Q & a eRecords Federal Global Missions Outreach

8/8/2019 Q & a eRecords Federal Global Missions Outreach

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http://concerningelectronicrecordmanagement.blogspot.com/2010/09/questions-answers-about-

electronic.html

Questions & Answers about Electronic

Records Management particularly pertinent toFederal Global Missions Outreach

It is essential that Federal Government Agencies manage their

electronic records appropriately. Like all other government

records, electronic records can also be used as evidence in

litigation (eDiscovery). Agencies can be held liable if they keep

their electronic records too long, if their electronic records are

not properly destroyed, or if they are destroyed too soon. Underall of these circumstances, the Federal Government Agency can

be publicly embarrassed by the events, and can lose significant

dollars attempting to protect itself to produce the required

records, to identify the relevant records, or to recover lost

records. Federal Agency’s are required by law to manage records

and this includes electronic records.

This Q&A template has been developed in response to Electronic

Records questions received during a recent TDY and some

questions received from missions via email. It is intended that

this Q&A will assist those mission workers who create, receive,

and retain electronic records.

Q: What are electronic records and how do they differ from paper

records?

A: An electronic record meets the definition of a record, and

is information recorded by a computer that is produced orreceived in the initiation, conduct or completion of business.

Examples of electronic records include: e-mail messages, word

processed documents, electronic spreadsheets, digital images and

documents produced in many of the systems owned and operated

by Agency. Electronic records maintained in many Agencies’

http://concerningelectronicrecordmanagement.blogspot.com/2010/09/questions-answers-about-electronic.html






consist of information systems which include financial reports,

contracts, personnel information, Foreign Service information,

legal information, etc.

Electronic records differ from paper records in three primaryways:

Frequency-There more of them

Fluidity-Electronic records are always moving, where paper is not

nearly as mobile

Federacy-They are more accessible

Q: Do the electronic records I create and use at work belong to

me?A: No. All electronic records that are created received or

stored by Agency employees are the property of the Federal

Government and its citizens. These records are not the property

of its employees, contractors, or other staff or volunteers.

Employees should have no expectation of privacy when using the

Federal Government computer resources.

Q: I sometimes use my home computer to conduct government

business. Am I creating public records?A: Yes. Records created in the performance of an official function,

regardless of where you are creating or receiving, must be

managed the same way as those created and received using

government computer resources in a government facility.

Q: Could my electronic records be released for the purpose of

litigation (eDiscovery)?

A: Electronic records might be released in for litigation or theeDiscovery process. Computers are provided to employees for

conducting official business. Employees should be prepared

to provide access to their electronic records under these

circumstances. This process usually begins with a litigation hold.

Electronic records that are created using home computers are



also subject to eDiscovery.

Q: What are my responsibilities as a government employee who

creates electronic records?

A: The Government employee’s responsibilities for managingelectronic records are the same as those for other records.

Government employees are responsible for organizing their

electronic records so they can be located and used. Government

employees are responsible for using an approved Disposition

Schedule to identify how long electronic records must be kept.

Government employees are responsible for keeping electronic

records for their entire retention period, and for deleting

electronic records in accordance with an approved Disposition

Schedule.

Q: What is a Disposition Schedule?

A: NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) requires

that all Federal Agencies manage Federal Records regardless of

physical format and these records are to be managed according

to an approved Disposition Schedule. The records schedule

identifies how long the records must be kept, when they must

be destroyed and when certain records can be sent to NARA forpermanent preservation. No Federal records can be destroyed

without the authorization of an approved Disposition Schedule.

Q: Is there a Disposition Schedule that covers the electronic

records in my mission? There are three responses to this

question:

A. Your electronic records may be located within an Information

System that has been scheduled with NARA and that dispositionschedule should be reviewed for disposition instructions.

B. Many electronic records are covered under the General

Records Schedule (GRS), and this should be consulted for

disposition instruction.

C. If the electronic records in your mission are not covered by the



GRS, and are not located in one of the Information Systems that

have been scheduled by NARA they may be covered under an

approved Agency Records Schedule

Q: What should I do if my electronic records are not listed on aDisposition Schedule as listed above?

A: You should contact the Information and Records Division for

assistance.

Q: My mission’s paper records were listed on a Disposition

Schedule; now most of our records are created electronically.

Does the Disposition Schedule still apply?

A: In most cases yes, but there may be exceptions. In most

cases the Disposition instructions are medial neutral. You should

contact the Information and Records Division for assistance if

you have questions determining if the Disposition instructions are

applicable.

Q: My mission is buying new software for a database or

Information System, and we do not know which data from the old

database or Information System we need to keep.

A: Electronic records must be retained in accordance with theDisposition Schedule as indicated, so it is very important that the

database or Information System be scheduled. The schedule will

tell you how long to keep the older data.

Note: Electronic records cannot be destroyed if they have been

requested for eDiscovery, even if their retention period has

expired. It is also important that you consult the Agency Policy

for information regarding the implementation of new software,

such as data bases or Information Systems.

Q: How should I store permanent electronic records?

A: Missions should know how long their electronic records must

be retained before they select their storage media for electronic

records that are permanent or have lengthy retention periods;



therefore it is very important that Disposition Schedules be

reviewed before considering storage media. Missions should

consider authorized technology when considering storage media.

When considering storage media for permanent records it is

important that the media be approved by NARA. Currently NARAwill receive permanent electronic records stored on CD ROMs.

Information regarding authorized storage media may be obtained

by contacting the Information and Records Division.

Q: Will my older electronic records be accessible when new

technology (hardware and software) is upgraded or changed?

A: Electronic technology is a rapidly changing field. Many

electronic records will require that they be kept longer than theoriginal technology that was used to create them. New technology

is not always compatible with older technology that missions may

have used in the past. Missions are responsible for ensuring that

older electronic records are migrated to newer systems to remain

usable. As older technology becomes obsolete or unusable due to

the evolving field of electronic records in some missions it may

be necessary to contact CIO office or Information and Records

Division for assistance. Additional guidance for this question is

also found in the Agency Policy.

Q: Are deleted electronic records permanently destroyed?

A: Not necessarily. Electronic records should be deleted

in accordance with the appropriate Disposition Schedule

instructions. However, deleted electronic records may not be

completely deleted from the system and may still be latent within

the Agency infrastructure. For assistance in deleting electronic

records please contact your Agency Information and RecordsDivision or CIO office.

Q: My mission has piles of records which they would like to

convert to electronic format and destroy the paper files. What is

your guidance in regards to this question?



A: This is a common situation in various missions. There are

many advantages to converting the paper records to an electronic

format, primarily that of space, convenience, and accessibility.

Unfortunately it is not always possible to convert all the paper

files to electronic format and destroy the paper. My responsewould be this: A. Make sure they are records that should be

kept, and that some if not many are not subject to deletion due

to their Disposition Schedule. A purge day (purge day=a day

when old records past their disposition can be destroyed) should

be scheduled prior to any type of conversion. B. Some records

may be managed in document management data base and the

original copy will have to be placed in an authorized storage

facility until it has reached its disposition. What this does is itaffords the convenience of having an electronic copy and moving

the paper to storage until it has reached its disposition. C. Some

paper records may be copies and the official record may be

contained in a scheduled Electronic Information System. In such

cases paper copies need not be retained, however if one wants

to retain the paper copy as a working copy it may be scanned

into the hard drive and e-filed for the convenience of having an

accessible working copy.

Documents

Q & a eRecords Federal Global Missions Outreach