Scheduling Transitory Records as Part of a Sustainable Information Management Strategy

Sustainable Archives: AUSTIN 2009 Joint Annual Meeting of the Society of American Archivists and the Council of State Archivists

(SESSION 407)

Ralph R. Coram Archives of Ontario August 14, 2009

Records of temporary or short-term value in Ontario

Transitory records are

Records of temporary usefulness in any format or medium, created or received by a public body in carrying out its activities, having no ongoing value beyond an immediate and minor transaction or the preparation of a subsequent record, of such short-term value that they are not required to meet legal or fiscal obligations, initiate, sustain, evaluate or provide evidence of decision-making, administrative or operational activities.

• • • •

Includes the following classes of records

• Advertising and Promotional Material • Surplus Duplicates Failed Output Records Records of Short-Term Value Intermediate Records Draft Documents and Working Materials August 14, 2009 2

Is the information explosion sustainable ?

The creation of digital information is exploding at an exponential rate. According to IDC white paper: The digital universe in 2007 (at 281 exabytes or 281 billion gigabytes) was 10% bigger than first thought By 2011, the digital universe will be 10 times the size it was in 2006 Amount of information created, captured, or replicated exceeded available storage for the first time in 2007 Although most records are in digital format, scheduling has not kept pace According to SearchCIO-Midmarket.com article: third to a half of U.S.-based organizations still do not include electronic records as part of their records retention policies only 14% of organizations say they always follow their retention schedules August 14, 2009 3

Disposal of transitory records: a return to Jenkinson ?

August 14, 2009     The concept of the "transitory record" dates from Jenkinson’s time, when non-important records were “set aside” and not officially filed Records creators and users know best the value of their own records for business purposes They were the true “compilers of archives” where departmental staff would review files before their inactive phase – the Weeders (U.K.) Principles set out in his 1952 essay & P.R.O. pamphlet (1950) 4

“Encouraging intelligent elimination, as well as preservation”

Even in heavily scheduled departments the essential problem was “a system of filing which made no discrimination between important and unimportant papers or business and, in consequence, a task for the Weeders which would be not only long but delicate and responsible.” (p. 21) Jenkinson continues that: “The root of the trouble however lies further back…at the point where the Documents are made, or enter the office: the aim should be not so much to dispose of as to prevent the accumulation of unwanted papers.” (p. 22) He envisaged that a proper government archival authority "over all documents from the earliest moment of their appearance” should be “providing for Departments… an authoritative and sufficient waste paper basket, but one which cannot be abused.” (p. 23)

Sir Hilary Jenkinson, “The Problem of Elimination in the Records of Public Departments” (1952)

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Transitory records under the “non-record” regime

Gov’t-wide Recorded Information Management Directive (1992) defined transitory records as “non-records” vs. “official records” Exclusion from recordkeeping or scheduling process meant they tended defacto to get interfiled with business records or included in classification schemes Keeping these transitory records beyond their time of usefulness clutters offices and computer systems, absorbs staff time, and makes it difficult to locate important information quickly when needed Risks: infiltration into operational records; exposure to costs for production in litigation August 14, 2009 6

The Archives of Ontario IM “mouse pad”

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Legislative imperatives for scheduling transitory records

(Ontario’s Archives and Recordkeeping Act,

2006

) Public record works; means a record made or received by a public body in carrying out the public body’s activities, but does not include constituency records of a minister of the Crown or published Private record means a record that is not a public record; Record means a record of information in any form, including a record made, recorded, transmitted or stored in digital form or in other intangible form by electronic, magnetic, optical or any other means, but does not include a mechanism or system for making, sending, receiving, storing or otherwise processing information . s. 2 (1)

Every public body shall retain and transfer or otherwise dispose of their public records in accordance with the public body’s approved records schedule. s. 13 (1)

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Freedom of Information legislation & legal discovery

Transitory records may have to be reviewed and disclosed in response to a formal request for information (note: even if they have been kept when they could have been destroyed) When an access request is received, any transitory records that are responsive to the request must not be destroyed until the request has been processed and any appeal period has elapsed Transitory records related to any legal action must not be destroyed during the course of the legal action (cf. B.C. issue) Personal information contained in a transitory record must be retained 1 year after last use, and disposed of in such a manner that the personal information cannot be reconstructed August 14, 2009 9

New Definitions: Transitory Records Now

Legal defn. eclipses technical defn.: comprehensive scope of “public record” introduced by Archives & Recordkeeping Act required a shift in some assumptions and practice Common Series Records Schedule developed to describe and provide examples of different types of transitory records (benefited from other Canadian provinces) Government-wide adoption is mandatory for public bodies Authorizes every government employee to routinely destroy the transitory records they create, receive or are otherwise responsible for; “personal records” excluded Applies to records in all media (i.e. electronic, paper and other formats) August 14, 2009 10

New Definitions: Transitory Records Then to Now

Transitory Transitory records Records (Then) (Now) duplicate records Publications/ duplicate stock blank forms insignificant drafts/ working papers personal records (not scheduled & excluded from RIM Directive) Private (personal or minister constituency) Records Blank Forms Publications surplus duplicates advertising & promotional material failed output records records of short-term value intermediate records draft documents & working materials (public records, must be scheduled)

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Common Schedule for Transitory Records: a corporate wide disposition authority

Transitory Records Series Title Retention and Disposition Advertising and Promotional Material Surplus Duplicates Failed Output Records

Destroy immediately upon receipt when the material is not required, or when it has been replaced by a newer version, or is no longer actively referred to Destroy immediately when no longer actively used and referred to Destroy immediately upon output failure

Records of Short-Term Value Intermediate Records Draft Documents and Working Materials

Destroy immediately when the material is no longer required Destroy immediately upon successful replacement or incorporation into the subsequent or final record Destroy immediately when the final master record has been completed and filed August 14, 2009 12

New Definitions: Transitory Records Series (cont’d)

Examples of Database Related Transitory Records Failed output records Abnormally ended jobs or programming errors Intermediate records Used solely in the preparation of other records and aren’t needed once preparation is completed Input source documents used for data entry, that become obsolete once the data entry is validated and backed up Surplus duplicates: Identical copies of information used for convenience August 14, 2009 13

Familiar Actions: Then & Now

THEN

Schedule for transitory records - not required

Staff figure out if the record is transitory: use guidelines and directives for definition; Make use of the transitory record Destroy when no longer required (authorization by schedule not required)

NOW

Common Schedule for Transitory Records - adoption required

Staff figure out if the record is transitory: use records schedule for definition; Make use of the transitory record Destroy when no longer required (authorized by schedule) August 14, 2009 14

You’ve got mail (… and lots of it !)

Bad news: a 2008 study of 4 formal organizations in the Netherlands found that 5 to 10% of e-mails generated or received by employees related to their personal interests Good news: this study also confirmed employees tend to segregate communications related to their private interests from those that are task-related (official business) The Attention Economy: More information competing for less attention among employees (Davenport) Quest for information management discipline: every employee will soon be responsible for declaring e-mails as part of a recordkeeping system (RDMS), or deleting them as transitory August 14, 2009 15

IM trends in Ontario and transitory records

Ontario Public Service (OPS) digital records IM experience mirrors other jurisdictions According to Ontario’s Chief Information and Privacy Officer staff: OPS managed more than 780 terabytes (TB) of electronic information in 2008 ; by 2013 will manage almost 2 petabytes In 2007 there were over 400 million electronic office documents on OPS servers – that’s almost 6,000 documents per OPS employee Currently spending $15.3 million a year on storage and back-up costs for redundant information This situation is leading to increased risks for the government: Cost of time to find right information; Lost opportunities for leveraging information; Protection of personal and sensitive information August 14, 2009 16

Office of the Chief Information & Privacy Officer: Context for Functional Classification

Business Records

• For defined business activities • Documentation standards • Classified by business function • Automated retention and disposition

Manage to Support Business Activity Electronic Communications

• Most of only temporary value; Automate deletion of messages not Integrated after short term use.

• Large, growing volume from mobile devices, collaborative media. A focus for e-discovery (litigation) • Minority retained and integrated into business records or knowledge content.

Integrate Relevant Messages, Delete Others

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Knowledge Content

• Working papers, research, drafts, publications • Captured and used as needed • Attributes automatically captured/generated • Accessed by searching on attributes

Manage Based on Value and Usefulness Non-Business, Clutter, Noise

• Unsolicited communications.

• Announcements & Personal messages.

• Spam/phishing • Have little or no business value.

Block, Divert, Delete

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Enterprise Information Management (EIM)

Functional classifications under an EIM for business records; block, divert or delete for transitory records Migration of legacy transitory records into EIM is not recommended Mandatory Capture versus Optional Save? Former forces the capture of transitory and personal records within the EIM, which increases the likelihood of duplicate information and larger volumes of information Major challenge is identifying and mapping transitory “records series” to IM categories in an RDMS, since they may be managed in the EIM August 14, 2009 18

“The Fine Art of Destruction” evolves

“Records and Document Management is not an isolated process handled by some person in Archives. It is a competency that is necessary in each and every staff member who creates, changes and handles documents in the OPS” (OCIPO, IM Conference 2008) Employees as desk-top users will need a rational business process to “distinguish unerringly between ephemeral material and significant papers of permanent interest and value” (W. K. Lamb) Goal is to have active and knowledgeable information management workers using an electronic version of Jenkinson’s “authoritative and sufficient waste-paper basket.” August 14, 2009 19

References & Sources :

     Archives of Ontario (December 2008) Government of Ontario Common Records Series for Transitory Records. Toronto Archives of Ontario (June 2009) The Fine Art of Destruction: Weeding Out Transitory Records. Records Management Fact Sheet #8. Toronto Davenport, Thomas H. and John C. Beck (September 2002)

The Attention Economy: Understanding the New Currency of

Business. Cambridge: Harvard Business School Press Evans-Correia, Kate (2008) "Taking electronic records retention management to the next level." Midmarket CIO News 09 Dec 2008 | SearchCIO-Midmarket.com

Gantz, John F. et al (March 2008) The Diverse and Exploding

Digital Universe: An Updated Forecast of Worldwide

Information Growth Through 2011. Framingham, MA: IDC White Paper http://www.emc.com/collateral/analyst-reports/diverse-exploding-digital universe.pdf

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References & Sources (cont’d)

     Jenkinson, Sir Hilary (1952) “The Problem of Elimination in the Records of Public Departments” in Government Information and the Research Worker. Ronald Staveley, ed. London: The Library Association. Lamb, W. Kaye (1962) “The Fine Art of Destruction,” in Albert E.J. Hollaender, ed., Essays in Memory of Sir Hilary Jenkinson. Chichester, Eng. : Moore & Tillyer Managing Information in the Public Sector: the future is now, Toronto, 24-25 April 2008 http://www.verney.ca/opsim2008/agenda.php

Managing Information in the Public Sector: meeting the challenge, Toronto, 28-29 April 2009 http://www.verney.ca/opsim2009/agenda.php

Meijer, A. J. (2008) “E-mail in government: Not post bureaucratic but late-bureaucratic organizations”, Government Information Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 429 – 447. August 14, 2009 21

References & Sources (cont’d)

  Public Record Office [1950] Principles governing the elimination

of ephemeral or unimportant documents in public or private

archives. London: Public Record Office. Pages: 4 p.

Wilson, Ian E. (Spring 2000) "The Fine Art of Destruction Revisited." Archivaria 49 [email protected]

Website: http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/about/sp07_10_priorities.aspx#leadership

* The remarks above are my own interpretation and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer or the policy of the Government of Ontario.

** I would like to acknowledge Amber Amerlinck of the Archives of Ontario, whose work on transitory records issues informs this presentation.

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