Records Lifecycle Requirements

Records Lifecycle Requirements


These four requirements are essential to the existence of recordkeeping systems. Many of the below requirements will occur without awareness by the end user, however some of the requirements will be performed manually by the eRecords team as administrators of the electronic records management application.


1. Creation Requirements:

• Indicate when an electronic document is a Federal record

• Link supporting and related records, allow users to retrieve them so they can be used together

• Store and view files in their native formats

• Define records identification/filing codes, provide a thesaurus for keyword searches, and enable assignment of file classification codes

• Prevent subsequent changes to documents that have been designated as records (very important for trustworthiness)



2. Metadata Requirements:

• Assign or capture required metadata for each record

• Allow it to be viewed with the record it pertains to

• Include metadata attributes such as office of origin, file code, keywords (for retrieval), addressee, signatory, author, date and time transmitted and received, authorized disposition, security classification, and information on related records filed elsewhere in paper or on the computer\

• Combine e-mail messages with their metadata (to, from, transmission and receipt, date/time, etc) and save as a single record

• Incorporate automatic date-stamping so dates cannot be changed

• Allow a record to be assigned to more than one file category when appropriate



3. Maintenance and Use Requirements:

• Enable the agency to determine and control the level of access to the recordkeeping system for authorized users

• Maintain electronic records so as to ensure their integrity, so that records cannot be changed or destroyed without authorization; designate changed or revised documents as new records with different identification data (version control)

• Distinguish between the final version of a record and a working version, both when viewing a document and on the list of documents produced in response to a query

• Support multiple-use access, when desired by the agency

• Provide an index of all records, including those online and those in near-line or offline storage

• Provide the ability, as determined by the agency, to automatically create (or delete if necessary) backup or redundant copies of the records as well as their metadata

• Maintain system documentation and audits to ensure the integrity, authenticity, and legal acceptability of the records for their entire lifespan



4. Disposition Requirements:

• Enable the agency to implement authorized disposition schedules and maintain and transfer permanent electronic records in compliance with specifications identified by NARA 36 CFR 1228.188

• Require an authorized individual to validate record destruction and transfer; the system will identify records that have reached the end of their scheduled life; however, it will not automatically destroy material

• Enable the records manager to review and correct disposition determinations

• Enable authorized individuals to assign and change record disposition and reschedule records already in the system when disposition instructions change from the original designations

• Allow the identification of unscheduled records

• Provide an audit trail of disposition actions