Implementing an Electronic Document and Records Management (EDRM) System
A version of this Applied infoKit is available as a series of zipped Word documents for download here [1.39MB].
Introduction
Welcome to the Electronic Document and Records Management (EDRM) System Implementation Toolkit. The objective of this toolkit is to provide institutional Records Managers and other information professionals with a 'one-stop shop' for impartial, detailed and practical advice of use during all the stages of a proposed or actual EDRM system implementation that is free from vendor bias and specific to the needs of the FE/HE sector.
This toolkit represents an attempt to synthesise some twenty years of experience of assisting public sector organisations to define their requirements for Electronic Document and Records Management solutions plus all the data gathered from some four months of fact finding in the further and higher education sector.
The key to the successful implementation of an EDRM system is to follow a proven methodology that provides you with a checklist of tasks and a logical sequence in which to complete them. The EDRM system implementation process has been broken down into ten high level stages each represented by their own section within this toolkit. The Kit assumes that you will be implementing an EDRM system as a formal project. The model used here is the JISC infoNet Project Management infoKit. The toolkit also draws on other relevant infoKits namely:
The elements specific to EDRM systems came from a methodology developed by Cimtech, the UK's centre of expertise on Document, Records and Content Management based at the University of Hertfordshire and the DIRKS methodology developed by the National Archives of Australia and summarised in ISO 15489.
Each stage is defined as one or more steps. A complex stage will be broken down into more steps for clarity. The navigation to the left shows the individual stages and once you access a stage the navigation will change to show the individual steps. A summary table on the following page gives an overview of the content of each stage.
For each stage we give an indication of the resources in terms of person days that would be required to complete it. The figures are based on a medium sized institution with 5,000 staff so would need to be adjusted up or down accordingly. The figures also assume that you have no records management staff and have no separate records management programme so they include a significant amount of time for records management work. Finally, the figures assume a three-year project and some use of third-party consultancy and supplier services to augment the internal resource. Overall, the figures range from 590 - 885 days over three years. We would calculate, therefore, that you would need a minimum of one full-time project manager with a part-time back-up plus consultancy resource, or two full-time project staff with supplier services post contract to follow this methodology completely.
