as much as possible – de-duplication, drag-and-drop… …But auto-delete and auto-classification are blunt instruments Washington State Archives Documenting Democracy Other Strategies and Trends

11. Agencies wishing to scan paper records and then destroy them before their required retention has been met must meet or exceed State Archives requirements as set forth in the document Requirements for the Destruction of Non- Archival Paper Records After Imaging. http://www.sos.wa.gov/archives/ RecordsManagement/ DestructionofPaperRecordsAfterImagingScanning.aspx Defensible Disposition and Scanned Records

12. You Are Not Alone For advice and assistance: recordsmanagement@sos.wa.gov Subscribe to listserv for the latest updates: http://www.sos.wa.gov/archives/RecordsManagement/

13. Washington State Archives: Partners in preservation and access. http://www.sos.wa.gov/archives/recordsmanagement/ Thank You!