Design of a Records Management System - Proposal

by Kelly Homenick – Records Management consultant

This Proposal has been drafted to outline a design project for a Records Management System. The design process is based upon the International Standard for Information and Documentation - Records Management.[i]

This standard is the current international best-practice for designing Records Management Systems for organizations of any size or function.

What follows is a general outline of the project. It will entail a consultant’s time of approximately 100+ hours to complete. The chief deliverable will be a Final Project Report with appended policies, procedures, standards, tools and other tactics.

Introduction

• Basic Introduction of the Project, the business case for the Project, and the approach to be undertaken.

Preliminary Investigation

• Administrative Information of the organization: History, Mandate, Organizational Makeup; Geographic Location(s), Number of Personnel etc.

Analysis of Business Activities

• Develop Conceptual Model of what the organization does and how it does it;
• Identification of the organization’s Business and Business Processes (functions, activities, and transactions);
• Identification of how records relate to the organization’s business and business processes.

Identification Requirements for Records

• Listing of the Legal, Regulatory, Business and any other requirements to keep records;
• Risk Assessment outlining non-compliance with requirements.

Assessment of Existing Systems

• Survey of the organization’s existing systems for records and any other information systems;
• Inventory of the organization’s existing business systems.

Identification of Strategies for Satisfying Records Requirements

• Determination of the most appropriate policies, procedures, standards, tools and other tactics to meet identified requirements. This will include but is not limited to the following:
  • Records Management Policy
    • Definition of Corporate Records, Repository, Archival Value, Records Classification etc.,
    • Designation of Authority (personnel, and/or department) for Records Management,
    • Designation of process for Records Disposition.
  • Records Classification System
    • Functional Business Processes, Sub-business Processes,
    • Identification of Records to Business Processes,
    • Retention Periods of Records,
    • Disposition Decision of Records.
  • Records Disposition Authority
    • Archival Hypothesis/criteria for preserving and destroying records.
  • Metadata Standard
  • Digitization Standard
  • Naming Conventions

Design of a Records System

• Design of the appropriate measures determined in step F. To be appended to the Final Project Report.

[i] ISO 15489-1:2016, Information and documentation — Records management - Part 1: Concepts and Principles, and ISO 15489-2:2001, Information and documentation — Records management - Part 2: Guidelines.