A
records management application
is a software tool to help solve a businessneed that often involves process changes. Standards for records management are emerging and evolving in many countries around the world.
Records management standards are the guidelines to manage records as defined by government agencies in various countries. In this section, we present several of the major standards.
Note: A
records management standard
is defined by a particular authority or government for its own requirements. It might be applicable for otherorganizations. Therefore, an organization must assess its requirements before adopting any standard.
These product standards provide a
baseline
for the technical requirements. What follows are examples of some of the records management standards around the world: ISO 15489 information and documentation: Records management
The ISO 15489 standard is recognized worldwide as establishing the baseline for excellence in records management programs and implementing records management software applications. It is a process standard that provides a blueprint for the establishment, structure, monitoring, and auditing of a best practice records management program and software applications. It enables an organization to efficiently and effectively record and retrieve information, which enhances decision-making, productivity, and accountability and reduces the risk of exposing information.
This standard does not focus on records management technology solutions, but it encompasses all aspects of a records management program and software applications. There is, therefore, no software certification program for ISO 15489. If an organization implements an Electronic Records
Management Systems (ERMS), this implementation is considered an enabler for ISO 15489.2
US Department of Defense (DoD) 5015.2
The United States Department of Defense (DoD) Design Criteria Standard for Electronic Records Management Software Applications, better known as DoD 5015.2, debuted in 1997. Since then, it has become a common standard for US government agencies, including the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). It provides a formal certification program that private sector businesses routinely use as a way to evaluate or short-list records management software for potential purchases.
IBM Enterprise Records is DoD certified since inception. DoD 5015.2 is also the starting point for base use cases for the retired UK National Archive (TNA) and the new European MoReq2010 standards.
For example, one of the mandatory requirements is C2.2.4.1: Records management applications (RMAs) shall treat email messages as any other records, and these shall be subjected to all requirements of this standard. These standards are evolving. For example, C2.2.4.5 of version 3 of DoD 5015.2 mandates that RMAs shall not require users to save attachments to
Note:
Guidelines
are recommendations ornon-mandatory
controls that help to support standards or serve as references when no applicable standards are in place.their hard disk drives or other media before filing them separately from the email message. This is new to version 2.
In June 2002, classified requirements were added to the specification with additional requirements for records management applications, supporting classified records (for instance, confidential, secret, and top secret), expanded audit requirements, more user-defined metadata fields, and guidance about email record support.
A third revision of the specification came out in 2007. Version 3 added these provisions:
– Requirements for interoperability between records management systems, export and import capabilities, and accession to NARA
– Privacy Act and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) considerations (optional requirements)
Model Requirements for Managing Electronic Records (MoReq 2010) The MoReq specification is a model specification of requirements for ERMS to be used in Europe. For example, 5.1.1 of the specification stipulates that the ERMS must provide a function that specifies retention schedules,
automates reporting and destruction actions, and provides integrated facilities for exporting records and metadata.
MoReq 2010 is the next generation of the MoReq standard. MoReq 2010 was formally published June 2011. The former version MoReq2 was published in March 2008. MoReq2 provides testing schemes, a feature that was not available in the MoReq. It has also taken input from newer records management standards and best practices and provides a software certification testing program for vendors. It is a European standard, but different countries can have local variations. MoReq 2010 was written to encourage different models of records management system to emerge.
Document Management and Electronic Archiving (DOMEA)
DOMEA is a German standard for document management and electronic archiving in public administration. For example, requirement group (RG) 5 stipulates requirements about mobile records management. In addition to records management through web clients, mobile records management represents an alternative for many authorities to ensure the fulfillment of daily tasks, regardless of the employees’ presence in the office.
Note:
Accession
means to transfer and archive records from one records management system to another records-holding authority. It is one type of record disposition option. Victorian Electronic Records Standard (VERS)
VERS is an Australian standard developed by Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) to provide guidelines on capturing, managing and preserving electronic records in the state of Victoria.3 For example, it defines that an electronic records format must be able to support evidence. Electronic records must be admissible as evidence and given due weight in a court of law. This requires the ability to prove that a record has not been altered in an unauthorized or undocumented fashion since creation and to demonstrate who created the record and when it was created.
Although the other standards mentioned here really focus on requirements for a records management solution, VERS concentrates on defining a standard for the long-term preservation of electronic records. The intention is to ensure that an electronic record created today using current technology can fulfill these objectives:
– Be viewable in 10, 20, 50, or 100 years. The problem exists today. It is getting increasingly difficult to try to view a document that was created by a word processor 15 years ago, because current vendors drop support for these older formats.
– Have context, so that it is understood exactly where the record came from, who the author was, and what it is related to.