Council on archives international records management trust
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- Manufacturers of Computer Software
- Establishing an Institutional Framework
- Custodial versus Non-custodial Models
- Custodial Model
- Non-custodial Model
- Disadvantages
The External AuditorExternal auditors (also known as the Auditor General in governments influenced by British administrative systems) should be concerned to ensure that records produced by electronic information systems provide reliable audit evidence which they can use when forming an opinion about the state of government finances or when conducting value-for-money audits. The principles relating to audit evidence do not change because an audit is being carried out in a computer environment. External auditors need to be concerned that computer records still provide the auditor with quality information. External auditors want to ensure that electronic records provide quality information. Where computer evidence has been submitted in legal cases, the courts have taken into account expert evidence on the effectiveness of the IT control environment before assessing the reliability of the computer data. Computerised transactions or images of documents may be inadmissible as legal evidence unless controls can be shown to be so strong that the authenticity and integrity of the data is not questioned. External auditors are particularly concerned to ensure that these controls are adequate and that procedures for disaster recovery and backup are credible.
Who are the stakeholders that have in interest in your organisation’s electronic records? What is their interest? Why do you need to understand the different stakeholders perspectives? Establishing an Institutional FrameworkThe needs and concerns of the stakeholders drive government policy on electronic records, but policy cannot be put into effect without a framework. The framework can be visualised as a pyramid with policy at the apex and training, services and support at the base, as shown in Figure 6 below. The policy cannot succeed without all the other elements that support each other and form a coherent whole.  Figure 6: Framework for Records Management Source: State Records Authority of New South Wales, ‘The Recordkeeping Regime’, Government Recordkeeping Manual, 1999. PolicyA policy is a plan or course of action designed to influence and determine decisions, actions and other matters; it is a guiding principle or procedure. Policy is the core direction chosen by an organisation. The policy chosen will determine changes to legislation, which in turn will determine standards, codes of practice and so on. The government’s policy for the management of electronic records should be formulated by the National Archives in consultation with the main stakeholders. The policy should take into account other government policies. For example, if the government has decided to automate the administration of particular services for reasons of efficiency, this decision will inevitably lead to the creation of large volumes of electronic records. The policy for managing electronic records must support rather than oppose these objectives. There is no set form that an electronic records policy must follow. Every government or organisation must establish its own policies based on its own needs and activities. However, the following statements (taken from the Archives Authority of New South Wales) provide an example of the useful core principles that guide decisions and actions regarding electronic records management.
In order to establish effective electronic records policies, several questions need to be answered.
The government’s policy for the management of electronic records should be formulated by the National Archives in consultation with the main stakeholders. Custodial versus Non-custodial ModelsThese questions have sparked a debate between proponents of two different models of the role of the archival institution in the management of electronic records: the custodial and non-custodial models. The custodial model states that the primary role of the archival institution should continue to be to provide safe custody of records of permanent or continuing value. The non-custodial model proposes that the archival institution does not actually need to have custody of archival records to fulfil its mandate. In the world of electronic records, the physical location of the record is much less important than it is in a paper-based environment. The public can be granted access to the electronic record via a dedicated network or the Internet. Thus it has been proposed by proponents of the non-custodial model that the archival institution should concentrate on setting the rules. It should oversee policies about how creating agencies design and administer electronic record-keeping systems and it should produce finding aids that make the records accessible to researchers and other members of the public. Both the custodial and the non-custodial approaches have their advantages and disadvantages, as summarised in the figure below. The role of the archival institution as a custodian and its role as the body that sets the rules for managing government records need not be mutually exclusive. An archival institution can perform both roles to a greater or lesser extent, and many institutions around the world already undertake both tasks. The main issue is where the emphasis should lie when managing electronic records.
Examine this discussion of custodial versus non-custodial management of electronic records. Which model do you think would work best in your organisation? Why?
Figure 7: Custodial versus Non-custodial Model Directory: documents -> educ training -> public sector rec documents -> Concept stage documents -> The great global switch-off documents -> Nonprofit grant application documents -> The Truth about the Rwandan Genocide documents -> Annual InStructional unit plan documents -> Chaos equipment included public sector rec -> Council on archives international records management trust Download 0.83 Mb. Share with your friends:
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