Jason Bell
Competency G
Know the legal requirements and ethical principles involved in records management and the role the record keeper plays in institutional compliance and risk management.
Introduction
Those that are responsible for administrating an organization’s information must develop a records retention policy to ensure that necessary records and documents are protected and maintained and to ensure that records and documents that no longer hold value to the organization are discarded in a consistent manner. Record keepers also have the responsibility to aid employees in their understanding of their obligations to retain the organization's records and documents. Furthermore, today’s record keepers must be able to effectively communicate with individuals at all levels of an organization and gain the backing of key stakeholders. "The benefits (of)........ a records management program will be short-lived if mechanisms—such as senior-level sponsorship—are not in place to ensure there is accountability for records management throughout the organization"(Iron Mountain, 2010).
In today’s fast-paced technological society, decisions need to be made promptly and with good intelligence. Consequences of poor record management results in situations that will cost an organization considerable sums in lost revenue. It is the duty of the record keeper to navigate the new technologies and continually foster records management by establishing a sound management policy consisting of a team approach that includes representatives from senior levels of each department within the organization. Of special importance is good communication with the legal department as the “...term ‘record’ carries...(a heavy) weight. The International Organization for Standardization defines a record as “information created, received and maintained as evidence and information by an organization or person, in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business” (PRISM, n.d.).
Record keepers are vital to establishing transparent retention guidelines that ensure legal expectations placed on an organization by local, state and federal regulations. They must uphold these regulations in order to mitigate potential risk from information not being available when a legal request for information is made. Thus it is the role of the record keeper to establish what records are to maintained and for how long a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. I’m a great place for you to tell a story and let your users know a little more about you.
Supporting Evidence
I have chosen three works as evidence of my understanding of the role of a record keeper. These works will show that it is their duty to ethically manage information in a way that complies with legal requirements while mitigating risk and increasing the viability of an organization. The first assignment illustrates the importance of legal compliance to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and how failure of the Office of the President to manage their Emails cost the public much more than tax money. The second assignment illustrates the importance of the record keeper’s ability to remain flexible and knowledgeable of the current trends of information governance. Finally, in a course discussion I will show how the New York State Archive is able to maintain an ethical balance between public access and protecting personal privacy.
MARA 249 Missing White House E-mails
My PowerPoint presentation regarding the failure of the Executive Office of the President (EOP) to conform to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) demonstrates the how legal requirements need to be attended to from the creation of a record to its disposal or retirement in an archive. In January 2004 during an investigation, the EOP was required by the Justice Department to produce E-mails relating to leaked information of Valerie Plame’s covert CIA status. Unable to produce the reports lead some to believe that the records were purposely deleted so as not to incriminate those within the administration. Whether this is true or not is beside the point. The point here is that the EOP failed to provide information that they were legally bound to provide. Failure to provide this information violated not only FOIA but the Federal Records Act and the Presidential Records Act as well. Failure to uphold these laws created a great expense to the tax payers, as much money was spent in efforts to recover them. As an archivist I argue that the expense was not only monetary. There was a greater cost to the public trust (I use trust in this case to refer to a body of knowledge). Lost? records, whether they portray a negative or positive image of our nation, would create understanding of the activities undertaken by our leaders and define our historical outlook. As archivist and record managers we retain records to document events and transitions. Based on these records we are able to reflect on our achievements and failures alike so as to move forward with strength. I chose this assignment to demonstrate that my understanding that correct legal retention of records will keep our organizations compliant to their legally bound duties. This will require solid retention practices in place that mitigate loss of information.
In this assignment I show my understanding of the complexity that record keepers are faced with in an age where information is being created much faster than before due to advancements in technology. In 2012, every day 2.5 quintillion bytes of data (1 followed by 18 zeros) are created, with 90% of the world’s data created in the last two years alone”(Conner, 2013). Today’s record keepers need to be flexible and look for ways to develop policies that are able to handle both structured and unstructured data. The role of record keepers must include the ability to analyze unstructured data and find software solutions that will secure and organize mass amounts of data. The role of a record keeper requires the ability to apply policies that secures information while providing stakeholders with the tools to sift through large amounts of data to find what they are looking for in a timely manner.
In a course discussion I shared how the New York State Archives policy on access demonstrated their committed effort to comply with state and federal statutes while promoting access. As an archive, it is their ethical duty to provide the public with the ability to verify that the archive is conforming to standards and practices that stimulate understanding and trust. The New York State Archives clearly states their mission and the regulations for which they are accountable. The Freedom of Information Law, Personal Privacy Protection Law, restrictions pertaining to psychiatric patient records and correctional facility inmate records are cited. While maintaining strict adherence to these regulations, The New York State Archives are still able to boast that all but 5% of their archive is open to public access. In so doing, the state archive is upholding their commitment to the Archivist Code of 1955 by “promot(ing) access to records to the fullest extent consistent with the public interest…(while) carefully observ(ing) any proper restrictions on the use of records.” This discussion reflects my understanding of the ethical principles involved in making records available to the public while maintaining adherence to the laws and regulations that are in place to protect personal privacy.
Conclusion
Creating an environment of adherence to local, state, and federal regulations in order to promote accessibility without infringing on personal privacy requires sound information governance. As time marches on organizations will have to deal with an increasing flow of information that is unstructured. This will require record managers that can take advantage of new technologies while applying traditional codes of conduct. I have applied my knowledge of information security at Napa Valley College by observing the regulations related to the privacy of student records and destroying information in a consistent way according to a previously established records management policy. More importantly, I have applied records management practices to my own records enabling me to retrieve information in a timely manner with little effort. This has proven beneficial to me as a guardian over my father's estate and wellbeing.
The responsibility of the record keeper is to understand all regulations that pertain to the records they are in charge of and cooperatively participate in the development of a sound policy with stakeholders within an organization. Record keepers are also responsible for keeping up to date on technologies and best practices so as to discard, preserve, and make accessible the records they are charged with according to the most recent regulations. As the growth of records increase exponentially so too does the job of the record keeper. The greatest challenge to a successful policy is working together with all staff to ensure that they understand the regulations and are able to follow through with increasingly complex records retention requirements.
References
Conner, M. (2013, July 18). Data on big data. Marc!a Conner, Retrieved from http://marciaconner.com/blog/data-on-big-data/
Iron Mountain (2010, August 22). Successful Records Management Programs. Retrieved from http://www.acc.com/legalresources/quickcounsel/srmp.cfm
National Archives (n.d.). The Archivist’s Code. Retrieved from http://www.archives.gov/preservation/professionals/archivist-code.ht
PRISM (n.d.). Why Records Management? Retrieved from http://www.prismintl.org/Buy-From-a-PRISM-Member/Free-Resources/why-records-management.html