Guidance notes for the Records Management Maturity Model
Background
This Maturity Model is designed to help further and higher education institutions to assess where their institution currently sits in relation to meeting the recommendations set forth within the revised Lord Chancellor's Code of Practice on the management of records issued under section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 issued on 16th July 2009. The Code is a supplement to the provisions in the Freedom of Information Act and its adoption will help authorities comply with their duties under the Act. Consequently, all relevant authorities are strongly encouraged to pay heed to the guidance in the Code.
However, it is also recognised that effective records management has the potential to enable institutions to realise many other benefits alongside compliance with the Freedom of Information Act and other information-related legislation. The recommendations laid down in the Revised Code reflect the most up to date widely-accepted model of good practice in records management available for public authorities such as further and higher education institutions and as such the best possible basis for any model against which current levels of institutional preparedness should be judged. This Model therefore assumes the recommendations of the Code of Practice to not only represent what is required to ensure compliance with the Freedom of Information Act but as a more general 'blue print' for good records management practice.
Relationship with the Code of Practice
This Maturity Model has been created by JISC infoNet as a self-assessment tool for further and higher education institutions in England and Wales. Though based upon the recommendations of the Revised Lord Chancellor's Code of Practice and designed to assist in achieving compliance with it it should be noted that it has been developed independently from the Code and will continue to be maintained as a separate independent resource. Any questions or queries regarding its use should therefore be directed to JISC infoNet and not to either The National Archives or the Ministry of Justice.
Maturity Model - Structure
The Model provides statements summarising 4 levels of 'maturity' against 33 aspects of what constitutes a records management programme appropriate for ensuring compliance with the Freedom of Information Act taken from the Revised Code of Practice.
The 4 levels described are:
0 Absent - Institution shows no evidence of awareness of the need to take a strategic approach to the management of records;
1 Aware - Uncoordinated local attempts to improve records management in response to local issues;
2 Defined - Coordinated attempts to improve records management underway across the institution; and
3 Embedded - The effective management of records is fully integrated within the institution's strategic and operational activities.
These levels are broadly based upon the Knowledge & Information Management maturity model which has been developed for use in central government by the Knowledge Council, which in turn is based on the GCHQ model and to ensure that it aligns with the IA maturity model produced by CESG.
It should be noted that each description of maturity is designed to be a representative 'pen portrait'; a summary designed to encompass the major traits of an organisation at that particular level of 'maturity' in its records management programme. It therefore follows that users of this Model will be required to not necessarily treat each description literally but to consider the underlying condition that it is trying to capture. As a consequence, just because your institution may not comply with the exact example used within a description this does not mean to say that it is not the most relevant summary of your current circumstance: it is the general impression and flavour that is important, not the specifics of each description.
Suggested approach
Read each of the 4 descriptions provided for each of the 32 aspects and make a decision as to which is the closest in overall 'feel' and impression, if not specific detail, to the current situation within your institution. Try not to get distracted by any individual points of detail that you do not recognise or which do not exactly fit with what is otherwise a good general approximation of your current condition.
In some instances it may be the case that you feel that one particular level is the best overall match for your situation, but you do demonstrate one or two elements of another (for example, the closest overall match appears to be Level 2 but you do recognise one particular example given within the description for Level 3). In these circumstances it is more accurate and informative to choose the level which is the best overall fit - even if you do exhibit one or two isolated examples from a 'higher' level. After all, the intention is to produce as accurate an impression of your strengths and weaknesses with regards to records management as possible and as such there is little to be gained by seeking to present an overly positive picture.
Given the breadth of the areas covered it is unlikely that one person will have access to all the information required to complete this model. It is therefore likely that the compiler will need to seek additional information from a range of sources and colleagues in order to guarantee the most accurate and informative results are obtained. However, it is also recommended that the final completion of the Model is completed by the same person (or small team of people) - thus ensuring a consistency of approach and understanding across all sections.
It is recommended that this process be repeated at a series of intervals, allowing an organisation to measure its progress over time. It should be noted that the links in this spreadsheet are dynamic, if a selected level in the Section worksheets is changed; the Summary Score worksheet is automatically updated. To maintain a record of assessment at each interval save the Maturity Model spreadsheet with a meaningful identifier and use a new copy of the Model to record any updates.
Using the Maturity Model
The Model is divided into 9 sections, A-I. Each Section has its own worksheet within the downloadable MS Excel workbook.
Each worksheet has a section title and description. For example:
Each statement within the section is displayed. For each statement there is an identifier (e.g. A1), the statement itself and four descriptions: one for each level of maturity specific to the statement.
Institutions are required to select a level of maturity for each statement. By clicking on the field to the right of 'Score:', the field displaying 'Select level from list' in the above example, a down arrow is displayed to the right of the row. Clicking on the down arrow produces a list of levels. Click on the appropriate level number to select it.
Each statement also has a 'Notes' section allowing an institution to optionally record notes regarding the score that they feel best represents their organisation.
Working through the 32 statements, selecting the level of maturity that best represents the institution at that point in time by using the drop down list will automatically populate the results in the Summary Score worksheet.
The benefits of using this Model
Upon completion of the Model you will be in possession of an accurate, reliable and honest summary of the current level of maturity of your records management measures within your institution. This will help your institution to:
- identify its strengths, thereby providing evidence of the impact of previous/current investment in this area
- identify areas of good practice which can act as exemplars to encourage further development
- provide evidence of its ability to comply with the Freedom of Information Act
- provide data for internal audit and quality assessment purposes
- provide evidence to help inform risk management decisions
- help identify gaps and weaknesses and thus where best to target resources and focus efforts
- raise the overall profile of records management as a strategic priority
- measure progress in this area overtime through repeated application of the Model after set intervals
Next steps
JISC infoNet is keen to hear your thoughts about and experiences of using the Maturity Model.
JISC infoNet is also very keen to have access to a copy of your completed Maturity Model. Any completed Models submitted will be treated confidentially and used to enable JISC infoNet to gain a picture of the overall maturity of records and information management across the sector, thus enabling us to better target our future work in supporting its development.
