Electronic Record

Records provide evidence of business activity and can be in any format, including digital format. Today, the vast majority of records are produced electronically or born digital. According the National Archives of Australia (NAA) electronic or digital records include word-processed documents, emails, databases and images. While many records are printed and kept in paper or hard copy format, increasingly business activities are conducted in a purely digital context.

The organizations of today need to be able to capture the electronic records to ensure an effective and efficient business environment that can provide evidence of the organizations activities and fulfill legislative requirements.
Those electronic records that are identified as being of continuing value need to be managed in such a way that they remain accessible.

Electronic records can be stored throughout an organization in a variety of ways in databases, on hard drives, in shared folders, in email accounts.
In order to effectively manage the electronic records being produced by an organisation a method of capturing records using an Electronic Records Management System (ERMS) needs to be implemented.

One of the major issues facing electronic records management is the speed of technological development.
Digital technologies rapidly become obsolete which can result in records becoming inaccessible unless a strategy for migration and preservation is developed and adhered to. An effectively implemented ERMS is a key factor in ensuring electronic records of continuing value are kept and archived for future use.

List of some commonly used electronic records

Emails Word processed documents Databases Websites Intranets Spreadsheets Powerpoint presentations Digital images

Records Management
Records management, or RM, is the practice of maintaining the records of an organization from the time they are created up to their eventual disposal. This may include classifying, storing, securing, and destruction (or in some cases, archival preservation) of records. A record can be either a tangible object or digital information: for example, birth certificates, medical x-rays, office documents, databases, application data, and e-mail. Records management is primarily concerned with the evidence of an organization's activities, and is usually applied according to the value of the records rather than their physical format.

The general principles of records management apply to records in any format.

Digital records (almost always referred to as electronic records), however, raise specific issues. It is more difficult to ensure that the content, context and structure of records is preserved and protected when the records do not have a physical existence. This has important implications for the authenticity, reliability, and trustworthiness of records.

Functional requirements for computer systems to manage electronic records have been produced by the US Department of Defense, the National Archives of England & Wales, the European Commission, whose MoReq (Model Requirements for the Management of Electronic Records) specification has been translated into at least twelve languages and is used beyond the borders of Europe.

Electronic Tax Records

Electronic Tax Records are computer-based/non-paper versions of records required by tax agencies like the Internal Revenue Service. There is substantial confusion about what constitutes acceptable digital records for the IRS, as the concept is relatively new.

Businesses and individuals wishing to convert their paper records into scanned copies may be at risk if they do so. For example, it is unclear if an IRS auditor would accept a JPEG, PNG, or PDF format scanned copy of a purchase receipt for a deducted expense item.

Electronic Records Management Systems

An Electronic Document and Records Management System (EDRM) is a computer program (or set of programs) used to track and store records. The term is distinguished from imaging and document management systems that specialize in paper capture and document management respectively. ERM systems commonly provide specialized security and auditing functionality tailored to the needs of records managers.

Examples of Effective Management of Electronic Records

The Department for Education and Child Development

Examples of Electronic Records Electronic records can include e-mail, Internet content, documents, spreadsheets, drawings, databases, and digitally recorded images. DECD Agencies have a responsibility to ensure that official electronic records are: properly created and captured survive without alteration or degradation to their content, structure and context remain accessible and readable for as long as they are required

Managing Electronic Records The creation of electronic records is dependent on the software application, hardware, operating system, media and file formats that make up the computer system. Due to the pace of technological change and the highly flexible environment in which electronic records are generated and stored they are far more volatile and vulnerable than paper records. This can cause problems in relation to their preservation and ongoing retrieval. Without active management throughout their existence, electronic records are unlikely to remain accessible or be complete and reliable, even over short periods of time. Therefore, it is important to implement an Electronic Document and Records Management System (EDRMS) or ensure that a secure migration strategy has been put in place. At present DECD does not have an EDRMS in place so the most efficient and effective way of ensuring the preservation of electronic documents is to print them out and attach the hard copy to the relevant file.

Managing Email Emails need to be managed the same way as any other official record. As mentioned above if an Agency doesn't have an EDRMS in place the most efficient way to manage emails is to print them out and place them on the relevant file.
Disposal of Electronic Records Electronic official records are subject to the same disposal requirements as paper based files. They should be sentenced using approved General Disposal Schedules 15, 22 or a Records Disposal Schedule and should not be destroyed before authorization has been received. Care must be taken when computers or other hardware that store electronic documents (copies or otherwise) are being disposed of, transferred or sold. Agencies must ensure that all data on the device is adequately removed and cannot be restored. Simply deleting it from the hard disk is not sufficient to ensure destruction of the documents.