Better Public Services article: Top Tips for Good Record Management

A core element in our ambition to deliver better public services is how we manage, preserve and share our data. The Public Service must have the capability to efectively analyse, use and share data to inform our policies and services. Evidence-informed policy decisions cannot be made without the records to back it up. Preserving the public record that we create is the responsibility of every Civil Servant, ensuring our data is recorded, accurate and accessible.

Antoinette Doran from The National Archives shares with us her Top Tips for Good Public Services Records Management, providing excellent guidance on this important role:

The National Archives is the statutory body with legislative responsibility for preserving the records of the State. Professional staff in the National Archives hold a post-graduate degree in archives and records management and are subject experts in the area of information management and preservation.

At present, we provide guidance to departments and bodies on records management in an informal capacity, and have published a number of guides on our website, including a generic retention schedule of records common to all departments of State. We are currently developing new guides on records management including streamlined disposal procedures for emails, instant messages and CCTV (watch out for details in a future issue).

Here are five top tips for managing your records:

1. Make sure your retention schedule mirrors your filing system. Start by looking at your unit's functions and activities and how the records are created, filed and stored. Your file structure in your system (e.g. eDocs, SharePoint, local drive) should match the series defined in your retention schedule (see our generic retention schedule for guidance at Records Retention Schedule)
2. Do not save documents with different retention periods in the same folder. In practice this makes disposal very difficult to action.
3. Have a standardised approach and agreed guidance on file naming conventions so that documents are being named and filed in a standardised way (The National Archives will be issuing guidance on this as part of our new records management guides).

Basic guidelines include the use of

• consistent name format
• version numbers
• only approved abbreviations
• avoidance of spaces

1. File emails out of Outlook. Emails must be filed appropriately based on their content.
   Content rather than format should always determine filing practices.
2. When creating a new digital system or database, always consider the following
   questions:

• What are the retention periods for records being created and/or added to the system?
• How are different retention periods going to be implemented in practice?
• How are the records going to be exported and retained if they warrant permanent preservation? Systems should be built using an ‘archive by design’ approach which means that they are constructed to ensure the sustainable accessibility of the records from the moment of creation into the future. The retention period of the system will determine the resources it requires.
• If using proprietary software, have you a clear exit strategy and detailed business continuity plan written into your contract?
• How will you retain continuous access and support for the records (independent of the supplier)?

Antoinette delivered the webinar below on the subject of Good Record Management with the Public Service Transformation Division of the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform:

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