Steps Towards Good Records Management
Who should be involved?
One of your major tasks as records manager is to identify key stakeholders who have to be persuaded of the necessity and benefits of your role. There are formal ways of doing this and the Project Management infoKit has a section on stakeholder analysis that you will find a useful tool.
We suggest that you undertake some analysis of your stakeholders and their likely attitudes to your work. The Project Mangement infoKit offers a template for the analysis. Follow the link to view a completed stakeholder analysis template.
There are two groups who need to be convinced above all others. Senior managers are most likely to be impressed by arguments about efficiency, compliance and costs. Your other colleagues are more likely to be persuaded by practical demonstrations that your activities will make a difference in their working situation, even if there is some short-term hassle.
Senior Managers
Once the need for records management is acknowledged Senior Managers in institutions need to take the following steps:
Recognise records management as an important corporate responsibility and give it the appropriate level of priority and authority
Assign overall line management responsibility for records management to a senior member of the management team
Commission an audit of existing records management and structure within the institution (an Information Audit). This may involve the use of external consultants unless the skills already exist within the institution.
Develop an Information and Records Management Strategy for the institution which ensures that there is an integrated approach to records management, data protection and other information management functions and procedures. Alternatively, ensure close practical liaison between them. In some cases records management will be seen as part of a wider Information Management Strategy.
Appoint or train a person to turn the strategy into detailed policies for the institution and give them sufficient seniority to be credible throughout the institution. Many of the older and larger Universities have developed the records management function out of their historical archive units, but in most cases these now follow different reporting lines. In FE and small HEIs the role will tend to be added to those of the Data Protection Officer, the person responsible for Management Information Systems or the College Librarian.
An Agreed Institutional Records Management Policy
This is a necessary first step. Its purpose in any institution is political, to ensure the highest possible level of support for the records management process. Ideally it should be endorsed by the Board of Governors (or its equivalent) and should be actively supported by the senior executive. It should be short, and confine itself to outline principles rather than detail.
An example Records Management Policy is included here. This can be downloaded and used as a template for your own institution.
This is the key institutional document to which any records manager can always refer as agreed policy if their role or authority is challenged.
Records Managers
The Institution's Records Manager is ideally a fully trained and experienced professional. In practice, particularly in small institutions and FE colleges, that is unlikely. The job is most likely to be done by somebody who has an existing IT, MIS, or data protection role. As part of continuing professional development it would be reasonable to expect the institution to support the person through the necessary training events and courses. The major danger is an assumption that previous experience will be sufficient to deal with the whole situation without much further thought or training. Specifically, someone from an IT background may be tempted to assume that there is an over-arching IT solution to the situation. Would that it were that easy...!!
The Records Manager is responsible for drawing up guidance for good records management practice and ensuring compliance with the overall policy. The guidance should deal with:
Records creation
Filing classification schemes
Retention Schedules
Storage and Maintenance of Records
Final disposition of records: - historical archive or destruction. They should also be responsible for maintaining the audit trail of all records destroyed.
Codes of practice and legislation
All Staff
FOI impacts on all of the staff within an organisation: everybody should:
Be aware of the role they must play in ensuring compliance with the Freedom of Information Acts and Data Protection Acts.
Be aware that after 2005 the public may see a large number of the records created. Regularly review and dispose of files, including emails, according to the Retention Schedules.
Keep an accurate record of activities
The Department of Constitutional Affairs has produced a new training guide, which although primarily for training staff for Freedom of Information you will find very useful in a wider context. It is comprehensive and therefore long.
Another short guide has also been produced by JISC Legal which can be found on the JISC Legal Website.
