Managing the Digital University Desktop ECURE 2004 Tempe, Arizona

Managing the Digital University Desktop

ECURE 2004Tempe, Arizona

http://www.ils.unc.edu/digitaldesktop

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Thought for the day….

“The end-user manages e-mail.”

-ARMA Guideline for Managing E-mail

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Thank You to

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission

for funding this project

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The team!

Tim Pyatt, co-PI, Duke University UA Kim Chang, Co-Project Manager Megan Winget, Co-Project Manager Paul Conway, Duke Library IT Director Janis Holder, UNC UA Frank Holt, UNC RM David Mitchell, Duke RM Russell Koonts, Duke Medical Archvist

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Today’s Presentation

Overview and goals of the Managing the Digital University Desktop Project.

Context and background of study. Brief discussion of the survey results. Selected results from interview data

regarding appraisal, retention, & deletion. Next steps.

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Project Overview

Understand how faculty & staff at a public & private universities manage their email & other electronic files.

Create guidelines based on records requirements & observed behaviors.

Create learning tools based on guidelines. Disseminate findings & training.

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1st Year Methodology

In order to learn how faculty, staff, and administrators manage their electronic materials weConducted campus-wide surveys at UNC-

Chapel Hill and Duke University. Interviewed 100 individuals. Interviewed approximately 25 IT staff.

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2nd Year Work

We are in the midst of coding the data from the interviews using NVIVO software.

Starting to analyze filing arrangements we captured from interviewees’ computers.

Matching capabilities of software used with responses to interview questions.

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How This All Began…

Collaboration between myself and UNC Records Management Program, starting in 1999.

Records Management Program but no real work in electronic records.

Recognition that UNC employees might be mishandling electronic records.

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Original Vision

Application submitted in May 2001. Original work plan called for collecting

data at UNC-CH and some of the other 15 UNC campuses.

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Addition of Duke University

In October 2001, the UNC-CH Records Management Program was dismantled due to the budget crisis.

November 2001, NHPRC indicated they would fund grant if UNC-CH maintained a records manager.

Records manager’s position moved to the Library, February 1, 2002.

Duke University brought in to maintain cost share.

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Benefits of Duke Involvement Duke’s addition has provided:

Extensive and diverse expertise;Records practice at a private institution to

compare with the 16-campus UNC System;Digital information management behaviors at an

institution without any RM program and a highly decentralized structure;

An institution developing a campus records management program as well as a digital archives initiative.

Information Context

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Digital Landscape

From How Much Information? 2003: Print, film, magnetic, and optical storage

media produced about 5 exabytes of new information in 2002. Ninety-two percent of the new information was stored on magnetic media, mostly in hard disks. http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/research/projects/how-

much-info-2003/execsum.htm

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Storage Media

Hard disks store most new information. Ninety-two percent of new information is stored on magnetic media, primarily hard disks. Film represents 7% of the total, paper 0.01%, and optical media 0.002%.

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Information Explosion

HMI estimates that new stored information grew about 30% a year between 1999 and 2002.

The amount of information printed on paper is still increasing, but the vast majority of original information on paper is produced by individuals in office documents and postal mail, not in formally published titles such as books, newspapers and journals.

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Email

Email generates about 400,000 terabytes of new information each year worldwide.

Email ranks second behind the telephone as the largest information flow. Email users include 35% of the total U.S. population (source: eMarketer), and accounts for over 35% of time spent on the Internet (source: Forrester Research).

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Primacy of the Individual

“Tip” O’Neill: “All politics is local.” Desktop e-mail management and

subsequent archiving of material from the university environment presently depends on the individual, his or her specific information management behaviors, and the software being used.

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The Situation

Most staff, faculty, and administrators, especially the latter two groups, have little or no training in information management.

Electronic records are inherently fragile. If they are not “preserved” early in their lives, they will not endure.

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Starting Assumption

Successful electronic information management guidelines must take into account how people are presently managing their digital information.

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Project Goals - 1

Document how faculty, administrators, and staff use and manage files and records from electronic mail and other desktop applications at UNC-CH, Duke University, throughout the 16-campus UNC system, and by extension, across academia.

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Project Goals - 2

Based on the analysis of user needs and practices, as well as the North Carolina Public Records Act, develop optimized e-mail and desktop management "best practice" guidelines to serve both public and private higher education in North Carolina and provide an adaptable model of practice for other states.

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Project Goals - 3

Develop educational opportunities (workshops, handbook, exercises, web-based courses, etc.) to optimize faculty, administrator, and staff use and management of desktop electronic documents.

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Project Goals - 4

Develop user profiles necessary for a strategic consideration of electronic records management systems.

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And…Dissemination

Disseminate information about the best practices guidelines and instructional units at UNC, Duke, and across the 16-campus UNC system via a statewide conference and to other universities via the records management/ archival literatures and conferences and the project website.

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Best Answer?

Helping people become information management literate.

Moving people toward better practice. Realizing that telling people to manage

electronic files as “paper” has not been effective.

Selected Survey Findings

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Who We Surveyed

8,334 addresses at UNC. 17,327 addresses at Duke. About 212 emails bounced at

UNC. About 1,115 bounced at Duke.

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1899 Valid Duke Survey Respondents

Duke Respondents

Staff/Employee73%

Faculty27%

507

1392

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1076 Valid UNC Responses

UNC Respondents

Staff/Employee

60%

Faculty

40%

644

UNC Respondents

Staff/Employee

60%

Faculty

40%

644

UNC Respondents

Staff/Employee

60%

Faculty

40%

644

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Survey Questions

Email application most often used Volume/time spent on email Attachments Storage practices Importance to job Specific Concerns Willingness to do further interview

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Top Department Responders

Duke DCRI Library Pediatrics Psychiatry &

Behavioral Sci Anesthesiology

UNC – CH Library Medicine School of Business School of Social

Work FPG Child Develop-

ment Center

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Number of Email Messages Received/Day

36.8%

14.8%

5.5%

0%

53%

2.5% 2.1%0.3%

38.0%

4%2% 2% 0%

10%

29%

0 1-20 21-40 41-60 61-80 81-100 100+ Blank

UNC

Duke

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Number of Email Messages Received Daily According to HMI 60% of workers with email access receive

10 or fewer messages on an average day, 23% receive more than 20, 6% more than 50. 73% of workers spend an hour or less per

day on their email.

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Average Minutes/Day Spent on Email

amount of time spent on email

81.93 80.41

111.5092.69

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

DukeEmployees

Duke Faculty UNC Employees UNC Faculty

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Most Used Email Applications at UNC

51%

27%

5% 4% 3% 3%

Netscape

Outloo

k

Mulb

erry

Eudor

aPine

Siren

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Most Used Email Applications at Duke

38%

15%

11% 11%

4% 4% 4%

Lotu

s Not

es

Out

look

Netsc

ape

Eudor

a

Mul

berry

Excha

nge

Pine

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Top 10 Concerns Regarding Email at UNC

% of Respondents: 23% Unsolicited email 21% Confidentiality 16% Time 15% Usage 14% Software

limitations

14% Retention 13% Security 11% Management 10% Deletion 10% Viruses

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Top Concerns Regarding Email at Duke

% of Respondents: 21% Unsolicited email 19% Software limitations 18% Confidentiality 17% Security 14% Volume

13% Time 12% Usage 10% Viruses 8% Retention 7% Lotus

Notes

Selected Interview FindingsConcerning Appraisal,Retention, & Deletion

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Did Anyone Ever Tell You What to Save?

No68%

Other13%

Yes19%

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0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Yes No Other

All

Duke

UNC

Faculty

Staff

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Not formally28%

Confidential information9%

Public Records Law9%

Record Retention Schedule

9%

Student Records6%

Grant Materials6%

Intuitive6%

Showed structure for saving

6%

Supervisor6%

Told to save all emails6%

Told to save everything6%

Auto-Archive3%

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What Were You Told?Retention period, 1

Showed structure for

saving, 2

Told to save all emails, 2

Told to save everything, 2

Auto-archive, 1

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Who Told You?

Supervisor, 2

Risk Management

Dept, 1

Public Records Law, 3

Record Retention

Schedule, 3

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Are There Records You Know You Have to Keep?

Yes81%

No14%

Other5%

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How Do You Decide What These Records Are?

Intuitive, 4

Not formally, 4

Use personal judgment, 3

Supervisor, 1

Federal regulation, 1

Retention period, 2

,

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What Types of Documents Do You Have to Keep?

Financial

materials, 12

Administrative

records, 11

Student records, 8Correspondence, 5

Grant materials, 4

Legal materials, 4

Patient records, 3

Research papers, 2

Departmental

memos, 1Email, 1

Policies,

procedures,

initiatives, 1Syllabi, 1

Final draft, 1

Teaching

materials, 1

Projects, 1

Presentations, 1

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Criteria Used to Keep Email

0

20

40

60

Anticipated Use Save everything

Evidence File

Reminders Other

Reference Paper

Finding aids Auto-Archive

Early digital proj or tech decisions Immediate relevance

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Criteria Used to Delete Email

No Use Anticipated38%

No critical impact14%

Time Sensitive6%

Documents5%

Personal Email3%

Print then delete3%

File2%

Not consistent1%

Other copies available2%

Lack of space2%

Filters1%

Time1%

Not main recipient1%

Spam17%

Immediate relevance3%

Trash1%

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Do Your Email Messages Undergo Automatic Destruction?

Yes8%

No77%

I don't know10%

Other5%

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What Do You Do When You Get An Imminent Destruction Message?

Delete, 2

Re-organize documents, 2

Empty trash, 1

Network storage, 1

Lack of space, 1

Quota, 1

Save everything, 1

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Criteria Used to Keep Electronic Documents

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Antici

pate

d Use

Save

ever

ything

Eviden

ce File

Finding

aids

Paper

Too m

any v

ersio

ns =

conf

using

For S

ucce

ssor

Time

Refer

ence

All ver

sions

Reten

tion

perio

d

Remind

ers

Recor

d Ret

entio

n Sch

edule

Endur

ing va

lue

Compa

tabil

ity is

sues

Auto-

Archiv

e

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Criteria Used to Delete Electronic Documents

Lack of space14%

Print then delete12%

Other copies available

7%

Network storage4%

Not consistent4%

Anticipated Use2%

No Use Anticipated 45%

No critical impact2%

Quota2%

Reference2% File

2%Reminders

2%Time Sensitive

2%

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Do you keep copies of all the messages that you send?

Yes86%

No14%

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Where Do You Store Messages You Send?

Sent folder69%

File in folders28%

Hard drive1%

Archive2%

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How Do You Store Messages You Send?

Automatic45%

Chronologically22%

Pick and choose

18%

By size11% Not automatic

4%

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Next Steps

Finish analyzing data. Create “guidelines.” Get feedback for guidelines. Create learning materials. Test guidelines and materials. Spring 2005 dissemination conference.

Managing the Digital University Desktop

ECURE 2004Tempe, Arizona

http://www.ils.unc.edu/digitaldesktop