Why are electronic records important?
The IT revolution which escalated in the latter half of the twentieth
century has resulted in the proliferation of electronic office systems.
These encompass the hardware and software for automating business
processes and activities of many kinds. One significant side-effect
of this revolution is that records are created and maintained electronically
- either in parallel with or instead of their paper counterparts.
Records, regardless of their media, are invaluable not only to
organisations and individuals but to society as a whole. They form
the basic building blocks for democratic and transparent systems
of government and commerce. They provide proof of contracts and
other obligations, or of delivery of goods and services. They document
society's commitment to protect the rights of citizens and human
rights more generally, as well as providing evidence of adherence
or abuse. Records are distinct from other forms of information,
such as published material, in that they document or provide evidence
of an activity, a decision or an agreement. They are created in
the course of business processes and activities and are used both
to support further activity and to provide accountability.
Thus good recordkeeping is essential for transparent and democratic
governance as well as efficient and compliant business. Organisations
need to ensure that adequate records will be created to document
their activities, and that records will be effectively managed even
when they remain on computer systems and are not printed to paper.
The creation and maintenance of adequate electronic records is one
of the greatest recordkeeping challenges of our era.
- In the 1990s, when the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration
wanted to access its records of observations made during space
flights over some thirty years, officials found that many of the
tapes on which those observations had been recorded were damaged
or lost. Those tapes which could be found were uncatalogued or
unlabelled, and many of them could not be read using current technology.
- American census records from the 1960s were discovered to be
unreadable because the hardware and software that would have been
capable of reading them could not be located.
- Many electronic records of the former East German government
are inaccessible to the citizens and present government of Germany
because the relevant computer systems lack the necessary documentation
and the records are held on obsolete media whose condition has
deteriorated.
These are spectacular examples of failures in recordkeeping. On
a smaller scale, almost all organisations are now finding that they
can no longer gain access to the records of their activities from
the time when paper was first replaced by electronic media. They
can no longer prove that they did what was requested of them, or
that policies and procedures were correctly followed.
How has this crisis arisen? Firstly because of the technical challenges
of managing electronic records. Electronic media can be more sensitive
and fragile than paper: they are also susceptible to obsolescence.
Both hardware and software are constantly upgraded, and records
created using earlier technology become unreadable. Electronic documents
and data are usually easy to delete, and can be just as easy to
amend or update. Both the survival and the readability of records
can easily be endangered in the electronic environment.
Even when records survive, and can be read, further challenges
remain: can the particular record that is wanted be found? Can it
be understood? And can a user be sure of its authenticity? Divorced
from the controls associated with paper-based filing systems, an
electronic record may convey little meaning to those who need to
use it, as there is often no visible evidence of the context in
which it was first created. Particularly if a record is required
in legal proceedings, it may also be necessary to prove that it
is genuine and complete, and that it has remained secure from deliberate
or accidental amendment. If electronic records have not been managed
effectively, such proof will probably be impossible.
Designing and building systems that ensure the survival, accessibility
and integrity of electronic records is a challenge that every organisation
needs to meet.
Margaret Crockett and Geoffrey Yeo
University College London
July 2001
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This page was last updated on 24 August 2001
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