Observations on Managing Recorded Information in the Public Sector

A Presentation to PPAL 6200by Michael Moir, University Archivist, 6 June 2009

Objectives

• Characteristics of records• Reasons for their management• Legislative framework• Program for management

throughout the lifecycle of information

• Archives – the relationship between corporate governance and cultural programming

Characteristics of

Records

• A document is a unit of recorded information

• A record is a document made or received in the course of the conduct of the affairs of a person or organization, and preserved by that person or organization for the purposes of future reference

• Form follows function– Activity shapes the record’s format, content,

distribution, use, and metadata

Broad R

ange of Records

Services provided by governments and related organizations lead to the creation of a significant body of records affecting the lives of residents:

• Governance – Debates and proceedings, legislation, voters’ lists

• Vital statistics – births, marriages, deaths• Finance – Budgets, assessment rolls, tax

collector rolls, requests for proposals, accounts payable and receivable

• Land use – official plans, zoning bylaws, minutes of the committee of adjustment, plans of subdivision

Broad R

ange of Records

• Roads, Sewers and Water Supply – technical drawings, project files, progress photographs, statistical reports

• Waste Management – vehicle inspection reports, contracts with service providers

• Residential Development – building permit applications, inspection reports

• Economic Development – research files, promotional literature

• Transit – route maps, schedules, design drawings, construction photographs, fare media

Broad R

ange of Records

• Neighbourhood Services – program files for recreational activities, circulation records for libraries, museum’s accession database

• Social Services – Ontario Works case files, applications for day care, patient records from homes for the aged

• Emergency Services – fire incident reports, dispatch records for paramedics

• Law Enforcement – station duty books, registers of criminals, officers’ memo books

Importance of R

ecords

• Informed decision making– Thomas Jefferson: “Information is the

currency of democracy”

– Transparency of governance through the Internet has become a political priority

• Risk management– Honour obligations and enforce rights

– Manage the reputation of the organization

– Expensive and unique corporate asset

Legislative F

ramew

ork

• Changes in government and record-keeping technologies have prompted new legislation at the federal and provincial levels of government– Library and Archives of Canada

Act, S.C., 2004, c. 11– Archives and Recordkeeping Act,

S.O., 2006, c. 34, schedule A

Legislative F

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ork

• These acts share important principles:– All documents created by public

servants are the property of the government

– Documents are records regardless of media

– No records can be destroyed without authorization by the Archivist

– Provision will be made for preservation of and access to government and private sector records with enduring value

Municipal L

egislation

Municipal Act, 2001 (S.O. 2001, c. 25)

• §254 (1) – A municipality shall retain and preserve the records of the municipality and its local boards in a secure and accessible manner, and if a local board is a local board of more than one municipality, the affected municipalities are jointly responsible

• §254(2) – A local board that has ownership and control of its records shall retain and preserve the records in a secure and accessible manner

Enter the A

rchivist

• §254 (3) – A municipality, group of municipalities or local board … may enter into an agreement for archival services with an archivist … but a local board shall not enter into such an agreement without the consent of the municipalities of which it is a local board

• §254 (4) – The agreement may be entered into with: (a) a local, regional or university archives, and (b) any other archivist who is not an employee of or member of Council (N.B.: This subsection does not preclude a municipality from establishing its own archives)

Transfer of R

ecords

• §254 (5) – If a municipality or local board has entered into an agreement, it may transfer to the archivist any record which it has a duty to retain and preserve

• §254 (6) – Records transferred to the archivist remain, for the purposes of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, under the custody or control of the municipality or local board

Duties of the P

artners

• §254 (7) – An archivist that has entered into an agreement shall retain and preserve the records transferred to it in a secure and accessible manner

• §254 (8) – A municipality or local board shall ensure that an archivist fulfills its obligations

• The Partners require:– Clear articulation of expectations in terms of

preservation and access (e.g. environmental controls, transfer protocols, scheduled hours, administration of MFIPPA)

– Mechanism to monitor compliance

Retention Schedules

• §255 – Records may be destroyed upon expiry of retention periods as established by a municipality and local board, and approved by the municipal auditor

• Retention schedules normally address administrative, legal and fiscal criteria, but they should also be reviewed by an archivist to determine the long-term cultural value of a record

• Archival records are seldom used for the purposes that they were originally created, making it difficult to predict their potential for research

Appraisal C

riteria

Do the records:• Provide evidence of key functions and

transactions, and is this evidence reliable?• Reflect changes in attitudes, policies, or

programs over time?• Contain information that can be found

elsewhere in a more synthesized form?• Possess aesthetic qualities that support the

study of art or development of technology?

• Come in a format accessible in the future?• Justify the cost of preservation, processing

and access?

Access and P

rivacy

Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56)

• Act pertains to all records created by a municipality and local board regardless of media, including email and machine readable records that may be created by hardware or software in control of institution

• “Personal information” includes not only characteristics and identifiers, but also views, opinions and confidential correspondence

• Reporting requirements: PIBs and general classes of records

Exem

ptions from A

ccess

• While §4 of the Act stresses that every person has a right of access to a municipal record and institutions must disclose the record as soon as practicable, the Act provides 10 grounds for exemptions that provide balance in terms of privacy

• Specific legislation can take precedence over exemptions, such as in the case of assessment rolls

• Other records, such as tax collector rolls, voters’ lists and building permit applications, require review and severing to protect third-party information

Exceptions

• §14 of the Act provides grounds for the release of personal information, including for research (with some conditions)

• R.R.O. 1990, Regulation 823 (amended to O. Reg. 480/97), §10 sets out the terms and conditions for a research agreement, including a template for an agreement

Exclusions

• Councillors’ records are considered personal property because they are not officers or employees of the municipality (IPC Order M-813, 31 July 1996)

• In situations where Councillors’ constituency files are intermingled with administrative files, they may be considered municipal records if so determined by Council policy (IPC Order MO-1403, 21 March 2001)

Vital Statistics

Vital Statistics Act (R.S.O. 1990, c. V.4)

• §38 – Prior to 2001, the clerk of every municipality was a division registrar to register births, marriages and deaths

• These registers are provincial records, and are governed by retention schedules (95 years for births; 80 years for marriages; 70 years for deaths)

• §5 of the Act gives authority to the Archives of Ontario to receive and maintain these registers

Secrecy and Penalties

• §53 – No division registrar or other prescribed person shall communicate or provide access to information obtained under this Act to any person who is not entitled to receive it

• §57 – fine of not more than $50,000 for individuals and $250,000 for corporations that contravene §53

Records M

anagement

• Legislated mandate• Reporting structure• Intellectual and physical control:

– Inventory– File management– Retention scheduling– Inactive storage– disposition

• Corporate service or delegated responsibility?– Policy, training, service delivery– Accountability and compliance

Elem

ents of Archives

• Legislated mandate

• Reporting structure

• Dedicated budget

• Qualified staff

• Appropriate facilities

• Public access

A Significant Investm

ent

Archives are expensive:• Preservation requires specialized storage

that varies by media:– Photographs, moving image and sound

recordings require a lower relative humidity– Negatives and films affected by “vinegar

syndrome” require cold storage– Instability of electronic records in terms of

hardware and software• E-government, e-service, e-business: the

impact of the Internet• Reference model is labour intensive due to

security and challenges of mediating inquiries

Governance vs. C

ulture?

• Concept of “total archives” • Legislated requirements vs.

discretionary programming• Benefits to the community

extremely difficult to quantify in performance measures, particularly in comparison with museums and libraries

• Budget cycle: community jewel or sacrificial lamb?

Parting W

ords

Arthur G. Doughty, The Canadian Archives and its Activities (1924):

Of all national assets, archives are the most precious; they are the gifts of one generation to another and the extent of our care of them marks the extent of our civilization. …

Parting W

ords

Serious minded people often question the wisdom of preserving records, and the fiat is issued for their destruction. Nor is this altogether surprising. For twenty years or more, perchance, no one has required them. Why should they be kept?

Parting W

ords

As a rule the papers of a given generation are seldom required after their reception and primary use; but when all personal touch with that period has ceased, then these records assume a startling importance, for they replace hands that have vanished and lips that are sealed.”

Resources

• Publications on records retention (including archival review) and managing electronic records available through the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario – http://www.amcto.com

• UNESCO archives portal offers a view of municipal archives around the world – http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en

• Archives Association of Ontario, Municipal Archives Interest Group – http://aao.fis.utoronto.ca/aa/maig.html

Contact Inform

ation

Michael Moir

University Archivist and Head

Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections

York University Libraries

Room 305, Scott Library, 4700 Keele Street

Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3

tel: 416-736-5442 fax: 416-650-8039

www.yorku.ca/mmoir

email: mmoir@yorku.ca