Council on archives international records management trust

Appraisal

As is the case with paper records, most electronic records do not have sufficient value to warrant permanent preservation as archives. Records that do require continued preservation are those that

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  document essential agency functions
  
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  contain important and unique information about people, places, things or events
  
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  provide automated access to other permanent records.
  

Archivists appraise information in computer files using the same general standards used to appraise information in any other medium. They need to consider the value of data and records as evidence, keeping in mind the data’s origin and current use and its impact on government programmes and policy.

Generally, only a small percentage, usually less than 5 percent of all electronic records have enduring value. However, electronic information may have greater research utility than similar information stored on paper or microfilm because it can be manipulated.

Once it has been determined that the data or records have enduring value, the next step is to decide whether it should be preserved in an electronic format. The decision often rests on whether it is important to preserve the ability to process the data by computer. For example, computer processing is highly valuable for large collections of data that may be subjected to statistical analysis. When computer processing is not necessary, and especially if funds or staff capacity are scarce, records staff may recommend that records or data be preserved only on paper or microform.

Some records cannot be printed easily, if at all. Multi-dimensional documents may be difficult to print because they can be represented in more than one way on the computer screen and on paper. For example, a spreadsheet can be represented either as a set of base figures and formulae or as the result of the calculations. Both representations are part of the record. Multi-media documents are impossible to print out.

As computer software becomes more sophisticated, users will be able to add note and voice annotations to text-based documents, digital sound and video to presentations and three-dimensional modelling and simulation to analytical documents. Thus only a small part of the record would be kept if it were printed. In the case of data, it would be a futile effort to print out 6,000 responses to a questionnaire.

If the records have continuing value in electronic format it is important to form partnerships with the records creators and systems personnel to consider the best preservation option. Staff may need to perform a technical analysis. The technical analysis considers the organisation of files and data, the medium, and other technical characteristics of the records to determine whether and how the records can be transferred.

The analysis identifies those points in the system life cycle at which records can be extracted for transfer to the archival institution. It also establishes requirements for technical documentation necessary to permit reading and interpreting records transferred to archival custody. The archivist must determine whether the electronic records are dependent upon software or systems that might prevent or impede transfer, preservation or retrieval of the records. Advice should be sought from IT personnel if there is a question of working out the technical issues associated with a complex data file.

The following are broad appraisal criteria for electronic records.

The Level of Aggregation

In a paper-based environment, summaries, aggregations and statistical reports are often the preferred format for preserving textual records. This is because they are more readily interpreted and less voluminous than micro-level data. (Micro-level data refers to data at the lowest level of aggregation possible, generally pertaining to each case, event, transaction and so on.) In an electronic environment, the reverse is true; the computer can easily aggregate and summarise micro-level data.

The availability of micro-level data allows researchers to perform analyses that were overlooked or beyond the scope of the analysis performed by the originator or to replicate original research by reanalysing data to assess the validity of the original conclusions. Unaggregated micro-level data (that is, data in its original form before aggregation, summarisation, or masking) has the greatest potential for future secondary analysis. The question is, should micro-level data, summary statistics, or both be preserved?

Format

Records professionals must determine the most desirable format for long-term retention. Often records exist in both electronic and paper form, as input documents and output reports. Input documents contain unedited versions of the raw data and output reports contain summary information at various levels of aggregation. When paper versions are available, it is important to consider how the records are likely to be used. The electronic version is preferable if micro-level data is likely to be used for statistical analysis. A paper version may be preferable if researchers are likely to request summary statistics or to examine only a single case. Some data sets may be used for both statistical analysis and occasional retrieval of a single case, making it advisable to retain both an electronic and a paper version.

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