managing electronic records in governmental bodies - National ...

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therefore required. In order to meet recordkeeping responsibilities, governmental
bodies must ensure that electronic records are accessible and readable over time.
An active programme committed to managing and preserving records from their
creation to final disposal is a prerequisite of meeting these responsibilities. Any
breakdown in the records management process increases the chance that electronic
records that still have value to the body will become unreadable and inaccessible
over time.
This publication aims to provide guidance to governmental bodies in South Africa
regarding the management of electronic records and systems. A previous directive
entitled Electronic records and the law: What governmental bodies need to know
served as an introduction to the National Archives and Records Service’s strategy in
managing electronic records. It briefly defined the concept of electronic records, the
legal implications pertaining to these records, the strategy of the National Archives
and Records Service for electronic records management, as well as the services
delivered by the National Archives and Records Service. These Policy Guidelines
supersedes the Guide to the management of electronic records in governmental
bodies of which First and Second Editions were published in 1999 and 2000
respectively. These guidelines contain a substantial amount of additional
information, particularly regarding the management of websites and web-based
activities, data warehouses and geographic information systems as records as well
as information regarding the management of electronic records without the benefit of
Integrated Document Management Systems.
The strategies described in these Policy Guidelines are based on two fundamental
pre-requisites. The first is the need to understand the concept of “record” and the
second is to have in place a policy that addresses the management of records
regardless of their physical form. The management of electronic records must be
addressed within the broader context of the policies, standards and practices that
deal with the management of all forms of recorded information, even though specific
types of media may be handled differently. The National Archives and Records
Service endorses the ISO 15489 International Records Management Standard as
the required standard for records management and, in terms of its statutory
mandate, requires governmental bodies to put the necessary infrastructure, policies,
strategies, procedures and systems in place to ensure that records in all formats are
managed in an integrated manner. To this end the National Archives and Records
Service requires governmental bodies to implement and maintain Integrated
Document Management Systems, which have built in records management
functionality. Flowing from this the National Archives and Records Service also
endorses the US DoD 5015.2 Design Criteria Standard for Electronic Records
Management Software Applications and the UK Public Records Offices’ Functional
Requirements for Electronic Records Management Systems. (See the bibliography
for links to both standards). Certification against these standards would ensure that
electronic records management applications have the required records management
functionality required by the National Archives and Records Service.
The management of electronic records is a complex matter for which it is not
possible to provide a simple set of guidelines applicable to all cases. However, the
Managing electronic records_Policy Guidelines.doc
First Edition
Version 1.1
April 2003