Electronic Records

Management (ERM)

The Management of
Information Systems within
the Federal Government

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 ERM Authorities
 GSA, 36 CFR 1234, Electronic Records Management
 GSA, 36 CFR 1228.270, Disposition of Federal Records

 OMB Circular A-130, Management of Federal Information Resources,

 Executive Order 13011 (July 16, 1996), Federal Information Technology

 Public Law 104-231, Electronic Freedom of Information Act (E-FOIA)

 Public Law 105-277, Government Paperwork Elimination Act

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 Overview
This presentation is provided to assist those in the Records
Management arena who are owners, managers, and
administrators of the various Information Systems we work
with each and everyday in our respective Agency‘s. An
important process in the management of Information
Systems is the Scheduling of these various Systems with
NARA (National Archives and Records Administration).

It is suggested that Agency’s complete an inventory of the

various Systems owned by their Agency. Once this inventory
is completed it should be submitted to the Records
Management Division of your Agency.

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Overview continued…
 The System scheduling process involves coordination between
the E-Records manager, system owners (or system
administrators), and the National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA) to: Procedures will consist of:

 Drafting disposition instructions, and;

 Schedule site visits by the archivist to check systems,
records, and resolve any issues
 Upon request, a meeting should be arranged with the
archivist and E-Records manager to assist with completion
of the form. This meeting will also provide an opportunity
to check the system/records, and answer questions.

 Afterwards, the scheduling of the disposition instructions goes

through an approval process by NARA (and GAO if financial
system/records) before they can be implemented and added to
the Electronic Records Disposition Schedule.

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 Purpose
A "records inventory" is a detailed listing of the volume, scope, and
complexity of an organization's records. The results of this survey can
be used to analyze the records for various purposes including
retention and protection.

The purpose of this information systems inventory is to establish

current status of electronic records (and information systems)
maintained in our computing environment.

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What is an agency schedule?
 Agencies are required by law to develop records schedules for all of their records not
covered by the GRS (44 U.S.C. 3303). After reviewing their records, agencies submit
the schedules for NARA approval on an SF 115, Request for Records Disposition
Authority.

 The SF 115 contains descriptions of record series or systems and disposition

instructions for each. These instructions specify when the series is to be cut off, when
eligible records are to be moved to off-site storage, when eligible temporary records
must be destroyed or deleted, and when permanent records are to be transferred to
the National Archives.

 Schedules may not be implemented until NARA has approved them. Some schedules,
especially those containing records relating to financial management, claims, and other
related matters, must also be approved by the General Accounting Office (GAO) (
44 U.S.C. 3309) before NARA will approve them.

 Once approved by NARA, retention periods in the schedules are mandatory and
authorize the systematic removal of unneeded records from Federal offices.

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What are the benefits of using records
schedules?
Using records schedules:

 Ensures that the important records are organized and maintained in such a way as
to be easily retrieved and identifiable as evidence of the program's activities,
especially in the event of an audit, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, or
a discovery in a lawsuit.

 Conserves office space and equipment by using filing cabinets to store only active
paper records and conserves server space by using tapes, disks, and other off-
line storage media for electronic records.

 Saves money by moving inactive files to off-site storage areas until they are ready
for final disposition.

 Helps preserve those records that are valuable for historical or other research
purposes.

 Controls the growth of records in offices through the systematic disposition of

unneeded records.

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 Schedules
 Does your Agency have an Electronic Recor
that has been approved by NARA?

 General Records Schedules (GRS)

 GRS 20, Electronic Records

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 Action Plan
Annually: Contact system managers and provide inventory form and
instructions.

Annually: Analyze results and coordinate with the National Archives and
Records Administration (NARA) to finalize actions necessary to complete
the update of the Electronic Records Disposition Schedule. These
actions might include:

•Additional coordination with system managers to clarify issues

•Scheduling disposition for systems/records that are not scheduled
•Follow up visits by NARA to check information systems
•Coordination with GAO (Financial Records) and NARA on final
approval of disposition schedule

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Instructions to Improve the
Management of your Information
Systems
 Prepare an Inventory Information Form

 Prepare FAQs About Records Inventories

 Provide Tips for Scheduling Electronic Databases

 Provide
Records Management Briefing for Systems and Program Man

 Training, Training, and more Training

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References

Terms and Miscellaneous

Information

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Official Records
 "Official Agency Records" are the documentation, including all background materials,
resulting from specific transactions, operations or processes which are accumulated and
maintained in filing equipment. Official Agency records include information recorded on
any medium including paper, microform, cards, film, audio tape, optical disk, or magnetic
media.

 By law, Federal records are:

 All documentary materials including letters, memorandums, completed forms

statistical & narrative reports, graphics, photographs, audio & video recordings,
maps, architectural / engineering and other drawings.

 Regardless of physical forms including photographic prints & negatives, motion

picture film, tape recordings, and electronic records.

 made or received by an agency of the U.S. Government under Federal law or in connection
with the transaction of public business, and

 preserved or appropriate for preservation as evidence of agency functions, organization,

and activities or because of the value of the information they contain (44 U.S.C. 3301).

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Electronic Files
 Information technology uses the word
record to describe a particular set of
information. In this data processing
context, records are composed of
fields of information, and a collection
of such fielded records comprises an
electronic file.

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 Records Life Cycle
The records life cycle is the life span of a record from its creation or
receipt to its final disposition. It is usually described in three stages:
creation, maintenance/use, and final disposition.
1) Much of this guidance deals with the creation stage because the electronic
signature record is created during the first stage of the records life cycle.
2) The second stage, maintenance and use, is the portion of the
records life cycle in which the record is either maintained at the agency
while in active use, or is maintained off-line when use is less frequent.
3) The final stage of the records life cycle is disposition, which describes
the ultimate fate of the record. Federal records are categorized as
having either a "temporary" or "permanent" disposition status.
• Temporary records are held by agencies for specified time periods
before they are destroyed or deleted.
• Permanent records are first held by agencies and then legally transferred to
NARA.
Electronically-signed records may be either temporary or permanent. The
eventual disposition of electronically-signed records is subject to negotiation
between the agency and NARA, but agencies are not authorized to
dispose of records without approval from NARA.
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Information Systems
An Information System is the organized collection,
processing, transmission, and dissemination of
information in accordance with defined procedures.

NARA's concern is with the government information in

the system, that is, with information created, collected,
processed, transmitted, disseminated, used, stored,
and disposed of by the Federal Government. An
electronic information system includes the inputs and
outputs that are generated, as well as the information
on electronic media.

The system may contain budgetary, fiscal, social, economic, scientific-

technical or program-related data and information, operated in
support of agency programs and management responsibilities.

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 Electronic Information Systems (Cont.)

Electronic Information System:

A system that contains and provides access to computerized Federal
records and other information. (36 CFR 1234.2)

• May create and maintain Federal records but does not provide record
management functionality.
• Contains “real time” or frequently updated information.
• Is designed to allow information to be manipulated, changed, and
updated.

OMB Circular No. A-130, Management of Federal Information Resources

A. Provides uniform government-wide information resources management

policies
B. Requires agencies to plan in an integrated manner for managing
information throughout its life cycle. 16
Information System Documentation

System Managers shall maintain adequate and up-to-date

technical documentation for each electronic information system
that produces, uses, or stores data files. Minimum documentation
required is a narrative description of the system; physical and
technical characteristics of the records, including a record layout
that describes each field including its name, size, starting or
relative position, and a description of the form of the data (such as
alphabetic, zoned decimal, packed decimal, or numeric), or a data
dictionary or the equivalent information associated with a data
base management system including a description of the
relationship between data elements in data bases; and any other
technical information needed to read or process the records
(see 36 CFR 1234.20).

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System development life cycle
The "system development life cycle" describes the phases
of development of an electronic information system. These
phases typically include:

1. Initiation,
2. Definition,
3. Design,
4. Development,
5. Deployment,
6. Operation,
7. Maintenance,
8. Enhancement,
9. Retirement. 18
System development life cycle (Cont.)

A significant step in several of the stages is the

definition, development, and refinement of the data
model that includes treatment of the records being
created or managed. Information systems developed
according to system development methodologies,
including those that agencies use to implement the
electronic signature requirements of GPEA, will
produce new records or augment existing records.

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 ERM Terms
 Electronic Records

 Electronic, or machine-readable records, are records on electronic storage

media (A Glossary for Archivists, Manuscript Curators, and Records
Managers, Society of American Archivists: Chicago, 1992 p. 12). Electronic
record, as defined in NARA regulations (36 CFR 1234.2), means any
information that is recorded in a form that only a computer can process and
that satisfies the definition of a Federal record per the Federal Records Act
definition supplied above. Federal electronic records are not necessarily
kept in a "recordkeeping system" but may reside in a generic electronic
information system or are produced by an application such as word
processing or electronic mail.

 Metadata

 Metadata is a term that describes or specifies characteristics that need to

be known about data in order to build information resources such as
electronic recordkeeping systems and support records creators and users.

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Terms (Cont.)
 Electronic information system [EIS]
(From WhatIs.Com, term=INFORMATION SYSTEM)

 "The collection of technical and human resources that provide the

storage, computing, distribution, and communication for the
information required by all or some part of an enterprise. A special
form of information system is a management information system
(MIS), which provides information for managing an enterprise."

 Electronic information systems automate certain business functions.

Other programmatic electronic information systems may automate
agency mission-specific business functions, and as such, may
produce Federal records in the process. These electronic information
systems may or may not incorporate all aspects of appropriate
electronic recordkeeping, depending on their design characteristics.

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Terms (Cont.)
 Electronic Recordkeeping System [ERKS]
 An electronic recordkeeping system [ERKS] is an electronic information
system that meets an agency's recordkeeping needs. At a high level,
NARA has defined an ERKS as an electronic information system in
which records are collected, organized, and categorized to facilitate their
preservation, retrieval, use, and disposition (36 CFR 1234.2). From a
records perspective, an ERKS will ensure that the records it maintains
will have sufficient authenticity and reliability* to meet all of the agency's
recordkeeping needs.

 *The International Council on Archives document Guide for Managing

Electronic Records from an Archival Perspective states "The reliability of
a record is its ability to serve as reliable evidence....Authenticity refers to
the persistence over time of the original characteristics of the record with
respect to context, structure and content. An authentic record is one that
retains its original reliability."

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Electronic Document Management System
(EDMS)

An electronic document management system [EDMS] is software

that manages the creation, storage, and control of semi-structured
documents. It consists of several technologies including, but not
limited to document management, COLD (Computer Output to
Laser Disk), imaging, and workflow. See Preliminary Planning for
Electronic Recordkeeping: Checklist for RM Staff for a more
detailed description of these technologies.

In part, because an EDMS does not support the preservation of the

business context of an individual record (i.e., EDMS systems manage a
content item as an individual unit, as opposed to preserving its
relationship to a larger group of documents that provide evidence of the
same particular organizational function), EDMS systems are not
electronic recordkeeping systems.

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Records Management Application (RMA)

Records Management Application [RMA] is the term used in DoD

5015.2-STD, Design Criteria Standard for Electronic Records
Management Software Applications, for software that manages
records. Its primary management functions are categorizing and
locating records and identifying records that are due for
disposition. RMA software also stores, retrieves, and disposes of
the electronic records that are maintained in its repository. DoD
5015.2-STD requires that RMAs be able to manage records
regardless of their media. The DoD maintains a list of software products
that have been tested and certified to comply with the mandatory
requirements of DoD 5015.2-STD.

 See NARA endorsement of DoD 5015.2-STD.

For more terms, see EPA’s Records Management Glossary

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The End

Questions, Comments,
Assistance????
Contact Ken Matthews
E-Records Project Manager
chapkenmat@gmail.com

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