tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28363523614156705592024-03-12T18:42:21.464-07:00Concerning Electronic Records ManagementFor the purpose of Electronic Records Management notes, tips, discovery, insight, ideas, best practices, research, collaboration, accountability, and investigation.chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.comBlogger675125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-48807691816888917822014-01-17T04:37:00.004-08:002014-01-17T04:37:21.510-08:00Record keeping seminar instructs county officials in public documents
By JIM SECKLER/The Daily News
Published: Thursday, January 16, 2014 11:30 PM MST
KINGMAN — A specialist from the state’s records management division held a seminar Wednesday in Kingman on keeping and preserving public records.
Jerry Lucente-Kirkpatrick, records management specialist for the Arizona Archives and Records Management, spoke to several dozen county employees at the county administration building as well as employees from neighboring counties who deal with keeping government records. ARM is part of the Arizona Secretary of State’s office, which manages government records.
Lucente-Kirkpatrick gave a presentation explaining what a record is, how to manage records, the length of time to keep a record, how and when to dispose of records, electronic records and working with the public and the media in complying with public records requests.
Records are defined as books, papers, maps, photos and other documents regardless of their physical form, made by a government agency with transactions with the public. E-mails and everything on a government computer is also public record. Not all records are public records. Records are not public if they are confidential, contain personal information or it is in the best interest of the state not to release it.
* The records specialist said a copy of a document is not a record. He also spoke of the need to preserve vital essential records in the case of a flood or other natural disasters. Records are also kept for historical purposes including school records.
If a private school goes out of business, those records still need to be preserved. Police and fire departments and colleges also keep records. An employee from the Bullhead City Police Department asked about scanning microfiche records to electronic formats.
Lucente-Kirkpatrick gave an example of the historical record keeping of Downwinders, people living in Northern Mohave County who may have been affected by nuclear testing in the 1950s near Las Vegas.
Lucente-Kirkpatrick also brought up whether records made by a private attorney with a contract with the county and their client are privileged files and should be preserved. Other issues include the management of records on Facebook, e-mails, social media and cloud-computing.
Also brought up was whether a county government can charge for a public request for records. The public can be charged for a compact disc or paper copies of a record but not for an attachment to an e-mail. Lucente-Kirkpatrick also spoke of redacted sections of a public record.
One employee asked if a government employee can direct the public to a government website instead of making a copy; however, some people may not have access to the Internet. Also discussed were commercial or non-commercial uses for public record requests.
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-6657159524254773282014-01-16T10:31:00.003-08:002014-01-16T10:31:54.046-08:00 The Sedona ConferenceFrom: The Sedona Conference
Re: Information for Government Employees
Hello, Government Employees,
Thank you for your interest in The Sedona Conference. We welcome and encourage participation from government employees.
The Sedona Conference® Working Group Series Membership Program offers a vehicle for those who wish to support our mission and interact with others interested in tipping point issues in the areas of antitrust law, complex litigation, and intellectual property rights. Membership in the Working Group Series allows any interested jurist, attorney, academic, consultant, or expert to participate in Working Group activities, including drafting team projects, Working Group meetings, and dialogue on current works-in-progress. Membership is complimentary for full-time government employees.
As to our webinars, there is always a certain amount of free lines offered to judges, court and probation staff, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, federal or state public defenders, all other full-time government employees, and to accredited law school and criminal justice programs, on a first come, first served basis.
Additionally, all of our programs offer a substantial discount for full-time government employees. Registration fees do not include travel and lodging expenses.
Our website, thesedonaconference.org, provides further information about our Working Group Series, webinars, and programs.
If interested in any of the above, please email our business manager, Irina Goldberg, at igg@sedonaconference.org, from your government email address. Ms. Goldberg will be able to provide government employees with coupon codes to use on our website.
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-26715641082335849682014-01-16T10:27:00.002-08:002014-01-16T10:27:42.862-08:002013 Year of Electronic Discovery...
Gibson Dunn Alertgd_banner
Home · Practices · Lawyers · Diversity · Pro Bono · Firm News · Publications
January 15, 2014
To Our Clients and Friends:
Introduction
In contrast with prior years, 2013 was notable for the general absence (with at least one exception) of blockbuster cases involving huge sanctions or imposing new e-discovery obligations. Instead, the focus has largely been on companies' efforts to proactively develop and implement systems and protocols for avoiding the e-discovery pitfalls of the past and on preempting future issues. Much of the action in the e-discovery area, consequently, has been outside of the reported judicial decisions. Accordingly, you will find our sanctions discussion--which was often the lead story in our prior year-end reports--at the end of this report and information governance at the top.
Many companies in 2013 focused on developing defensible information governance programs. Commentators (and, to some extent, courts) issued new guidance on the preservation and production of different types of electronic data (including social media and text and instant messages) and forms of data storage ("BYOD" and cloud storage). Although much discussed by commentators (and vendors of the technology), it is unclear to what extent predictive coding and other data analytics are being used to limit the costs and burdens of document review. Indeed, the use of search terms and human review remains the methodology used in the vast majority of cases. Undoubtedly, though, predictive coding is being used by some. Additionally, the Civil Rules Advisory Committee released for public comment proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, many of which address issues relevant to e-discovery.
This apparent general shift in focus--to the proactive rather than the reactive--is likely because many companies have recognized the importance of having policies, procedures and an infrastructure that ensure the defensible preservation--and deletion--of data. Nevertheless, while companies have been focused on implementing processes and systems to be able to comply with these obligations in good faith, they have also been faced with the sometimes enormous costs of doing so--particularly where hundreds or even thousands of a company's employees may be subject to legal holds at any given time. As a result, some companies and their counsel are becoming increasingly vocal--and rightfully so--about what they perceive as unreasonable burdens imposed by a "broken system." Although companies and their counsel take a much more reasoned approach, of course, the strong feelings can be reminiscent of the line from the 1976 film Network, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore."
Consequently, 2013 on the one hand appears to have been somewhat of a turning point for e-discovery, ushering in an era when many more litigants are aware of their e-discovery obligations than in the past and seek in good faith to comply with them. On the other hand, following the "great recession" that began in 2008, corporate legal departments have been under much more pressure than in the past to control legal spend, and companies are finding that the costs of fulfilling the requirements of the most demanding of the many inconsistent judicial decisions--particularly in an era of dramatically expanding data volumes and data sources--can be exorbitant.
We believe that companies in the coming year will increase their focus on not only complying with e-discovery obligations, but also on doing so in a manner that controls the enormous costs that can be involved. In part, they will seek to achieve this through the use of new technologies and more efficient workflows, such as through the use of predictive coding and other data analytics, and in part by seeking reform of a still-flawed system, such as through the proposed amendments to the federal rules.
Information Governance Reaches a Tipping Point
Last year some predicted that information governance would be the hot topic of 2013. In many respects, they were right. Companies are increasingly recognizing the real costs and risks entailed with the proliferation of data--estimated to have grown approximately 40 to 60 percent for most companies in 2013 alone. Companies are also recognizing the significant benefits that can be achieved through properly managing its creation, organization and deletion. See generally Charles R. Ragan, Information Governance: It's a Duty and It's Smart Business, 19 Rich. J.L. & Tech. 12 (2013).
Of course, there are incremental costs of physically storing data (e.g., server space, electricity, etc.), but there are other less obvious costs associated with increased storage, such as additional expenditures on sophisticated IT software solutions, added security costs, capacity balancing costs, slower system performance, database management costs, and more expensive data migration. These costs add up--which is why nearly half of information technology professionals in a recent Microsoft survey described managing large data volumes as "extremely challenging." See Microsoft, Global Enterprise Big Data Trends: 2013.
Moreover, having large volumes of uncontrolled and unorganized data can make e-discovery extremely costly. Recent studies have shown that effective information governance can save companies significant sums during e-discovery, by decreasing the volumes of data that must be reviewed for production purposes and by allowing companies to more efficiently search through these documents. This is particularly true of email communications, which can easily proliferate, and can lead to significant and unnecessary costs during e-discovery, and can effectively be managed through archiving, centralized and uniform retention periods, and even through end-user inbox control measures. See Gareth Evans, Slim Down Your Excess Data.
Although it may be counterintuitive, controlling and organizing a company's data allows a company to decrease its risk of spoliation, simply by having less data that could be overlooked when instituting a litigation hold or collecting documents to disclose. A number of courts over the past year chided parties for failing to properly manage and organize their information, leading to potential spoliation issues. Controlling the proliferation of data, and making sure that data is organized and readily accessible in the event of litigation, can reduce the risks of spoliation. Poorly designed or ineffectively implemented information governance strategies can have serious consequences, and companies should make sure to consult with experienced and knowledgeable counsel when making decisions about information governance.
Additionally, as has become clear with the number of high-profile data breach incidents over the past few months alone, having more data can increase the consequences of a data breach, because more individuals' records can be at risk, and as a result, the potential liability in any subsequent litigation, as well as the more immediate costs of providing notice and credit monitoring services, will likely be greater. By managing the creation, organization and retention of data, companies can minimize their exposure in the event of a data breach.
On top of managing and organizing their information, another considerable trend this year has been companies' growing focus on implementing defensible deletion strategies to help reduce their stores of data, without subjecting themselves to sanctions for spoliation, which can come into play when a company implements a deletion policy in an indefensible manner--i.e., one that could be construed as non-content neutral and intended to delete potentially troublesome documents prior to litigation.
Given the ever-changing landscape in this area, and the significant (and potentially case-dispositive) sanctions that can result if courts believe a policy was either not designed or not implemented in a defensible fashion, companies should consult with informed counsel, either inside or outside, in order to make sure that their deletion policies are carefully calibrated to realize the efficiency benefits of deletion without subjecting themselves to unnecessary risks and potential costs.
Social Media, Text Messages, and BYOD
Notwithstanding efforts to defensibly slim down retained data, the use and maintenance of electronic data are a necessary part of business. The types of electronic data and the locations on which it is stored continue to proliferate and change, thereby posing new questions for courts and litigants about the scope of litigants' duties. Reflecting developments in technologies and our use of them, courts have over the past year issued decisions regarding the preservation and production of social media, text messages, and data contained on employees' personal devices.
Social Media
The number of cases involving social media evidence continues to skyrocket. For example, social media evidence played a key role in approximately 88 published cases in the month of September 2013 alone. This is a sharp increase from the first half of 2012, when evidence from social networking sites played a significant role in an average of 53 published cases per month.
Commentators and courts alike have noted that the use of social media evidence has become commonplace across all types of litigation. For example, plaintiffs are increasingly using social media evidence to attempt to establish minimum contacts for jurisdictional purposes (see, e.g., Daniels Agrosciences, LLC v. Ball DPF, LLC, No. CA 13-268 ML, 2013 WL 5310208, at *7 (D.R.I. Sept. 20, 2013)), and social media has become a regular source of more "traditional" evidence such as photos and messages.
While courts have become more familiar with social media evidence in general, they also continue to grapple with issues that are unique to social media, including the duty to preserve social media evidence, whether users have a privacy interest in their social media accounts, and the showing required for social media evidence to be admissible. In addition, given the increasing volume and costs of electronic discovery generally, and the privacy interests implicated in social media in particular, courts have continued to take innovative approaches to the collection of social media data.
Courts in 2013 particularly focused on the extent to which parties have an obligation to preserve social media during litigation, and whether the modification of social media constitutes sanctionable spoliation. Because social media is dynamic, account holders may delete information from their page or cancel their account altogether, without realizing that the information could be relevant to an anticipated or pending matter. In determining whether to award sanctions for spoliation of social media, courts focus on whether it was reasonably foreseeable that the information would be sought in discovery, and whether the users had a duty to preserve their account at the time the evidence was deleted. See, e.g., Gatto v. United Air Lines, Inc., No. 10-CV-1090-ES-SCM, 2013 WL 1285285, at *3-4 (D.N.J. March 25, 2013) (Mannion, Mag. J.).
Two courts recently held that sanctions were appropriate when the user deleted a Facebook account after receiving a discovery request for social media. See, e.g., Allied Concrete Co. v. Lester, 736 S.E.2d 699, 702, 705, 709 (Va. 2013) (upholding award of sanctions to the defendant, including an adverse inference jury instruction and $722,000 to cover the defendant's fees and costs in defending against the misconduct, in part because the plaintiff acted "intentionally and improperly"); Gatto, 2013 WL 1285285, at *5 (granting adverse inference instruction without monetary sanctions when the plaintiff was "not . . . motivated by fraudulent purposes or diversionary tactics…."). Both courts found that, because the user clearly knew that the information was being sought in discovery, the duty to preserve the account had been triggered. In contrast, when a plaintiff deleted conversations on her Facebook account as part of her "normal practice," prior to receiving discovery requests for social media, the court found that sanctions were not appropriate. Osburn v. Hagel, No. 2:12CV349-MHT, 2013 WL 6069013, at *3 (M.D. Ala. Nov. 18, 2013).
Another issue that courts dealt with was an individual's privacy interest in social networking accounts and the effect, if any, of privacy settings on an opposing party's ability to obtain social media data. Courts have continued to be overwhelmingly opposed to the notion that any protectable privacy interest exists in material posted on social network sites. See Nola Spice Designs, LLC v. Haydel Enters., Inc., No. 12-2515, 2013 WL 3974535, at *1 (E.D. La. Aug. 2, 2013) (Wilkinson, Mag. J.) (stating that the plaintiff was "certainly correct in its citation . . . to various court decisions holding that there is no protectable privacy or confidentiality interest in material posted or published on social media."). See also Higgins v. Koch Dev. Corp., No. 3:11-cv-81-RLY-WGH, 2013 WL 3366278, at *2 (S.D. Ind. July 5, 2013) (Hussman, Mag. J.) (stating that no court has found privacy settings to make a difference to admissibility of social media content). For example, in Fawcett v. Altieri, the court reasoned that, "if you post a tweet, [it is] just like you scream it out the window, [and] there is no reasonable expectation of privacy." 960 N.Y.S.2d 592, 596 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2013). The Fawcett court went on to hold that the personal privacy settings on an individual's social networking account have no bearing on the admissibility analysis. Id. at 596–97.
The court in Higgins v. Koch Development Corporation applied the same reasoning to Facebook photos. In Higgins, the plaintiffs argued that granting the defendants' request for full access to their Facebook pages would violate the privacy rights of third parties who had "tagged" the plaintiffs in their Facebook photographs and other information. 2013 WL 3366278, at *1. The court disagreed, concluding instead that "once the plaintiff was tagged in the photos, they became in plaintiff's possession, custody, or control" and, thus, discoverable regardless of the third party's own privacy settings. Id. at *3 (internal quotation marks omitted).
Although courts generally have found that privacy interests have no effect on admissibility, they have required a "threshold" showing of relevancy for evidence to be admissible. Johnson v. PPI Tech. Servs., L.P., No. 11-2773, 2013 WL 4508128, at *2 (E.D. La. Aug. 22, 2013) (Knowles, Mag. J.) (requiring a threshold showing so that the party seeking discovery is not granted "unfettered access" to the opposing party's social networking accounts); see also Salvato v. Miley, No. 5:12-CV-635-Oc-10PRL, 2013 WL 2712206, at *2 (M.D. Fla. June 11, 2013) (Lammens, Mag. J.) (deeming overbroad a discovery request for all user names and passwords for every social media site as well as all communications sent or received through social networking sites because such requests "essentially sought permission to conduct a 'fishing expedition.'").
Courts have differed in their approaches to determining what constitutes the requisite "threshold" showing. The Fawcett court, for example, held that a party wishing to compel discovery of a private social media account must simply establish "some credible facts" showing that the content posted by the adverse party is relevant to the case at hand. 960 N.Y.S.2d at 597. Another court, however, found that the party seeking production must show more--that the publicly available information on a social media site undermines the opposing party's claim or defense. Holder v. AT&T Servs., Inc., No. 3:11-0076, 2013 WL 5817575, at *3 (M.D. Tenn. Oct. 29, 2013) (Knowles, Mag. J.).
The question of who should bear the burden of collection and review also becomes more important as the volume and costs of electronic discovery increase. Most courts in 2013 required the account holder to gather and review the data from social networking accounts, and provide it directly to the defendant. See, e.g., Giachetto v. Patchogue-Medford Union Free Sch. Dist., 293 F.R.D. 112, 117 (E.D.N.Y. 2013) (Tomlinson, Mag. J.) (requiring the plaintiff's counsel to review the plaintiff's social network postings for relevance). This approach makes sense, given that it is typical of how most discovery is conducted, and it protects the account holder's privacy to the extent possible.
Courts also sometimes grant themselves the authority to conduct an in camera review in the first instance to determine the relevance of the social media content being sought. See, e.g., Nieves v. 30 Ellwood Realty LLC, 966 N.Y.S.2d 808 (App. Term 2013) (requiring the court to review a plaintiff's Facebook records in camera but noting that the court could instead order the plaintiff to review her own account); Pereira v. City of New York, No. 26927/11, 975 N.Y.S.2d 711 , at *2 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2013) (stating that the court would conduct an in camera inspection because of the likely presence of material that was private in nature and irrelevant to the litigation). Another option courts have employed is to appoint a neutral third party special master to collect and review social media data (E.E.O.C. v. Original Honeybaked Ham Co. of Georgia, Inc., No. 11-cv-02560-MSK-MEH, 2012 WL 5430974 (D. Colo. Nov. 2, 2012) (Hegarty, Mag. J.)) but shift the cost burden onto the party seeking discovery (E.E.O.C. v. Original Honeybaked Ham Co. of Georgia, Inc., No. 11-cv-02560-MSK-MEH, 2013 WL 753480, at *1 (D. Colo. Feb. 27, 2013) (Hegarty, Mag. J.)).
In general, courts have been reluctant to permit (or require) parties to obtain data directly from site hosts, on the ground that the account holder of the social media site is better positioned to produce the discoverable material. In fact, in Giachetto, the court held that there was no reason for the defendant to go through a third party site to access the plaintiff's social networking postings when the plaintiff had direct access to the information herself. 293 F.R.D. at 117.
Text/Instant Messaging
Text and instant messages are becoming an increasingly common form of communication and may be the subject of litigation holds and discovery requests when they are relevant to the issues in dispute. Of course, many or even all of these messages, even in the work context, may be non-substantive and personal, such as where to meet for lunch. See Gareth Evans, Embracing the Use of Mobile Devices in E-Discovery; Gareth Evans & Lauren Eber, Is Instant Messaging the Next Email?
As discovery disputes concerning text and instant messages have increased, however, so have decisions on whether there was a duty to preserve and produce this type of data under the circumstances of the case. See, e.g., Ewald v. Royal Norwegian Embassy, No. 11–CV–2116 SRN/SER, 2013 WL 6094600 (D. Minn. Nov. 20, 2013) (holding that the plaintiff was entitled to discovery of text and voice messages contained on the company-issued mobile phone of the defendant's employee). In In Re Pradaxa (Dabigatron Exterilate) Prods. Liab. Litig., MDL No. 22385, 2013 WL 6486921 (S.D. Ill. Dec. 9, 2013), the court found there was a duty to suspend auto-delete systems that operate on relevant text messages and imposed nearly $1 million in sanctions for having failed to do soon company-issued smart phones, among other things. The court found that the plaintiffs had expressly requested the text messages by asking for text messages in the boilerplate definition of "document," but the defendants failed to halt the auto-programmed delete function for text messages once a litigation hold was in place.
The case law so far remains consistent with the guidance issued by The Sedona Conference® in 2011 that there is no duty to preserve instant or text messages if a party does not routinely save those messages and litigation is not anticipated. In PTSI, Inc. v. Haley, 71 A.3d 304, 317 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2013), the court denied a spoliation motion where the defendants "routinely deleted text messages, often on a daily basis, so as not to unduly encumber their iPhones." The court found that, because of the presumed "volume of text messages that are frequently exchanged by cell phone users and the limited amount of storage on cell phones, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to save all text messages and to continue to use the phone for messaging." The court further reasoned that "[h]ere, there has been no showing that the innocent clean-up of personal electronic devices to allow them to function was unusual, unreasonable or improper under the circumstances."
Although courts have acknowledged the difficulty of preserving text and instant messages and the possibility of accidentally losing data, some have nonetheless been willing to grant sanctions for negligence in the failure to preserve relevant messages. See, e.g., Christou v. Beatport, LLC, No. 10-CV-02912-RBJ-KMT, 2013 WL 248058 (D. Colo. Jan. 23, 2013) (denying a motion for an adverse inference instruction but granting the lesser sanction of admitting evidence of a party's failure to follow the litigation hold notice, when the party had negligently or accidentally lost his cell phone, with all text messages, but where no evidence existed to suggest that relevant text messages actually existed); but see also Lakes Gas Co. v. Clark Oil Trading Co., 875 F. Supp. 2d 1289 (D. Kan. 2012) (declining to deny the plaintiff's summary judgment motion as a sanction for destroying instant messages and emails, where there was no showing of bad faith, and the relevance of the instant messages and emails was only speculative).
BYOD Programs
The rising popularity of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs, which allow employees to use their personal devices for business purposes, raises a host of additional discovery issues. BYOD programs blur the lines between employee and employer property with the comingling of personal and work data. The question of whether discovery obligations attach to personal devices generally turns on whether the device in question is within the "possession, custody, or control" of the employer, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34. The particular legal standards vary by jurisdiction, but courts have generally shown an inclination to impose preservation and production obligations on employees' mobile devices, where those devices were used for business purposes. See, e.g., In Re Pradaxa, 2013 WL 6486921, at *18.
The reverse is also true. Where employees' mobile devices were not used for business purposes, some courts have found that they are not in the "possession, custody, or control" of the employer. In Cotton v. Costco Wholesale Corp., Case No. 12-2731, 2013 WL 3819975 (D. Kan. July 24, 2013) (Sebelius, Mag. J.), for example, the court held that because the plaintiff could not show either that the personal phones under dispute were issued by Costco or that the employees used their personal cell phones for any work purpose, the phones were not within Costco's "possession, custody or control." The court implied that if the employees had used their personal devices for work, then the company would have had a duty to preserve the data. Similarly, in Han v. Futurewei Technologies, Inc., No. 11–CV–8310-JM (JMA), 2011 WL 4344301 (S.D. Cal. Sept. 15, 2011) (Adler, Mag. J.), the court denied a motion to get discovery of personal laptops, after files had been deleted from a company-issued laptop, where the personal laptops were not used for business purposes.
BYOD programs raise a host of additional issues, including when deletion software may be used on lost, stolen, or surrendered devices, and whether an employee's consent is necessary to retrieve data from their devices (which can be addressed with a BYOD policy). These issues are among those courts are likely to address over the coming years.
Predictive Coding
The emergence of predictive coding--and the approval of its use in several decisions--was the big story in 2012. So what happened with predictive coding in 2013? Precious little it would seem, at least from a superficial view, as very little appeared about predictive coding in decisions that saw the light of day.
Predictive coding utilizes machine-learning technologies to categorize an entire set of documents as responsive or nonresponsive, based on human review of only a subset of the documents, known as "sample sets." It has been reported that through use of a proper process, including validation through statistical sampling, predictive coding can achieve rates of recall (how well a process retrieves relevant documents) and precision (how well a process retrieves only relevant documents) at least equal to that of traditional "manual" (i.e., human) review, while substantially reducing the overall costs of review. Of course, results may vary and putting a large volume of documents into a predictive coding tool itself can be prohibitively expensive at current rates.
Why, then, has the predictive coding front appeared to be so quiet this past year? We suspect that part of the story is that predictive coding may be becoming less often a matter of dispute between the parties. Given that the results of predictive coding can be tested, and those results are generally reported to be at least equal to the commmonly used approach of reviewing "hits" on keywords, predictive coding is claimed to offer advantages to both the responding party (cost savings, accuracy and speed) and the requesting party (accuracy--i.e., avoiding "document dumps"--and speed). Consequently, predictive coding protocols are, in at least some matters that we are aware of, being quietly agreed to by the parties without any fanfare.
Slow adoption of a new technology may also be part of the story. Although predictive coding and other forms of computer assisted review--e.g., various forms of data analytics--have received a lot of attention within the "bubble" of the e-discovery community, awareness outside of it still appears to be quite limited, and growing at what can seem like a very slow pace. Changing the habits of attorneys accustomed to having used (for two or more decades, in some cases) an established process built around the use of search terms is turning out to be slow going.
Clearly, another part of the story is that the hype of 2012 is wearing off and the traditional approach of using key words and human review works very well in most cases. It is the responding parties' right, of course, to decide which methodologies and technologies they may employ to identify and produce relevant and responsive documents. As The Sedona Conference® has recognized, "[r]esponding parties are best situated to evaluate the procedures, methodologies and technologies appropriate for preserving and producing their own electronically stored information." The Sedona Principles: Best Practices, Recommendations & Principles for Addressing Electronic Document Production, Principle 6.
Although predictive coding can be attractive to companies dealing with large data volumes and extremely expensive document review costs, it should come as no surprise that they many companies may consider the demands of some plaintiffs' counsel to get intimately involved in the predictive coding process--even participating in the review of sample sets--to be a non-starter. Indeed, it was likely not helpful that defendants had voluntarily agreed to such terms as a condition for using predictive coding in some of the early reported decisions in 2012. In any event, arguments in favor of having access to the entire sample set--or to participate in its review--seem to hold little, if any, water. In a traditional "manual" review, for example, the requesting party is not entitled to see irrelevant documents or to train the responding party's reviewers.
The tide seemed to be turning in that regard in 2013. In In Re: Biomet M2A Magnum Hip Implant Products Liability Litig., No. 3:12-MD-2391, 2013 WL 6405156 (N.D. Ind. Aug. 21, 2013), the court rejected the plaintiffs' request to review the entire seed set--including documents determined to be irrelevant--used for training the predictive coding tool. Commenting that "I'm puzzled as to the authority behind [the plaintiffs'] request," the court observed that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1) only makes relevant, non-privileged information discoverable. The best that plaintiffs could muster was that the defendant purportedly was not proceeding "in the cooperative spirit" that The Sedona Conference's "Cooperation Proclamation" and the Seventh Circuit's e-discovery Pilot Project recommend. Although the court agreed with plaintiffs that the defendant's cooperation was lacking, it held that the defendant was correct that it did not have to produce the seed set. See Matt Nelson & Adam Kuhn, In Re: Biomet Order Addresses Hot Button Predictive Coding Issue.
Similar to Biomet, the court in Gordon v. Kaleida Health, No. 08-CV-378S(S), 2013 WL 2250579 (W.D.N.Y. May 21, 2013), denied plaintiffs' motion to compel defendant to permit plaintiff to be involved in the details of the predictive coding process. See John Tredennick, None of Your Beeswax! (Or, Do I Have to Invite Opposing Counsel to my Predictive Ranking Party?).
Another factor slowing widespread adoption of predictive coding has been that vendor pricing for using such tools has, at times, been viewed as unappealingly high--particularly in the large document volume cases where predictive coding is most needed. Fortunately, pricing appears to be coming down.
We expect the use of predictive coding and other analytics to increase in 2014, although at a slower pace than generally expected in the heady days of 2012 when judicial decisions first approved its use.
Proposed FRCP Amendments
The proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure addressing discovery issues, which have been in the works since the so-called "Duke Conference" in 2010, reached an important juncture this past year, with a package of proposed amendments released for public comment on August 15, 2013. See generally Thomas Y. Allman, The 'Package' of Discovery Amendments Released for Public Comment on August 15, 2013. The following proposed amendments garnered the most attention:
Cooperation
Rule 1 currently provides that the Federal Rules are to be "construed and administered" to achieve "the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding." In 2012, the Civil Rules Advisory Committee was considering adding a requirement that the parties "cooperate to achieve these ends." Following substantial opposition at the 2012 Mini-Conference in Dallas, arising out of concerns that cooperation is an amorphous concept and the language would only give rise to more disputes (e.g., with the parties accusing each other of "failing to cooperate"), the Committee dropped that language. Instead, the Committee has opted to propose language that the FRCP are to be "employed by the court and the parties" to secure the just, speedy and inexpensive determination of each matter.
Timing of Document Requests
To help focus discussion at the Rule 26(f) early meeting of counsel, the current prohibition under Rule 26(d)(1) against serving document requests before that meeting would be eliminated; but the time to respond would not begin running until after it takes place.
Preservation and Claw Backs
The 2006 Amendments to the FRCP encouraged parties to discuss "issues about preserving discoverable information" in Rule 26(f) meetings of counsel. The Committee has proposed adding to that a requirement in Rule 26(f) that the "discovery plan" that the parties must prepare for the Rule 16 scheduling conference must include any unresolved issues about preservation and whether the parties seek court approval of any privilege claw back agreements under Federal Rule of Evidence 502. Proposed amendments to Rule 16(b)(3) provide for these topics to be included in scheduling orders.
Scope of Discovery
The Committee has proposed amending the scope of discovery under Rule 26(b)(1) to limit it to matters relevant to any party's claim or defense "and proportional to the needs of the case" considering the proportionality factors currently set forth in Rule 26(b)(2)(C)(iii) (i.e., the needs of the case, the amount in controversy, the parties' resources, the importance of the issues at stake, and the importance of the discovery in resolving the issues). The Committee Note states that limiting the scope of discovery to what is proportional to the needs of the case is necessary because "excessive discovery occurs in a worrisome number of cases, particularly those that are complex, involve high stakes, and generate contentious adversary behavior."
The proposed amendments would delete the current language in Rule 26(b)(1) permitting, for good cause, a court to order discovery of any matter "relevant to the subject matter" of the action. They would also remove the language that relevant information need not be admissible at trial if it "appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence." The Committee Note clarifies that discovery is not justified "simply because it is 'reasonably calculated' to lead to discovery of admissible evidence." Rather, a matter would only be discoverable when it is "otherwise within the scope of discovery," i.e., when it is "relevant to a party's claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case."
Limits on Depositions, Interrogatories and RFAs
The proposed amendments would significantly reduce the presumptive number of oral depositions from the current ten to five, with the time limited to one six-hour day (instead of the current seven). Interrogatories would be reduced from 25 to ten. Requests for admission, which currently have no limit, would be limited to 25 (except as to those regarding the genuineness of any described document).
Cost Shifting
Rule 26I currently provides that a court, for good cause and to protect a responding party from undue burden or expense, may "specify terms" for the discovery. It does not explicitly state that such terms include cost shifting, although some courts have recognized that courts have that authority. The Committee has proposed amending Rule 26I to expressly acknowledge that a court may protect a party from undue burden or expense by an "allocation of expenses." The proposed Committee Note states that "courts are coming to exercise this authority" and its explicit recognition "will forestall the temptation some parties may feel to contest" it.
Sanctions Rule
The Committee has proposed an overhaul of Rule 37(e) designed to impose a uniform national standard for spoliation sanctions and to preclude the imposition of sanctions based upon negligence. Many commentators have questioned whether the proposed amendment would achieve those goals.
Proposed Rule 37(e) would take a bifurcated approach to address a party's failure to preserve discoverable information "that should have been preserved." On the one hand, the court could order "curative measures" (including, but not limited to, additional discovery or payment of reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees) without any showing of culpability of the responding party or prejudice to the requesting party. On the other hand, to order a sanction set forth in Rule 37(b)(2)(A)--e.g., evidence preclusion, claim preclusion, and case terminating sanctions--or an adverse inference jury instruction, the court would be required to find that the responding party's actions either (i) "caused substantial prejudice" and were "willful or in bad faith;" or (ii) that they "irreparably deprived a party of any meaningful opportunity to present or defend against the claims."
The proposed rule also provides a list of factors that the court should consider in determining whether the failure was "willful or in bad faith." Those factors include "the extent to which the party was on notice that litigation was likely and that the information was discoverable;" "the reasonableness of the party's efforts to preserve information;" whether the party received a preservation request; and "the proportionality of the preservation efforts."
Most of the written comments submitted to the Rules Committee about the proposed rules have been from self-identified plaintiffs' lawyers, very few of whom have expressed support for the amendments. They have particularly objected to the proposed limitations on the scope of discovery, including the proportionality requirement, and the limits on the number of depositions, interrogatories and requests for admission. There has been some level of criticism from all sides regarding proposed Rule 37(e), including that "willful" could include negligence in some jurisdictions--thus defeating the goals of national uniformity and precluding sanctions based on negligence--and that many "remedial" measures could be indistinguishable from "sanctions," yet no finding of culpability or prejudice would be required.
The first public hearings on the proposed package of amendments took place on November 7, 2013, and additional hearings are scheduled in January and February 2014. Public comment on the proposed amendments will be accepted until February 15. If the proposed amendments--subject to whatever further revisions the Committee makes--are approved by the Judicial Conference, the Supreme Court and Congress, they would take effect on or after December 1, 2014.
Sanctions Decisions
While 2013 for the most part did not feature the same sort of "blockbuster" sanctions decisions as in prior years, this year's sanctions opinions reinforce several themes from prior years: Courts are generally addressing e-discovery issues with increased sophistication and nuance, and they expect parties to fulfill all e-discovery responsibilities.
Various decisions highlighted the need for parties to consider adjustments to automatic deletion policies as part of litigation-related preservation obligations. See Pillay v. Millard Refrigerated Servs., No. 09 C 5725, 2013 WL 2251727, at *5 (N.D. Ill. May 22, 2013) (allowing adverse inference instruction following automatic deletion of computer data if jury found deletion was intentional or reckless and in bad faith). Other normal procedures may also need tweaking; the operation of the corporate technology policy earned sanctions for the defendant in EEOC v. Ventura Corp., 11-1700 (PG), 2013 WL 550550 (D.P.R. Feb. 12, 2013). There, a software migration caused the loss of emails and an office restructuring caused further document loss, after a duty to preserve had arisen in connection with reasonably anticipated litigation. Id. at *2. The court ordered preclusion of certain defense evidence and an adverse inference instruction. Id. at *7.
Perhaps the only "blockbuster"-type sanctions opinion came late in 2013. Repeatedly missing discovery deadlines, among other issues that started small and ballooned into bigger problems, led to significant sanctions in the nationwide multi-district litigation over the pharmaceutical Pradaxa. Chief Judge David Herndon imposed nearly $1 million in sanctions against the drug maker for what the court characterized as "astounding" and "egregious" discovery violations in bad faith--but without an explicit finding that any evidence had been destroyed. In re Pradaxa Prods. Liab. Litig., MDL No. 2385, 2013 WL 6486921 (S.D. Ill. Dec. 9, 2013). See also Gareth Evans, Perils of E-Discovery Reflected in Sanctions Opinion.
The court faulted the defendants for failing to timely identify a key custodian of relevant evidence; failing to impose a broad enough litigation hold on all relevant sales representatives; failing to produce documents (through a vendor) from all parts of their computer networks; and failing to preserve text messages on relevant employees' phones. Id. at *18-20. The plaintiffs were fastidious in documenting and reporting to the court each instance of the defendants' alleged discovery shortcomings. And the court lambasted the defendants for failing to adhere to discovery orders, disbelieving the defendants' claim that they were unprepared for the sheer size and scope of the litigation and that their vendors and IT departments had made errors, including failing to provide the vendor with a password. Id. at *6-7.
The defendants added that they had not immediately recognized their obligation to produce text messages because of the medium's lesser prominence as a form of communication and its being buried within the plaintiffs' boilerplate definition of "document." Id. at *16-17. The court rejected this excuse so late in the litigation after months of discovery disputes and orders, emphasizing that document production must be an active process in which counsel and party ensure the production of relevant documents. Id. at *17-19.
The number and frequency of the violations ultimately exhausted the court's patience. Having issued a $29,000 fine in September (id. at *4) the court in December addressed the "cumulative effect" (id. at *2) of alleged violations, stating that the defendants' continuing conduct suggested "a failed strategy regarding production evasion," and convinced the court that "such maneuvers are by design" (id. at *15-16). In addition to ordering reimbursement of plaintiffs' costs and fees in bringing the sanctions motion, the court ordered $931,500 in sanctions (apparently payable to the court) to send a "forceful message" to the defendants that "compliance with the Court's orders is not an optional part of litigation strategy." Id. at *20. The defendants have appealed the decision.
The Pradaxa case makes clear that e-discovery errors, left to fester, can swell into large sanctions awards, and seeking forgiveness for missed discovery deadlines may be as costly as the sheer failure to produce at all.
Other cases, too, showcased courts insisting on active participation in discovery and refusing to let counsel off the hook for delay--including a rare opinion on e-discovery sanctions from a federal appellate court. In Moore v. CITGO Refining & Chemicals Co., 735 F.3d 309, 316-17 (5th Cir. 2013), the Fifth Circuit affirmed the lower court's dismissal of an employment class action due to the plaintiffs' failure to preserve ESI (largely personal emails) among other e-discovery failures. And in a surprising order, the appellate court (over a dissent) increased the district court's cost award to the defendant, finding that the comparative wealth of the parties was an improper basis to reduce the cost award. Id. at 319-20.
Moore was not the only decision where the plaintiff came under fire for failure to preserve--a switch from the more common scenario of sanctions for e-discovery violations falling on the defendant. In Branhaven, LLC v. Beeftek, Inc., 288 F.R.D. 386, 388-89 (D. Md. 2013), the court imposed attorney's fees jointly and severally against the plaintiff and its counsel after plaintiff's counsel certified under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(g) that the lawyer had received access to all relevant client documents--despite the lack of such access, particularly to email servers. The court faulted the plaintiff and its counsel for delaying in retaining an e-discovery vendor and for delaying in undertaking the work necessary to provide a reasonable response to the defendant's discovery requests. Id. at 390. And similar costs were imposed on the defendant in Peerless Indus. v. Crimson AV, LLC, No. 1:11-1768, 2013 WL 85378 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 8, 2013), faulted for, in the court's view, having taken an unacceptable "hands-off approach" to the production of documents from a non-party supplier closely linked (by a common principal) to the defendant.
Conclusion
Although the ever-changing nature of technology necessarily means that the law of e-discovery must also constantly evolve, 2013 witnessed what may be the beginning of a new era of stability, foresight, and proactivity. The developments in the law of e-discovery that have occurred over the last several years have shed enough light on the uncertainty that previously enshrouded e-discovery that litigants now have the opportunity and means to be proactive and mitigate against some e-discovery risks. Based on the relative absence of blockbuster cases in 2013, it appears that many litigants are taking full advantage of the lessons of the past. New challenges have arrived already, however, such as the proliferation of mobile computing devices and increased use of cloud storage. More are certain to come.
Additionally, the legal regime in which litigants must operate remains deeply flawed. Established notions of the scope of discovery date back to a time of paper documents and are not well tailored to the enormous volumes and complexity of electronic data. Moreover, there is a lack of uniformity in the legal standards used to judge litigants' efforts, and the thresholds for imposing harsh sanctions can be very low. While there is no question that reform through amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is needed, it is not at all apparent whether the amendments currently being proposed will achieve their intended effect of fixing a broken system.
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher's lawyers are available to assist in addressing any questions you may have regarding the issues discussed in this update. The Electronic Discovery and Information Law Practice Group brings together lawyers with extensive knowledge of electronic discovery and information law. The group is comprised of seasoned litigators with a breadth of experience who have assisted clients in various industries and in jurisdictions around the world. The group's lawyers work closely with the firm's technical specialists to provide cutting-edge legal advice and guidance in this complex and evolving area of law. For further information, please contact the Gibson Dunn lawyer with whom you work or any of the following Co-Chairs of the Electronic Discovery and Information Law Practice Group:
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-40558820339958967782013-09-13T04:41:00.002-07:002013-09-13T04:41:26.536-07:00THINK MANAGING FEDERAL EMAIL RECORDS IS TOUGH? WAIT FOR RECORDS ON SNAPCHATTHINK MANAGING FEDERAL EMAIL RECORDS IS TOUGH? WAIT FOR RECORDS ON SNAPCHAT
Andrew McLaughlin, a former deputy U.S. chief technology officer // Flickr user rsepulveda
Once upon a time when federal employees used personal email for government communication, it was easy to call evasion, subterfuge or plain old trickery aimed at avoiding federal records preservation requirements.
When some of President Bush’s political advisers used Republican National Committee accounts -- designated for political-only emails -- to communicate about the firing of U.S. attorneys in 2007, the White House was quick to admit fault, launch an internal investigation and beef up its own email retention policy.
As email and other forms of digital communication have become ubiquitous in Washington and elsewhere, though, it’s become increasingly difficult to stanch the flow of emails leaking between professional and personal accounts.
At the same time, new third party sites and services such as Facebook and Twitter have proliferated, making it difficult and confusing for federal officials to properly store information that should be available for Freedom of Information Act requesters and future historians.
How, for instance, should a federal official handle a text message to a personal cellphone from a friend and coworker that contains mostly personal information but one piece of important business? These questions become harder when it comes to new applications such as SnapChat that are specifically designed to make it difficult to preserve information, said Andrew McLaughlin, a former deputy U.S. chief technology officer .
McLaughlin raised such issues on Tuesday during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing focused on preventing federal transparency law violations.
Officials at the White House and most federal agencies are allowed to conduct some business on personal email accounts if their work accounts are unavailable but are instructed to forward those emails to a work account so they’re discoverable during FOIA requests. The oversight committee’s ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., has introduced legislation that would make copying such emails within five days a legal requirement.
McLaughlin was reprimanded in 2010 when the response to a Freedom of Information Act request revealed he had conducted some White House business on his Gmail account and not forwarded the messages, violating the 1978 Presidential Records Act.
On Tuesday McLaughlin called himself “a poster child for the typical mid-level official who tries to be conscientious [about maintaining federal records] but misses some things.”
He suggested that agencies or lawmakers should create a standard method such as using screenshots for federal employees to transfer information from third party services such as text messages and Facebook posts to FOIA-able government email accounts.
McLaughlin also suggested that during records management training, federal employees should be urged to put language in the signature lines of their personal email and social media accounts urging people to contact them via government email for official business.
If employees are wary of their government accounts being spammed, they could use automated forms that forward information to those accounts but hide the addresses, he said. Many media companies use similar forms.
House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has been pressing for more accountability and traceability of federal workers’ emails since soon after he took over the chairmanship in 2011. Witnesses at Tuesday’s hearing were all Obama administration officials who had also failed to forward records from personal to government email accounts that were later discovered by FOIA requesters or congressional investigators.
In most cases, the officials attributed the failure to poor oversight, long work hours and a deluge of email that sometimes blurs the lines between personal and professional.
Republican committee members lashed out at former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson over an email exchange with a friend who was also a registered lobbyist and had requested an official meeting with Jackson within the email chain.
Jackson, who asked the friend to send future emails to a personal account, told lawmakers she believed the friend had completed her official business and that the remainder of the email chain would just be old friends chatting. Issa shot back that, by moving the conversation to a personal account, Jackson was effectively giving herself authority, rather than a FOIA officer, to decide where the line lay between a public official talking with a lobbyist and two friends catching up.
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-50593166071422368352013-09-11T11:42:00.002-07:002013-09-11T11:42:33.033-07:00Obama officials can keep private e-mail accounts for federal business, Archives says
Obama officials can keep private e-mail accounts for federal business, Archives says
By Lisa Rein, Updated: September 11, 2013
High-level administration officials and other federal employees can continue to conduct official business using secret government e-mail accounts, but the messages must be preserved electronically and turned over to the country’s record-keeping agency.
Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero told the House Oversight and Government Reform committee Tuesday that his agency, the National Archives and Records Administration, clarified the rules this week on the use of private e-mail accounts. They must be turned over to anyone seeking them under the Freedom of Information Act, Ferriero said. The accounts must be “managed, accessible and identifiable” under federal record-keeping rules.
But the archivist told lawmakers that his agency “discourages the use of private e-mail accounts to conduct federal business.”
“Where a private e-mail account must be used…the federal records generated through these private accounts must be moved to the official record-keeping system of the agency as soon as practicable, and then managed according to the Federal Records Act, the Freedom of Information Act and other legal requirements and their implementing regulations,” he said.
The regulations were made official after the Associated Press reported in June that some Obama administration Cabinet officials have used alternative e-mail accounts in addition to government addresses to conduct official business.
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-81938488294436302772013-08-31T13:06:00.003-07:002013-08-31T13:06:37.159-07:00New email archiving method attempts to ease burden on agenciesNew email archiving method attempts to ease burden on agencies
Friday - 8/30/2013, 10:34am EDT
By Shefali Kapadia
The National Archives and Records Administration is trying to make it easier for agencies to manage and archive the billions of emails generated by federal employees.
The agency released a bulletin Thursday explaining its newly-developed approach to email management called "Capstone." The Capstone approach seeks to help federal agencies manage all of their email records electronically by Dec. 31, 2016.
Capstone will help agencies satisfy requirements outlined by the Managing Government Records Directive, released in August of 2012. The directive aims to "develop a 21st-century framework for the management of government records."
NARA's Capstone will specifically address Goal 1.2 of the directive:
"By 2016, Federal agencies will manage both permanent and temporary email records in an accessible electronic format.
By December 31, 2016, Federal agencies must manage all email records in an electronic format. Email records must be retained in an appropriate electronic system that supports records management and litigation requirements (which may include preservation-in¬-place models), including the capability to identify, retrieve, and retain the records for as long as they are needed. Beginning one year after issuance of this directive, each agency must report annually to OMB and NARA the status of its progress toward this goal."
The Capstone approach is designed to "preserve permanently valuable email and provide a pathway to dispose of temporary email." The approach accomplishes this goal through use of an automated system, rather than relying on agencies to manually sort emails. The bulletin said these changes will be especially helpful as agencies move toward cloud-based solutions.
NARA outlines several advantages of using the Capstone approach:
• Cuts down reliance on print-and-file, click-and-file, drag-and-drop or other user-dependent policies
• Optimizes access to records to respond more quickly and effectively to FOIA requests
• Reduces the risk of unauthorized destruction of email records
• Eases the burden of email management on the end user
To adopt the Capstone approach, agencies need to identify email accounts that are most likely to contain records that should be preserved as permanent, according to NARA. These accounts may include department heads, agency leaders and armed forces officers.
NARA will hold workshop sessions in September and October to introduce planning for Capstone implementation.
NARA encourages agencies to adopt the Capstone approach, but it is not a requirement.
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-47169391861612129642013-08-30T04:44:00.001-07:002013-08-30T04:44:35.928-07:00Records Managements: Slowly, Federal Agencies are Achieving Improved Records HandlingRecords Managements: Slowly, Federal Agencies are Achieving Improved Records Handling
By Dick Weisinger, on August 29th, 2013
NARA, the National Archives for managing federal records, now maintains more than 12 billion pages of physical records, 42 million photographs, and 500 terabytes of electronic records.
The 40 main federal government agencies will be expected to manage 20.4 billion records by 2015 based on a survey by Meritalk conducted in late 2012. That report found that individually each federal agency spends about $34.4 million annually and currently manages an average of about 209 million records.
Sue Trombley, managing director of consulting for Iron Mountain, said that “Federal record volumes will only continue to grow, driving up budgets and making it harder for agencies to manage information on their own. This growth and the added pressure from the Presidential Directive are combining to make records management very complicated and unsustainable. Most agencies know they need outside help and are looking for alternatives that include the development of a strategic plan, agency-wide collaboration and training, implementing technology solutions, and policy guidance and enforcement all aimed at regaining control for today and the future.”
Federal agencies are also up against a mandate that requires them to transition from the management of physical to electronic records. By 2016, email records must be fully managed, and by 2019 electronic systems need to be fully managing permanent records.
A recent internal report graded agencies in their attempts to move to electronic records. The report found that:
Agencies are gradually improving. But while there is improvement, still only 20 percent of agencies are classified as low risk. 44 percent are moderate risk and 36 percent are high risk.
Agencies have been more active in designing and developing new electronic management systems
Agencies are taking electronic documents into account in making updates and revisions to their policies and records schedules
High risk agencies include the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Army Materiel Command and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Perfect scores were achieved by the U.S. Secret Service, the Government Accountability Office, the Bureau of Reclamation, and top-level operations at the State Department.
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-29890873315656038132013-03-30T07:22:00.001-07:002013-03-30T07:22:02.671-07:00What Does the Presidential Directive on Records Management Really Require?<a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html">What Does the Presidential Directive on Records Management Really Require?</a><br />
<br />
<h1 style="background-color: #b5b5b4; background-image: url(http://media2.govtech.com/designimages/gt_aarow-grey.png); background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; clear: both; font-family: Arial, 'MS Trebuchet', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: 32px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px 0px 5px 18px;">What Does the Presidential Directive on Records Management Really Require?</h1><img alt="" class="w-480" id="article-img" src="http://media2.govtech.com/images/shutterstock_records.jpg" style="background-color: #b5b5b4; float: left; font-family: Arial, 'MS Trebuchet', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px 10px 5px 0px; padding: 0px; width: 480px;" /><br />
<div class="article-tools base mb-10" style="background-color: #b5b5b4; border-left-color: rgb(186, 186, 186); border-left-style: dashed; border-left-width: 1px; color: #bababa; float: right; font-family: Arial, 'MS Trebuchet', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 1em; padding: 0px 10px; position: relative; width: 120px;"><div style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;"><div class="article_social_btn" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" class="twitter-share-button twitter-count-horizontal" data-twttr-rendered="true" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/tweet_button.1363148939.html#_=1364653141580&count=horizontal&id=twitter-widget-0&lang=en&original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.govtech.com%2Fe-government%2FWhat-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html&size=m&text=What%20Does%20the%20Presidential%20Directive%20on%20Records%20Management%20Really%20Require%3F&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.govtech.com%2Fe-government%2FWhat-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html" style="height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 110px;" title="Twitter Tweet Button"></iframe></div><div class="article_social_btn" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html&send=false&layout=button_count&width=130&show_faces=false&action=recommend&colorscheme=light&font&height=21" style="border-style: none; height: 21px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; width: 130px;"></iframe></div><div class="article_social_btn" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;"><div id="___plusone_0" style="background-color: transparent; border-style: none; display: inline-block; float: none; font-size: 1px; height: 20px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 120px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" data-gapiattached="true" frameborder="0" hspace="0" id="I0_1364653140714" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="I0_1364653140714" scrolling="no" src="https://plusone.google.com/_/+1/fastbutton?bsv&size=medium&annotation=inline&width=120&hl=en-US&origin=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.govtech.com&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.govtech.com%2Fe-government%2FWhat-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html&ic=1&jsh=m%3B%2F_%2Fscs%2Fapps-static%2F_%2Fjs%2Fk%3Doz.gapi.en.jYrE987VAQs.O%2Fm%3D__features__%2Fam%3DQQ%2Frt%3Dj%2Fd%3D1%2Frs%3DAItRSTNqnfrNykTWuVIf3bkgMSSBbiilNA#_methods=onPlusOne%2C_ready%2C_close%2C_open%2C_resizeMe%2C_renderstart%2Concircled&id=I0_1364653140714&parent=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.govtech.com&rpctoken=80643109" style="border-style: none; height: 20px; left: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: static; top: 0px; visibility: visible; width: 120px;" tabindex="0" title="+1" vspace="0" width="100%"></iframe></div></div><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#" style="color: #004276; font-size: 0.975em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://media.navigatored.com/designimages/ETbb-promo.gif" style="border: 0px; float: left; margin: 0px 10px 5px 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Email to a friend" /></a></div><br class="clear" style="clear: both; font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><div class="related-head" style="color: black; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 3px 0px;">You May Also Like</div><ul class="related-list" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 11px; list-style-type: none; margin: 6px 0px; padding: 0px;"><li class="dk" style="border-top-color: rgb(186, 186, 186); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; display: block; margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 5px 0px 0px;"><a href="http://www.digitalcommunities.com/articles/11-Governmental-E-Records-Tips-to-Share.html" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">11 Governmental E-Records Tips to Share</a></li>
</ul><div class="clear" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></div><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><div class="clear" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></div><div id="sponsor-block" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 120px;"><div id="ad_S1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div id="ad_S1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="img_nopad" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></div></div><div id="tmp_ad_S1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="90" id="frame_ad_S1" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="frame_ad_S1" noresize="" scrolling="no" src="http://www.govtech.com/templates/common_ad_iframe.html?timer=0&position=S1&height=90&width=120&site=d.site285.opus&id=200096391&zone=/e-government" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; height: 1px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="120"></iframe></div></div></div></div><h4 style="background-color: #b5b5b4; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, 'MS Trebuchet', sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></h4><div style="background-color: #b5b5b4; font-family: Arial, 'MS Trebuchet', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">March 26, 2013 By Michael L. Miller, director, RIM Consulting, Array Information Technology</i></div><div class="bullets" id="pageContent" style="background-color: #b5b5b4; font-family: Arial, 'MS Trebuchet', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The August 2012 <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2012/m-12-18.pdf" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Presidential Directive on Managing Government Records</a> is a major achievement for the federal records management community -- and it is the cornerstone for the long-awaited transition to electronic recordkeeping by federal agencies. But what does it really mean?</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">As a former federal records officer and former Director of the Modern Records Program of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), I have taken a keen interest in the directive, of which a large number of articles, blogs and columns have appeared about its implications. And I would like to bring my perspective as a federal records manager to the discussion. </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">My underlying message is that agencies can meet the directive’s targets if they carefully scope their response to its requirements and their agency goals, following a seven-year plan and bringing people, policy and process into the solution mix to supplement technology. </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="" name="top" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a>Here are 12 ideas agencies can use to leverage staff rather than money on not only electronic recordkeeping goals, but also other goals that are largely restatements of existing requirements.</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><ol style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#01" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Read the directive very carefully.</strong></a></li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#02" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Identify the problem(s) you are trying to solve.</strong></a></li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#03" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Determine what is a “good enough” records management solution.</strong></a></li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#04" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Take a holistic view.</strong></a></li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#05" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Take the long view.</strong></a></li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#06" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Assemble your forces.</strong></a></li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#07" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Break the problem into manageable chunks.</strong></a></li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#08" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Assess your records management staff.</strong></a></li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#09" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Assess your current policy and records schedules.</strong></a></li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#10" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Managing permanent electronic records – manual, automated or a mix.</strong></a></li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#11" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Managing email – not all records are created equal.</strong></a></li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#12" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Look for outside help.</strong></a></li>
</ol></div><h3 style="font-size: 1.2em; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="" name="01" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a>1. Read the directive very carefully.</h3><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The directive's wording has been crafted very carefully -- and that applies to what is both said and not said. Part 1, Goal 1, for example, states that agencies “should commit immediately to the transition to a digital government.” Target 1.1, however, only requires agencies to manage all permanent electronic records in electronic format to the extent possible by 2019. In many agencies, especially smaller ones, there may not be many permanent records, so consult your records schedules, then review the Code of Federal Regulations to understand how NARA understands “manage.” Your challenges may be smaller than you envisioned. </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#top" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><h3 style="font-size: 1.2em; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="" name="02" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a>2. Identify the problem(s) you are trying to solve.</h3><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The directive defines goals and targets; it leaves the means open. Obviously you want to meet the targets, but I’m sure there are numerous agency-specific records and information problems that could be addressed also. Continuing the example above, you are only required to manage your permanent records electronically, but you may choose to manage all of your records electronically because there is a well-defined business case for doing so, such as minimizing the number of records on hand to simplify e-Discovery responses, or maximizing document retention to support knowledge management. Electronic recordkeeping can address either, but your implementations would be different depending on your business case, hence the need to identify the specific problem(s) you wish to solve.</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#top" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><h3 style="font-size: 1.2em; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="" name="03" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a>3. Determine what is a “good enough” records management solution.</h3><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Many federal records managers bristle at the thought of a “good enough” records management program – they want to have the best in the federal government. I would argue that they should focus on being the best for their agency – its mission, priorities and budget. That means being “good enough” to meet both internal and external requirements. For example, the records manager in a small agency may want a records management application, but given the limited number of permanent records, a more manual process might provide a “good enough” medium-term solution at lower cost.</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#top" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><h3 style="font-size: 1.2em; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="" name="04" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a>4. Take a holistic view.</h3><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">From a holistic perspective, you need to understand four major elements of the ecosystem in which records and other information assets are managed:</div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">The records and other information assets your agency creates and maintains, their characteristics and requirements, the rewards and risks associated with their management, and available resources. </li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">The needs and expectations of business process owners and staff who create agency records; the records program that provides RIM policy and services; and the information architecture which provides context and support for the records management.</li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">Four agency components that can either facilitate records management or erect barriers: agency staff, agency culture, agency policies, and the existing and planned IT infrastructure.</li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">External forces framing “good enough” records management including the regulatory framework (including the directive), and the expectations of the community, agency suppliers (e.g., contractors), and customers (e.g., the regulated community).</li>
</ul><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Transitioning to electronic recordkeeping will require an assessment of all ecosystem elements so an appropriate path can be chosen.</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#top" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><h3 style="font-size: 1.2em; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="" name="05" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a>5. Take the long view.</h3><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The directive has very specific (and tight) timeframes, so use all of the time alloted. The email management target is the end of 2016 and the permanent records target is the end of 2019. Provided agencies start quickly, these targets allow time for project planning, evaluating the current situation, developing policy and training, budgeting to procure necessary technology, and gradually rolling out solutions. </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Another reason for taking a longer view is that successful implementations of electronic recordkeeping are done in stages, often over several years.</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#top" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><h3 style="font-size: 1.2em; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="" name="06" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a>6. Assemble your forces.</h3><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Records management doesn’t succeed on its own -- it needs supporters, allies and champions. </div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Supporters </strong>see the benefits from records management such as approved destruction of unneeded records and information products, or the ability to find needed records for audit or litigation. </li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Allies </strong>are other information managers who pursue similar information management goals. </li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Champions </strong>will represent the program at the senior level of the organization. </li>
</ul><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Your “forces” should be brought together participate in a Directive Response Team and serve as a steering council for the program and an advocacy group to promote its mission, products and budget requests.</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#top" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><h3 style="font-size: 1.2em; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="" name="07" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a>7. Break the problem into manageable chunks.</h3><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The ecosystem review discussed above provides keys to understanding your records and how they can be managed successfully. Breaking the body of records into constituent parts allows agencies to apply appropriate management controls to important categories of records. Program staff are a necessary part of the process because they will only buy into an electronic recordkeeping solution if the records warrant the effort. The initial breakdown is by organization or function. And the easiest solution is to follow the approach used in your records retention schedules. Next identify major record groups – permanent records, records required by statute or regulation, records that document the agency’s statutory mission or are subject to audit or elicit public scrutiny, and so on. Then apply appropriate controls to each grouping.</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#top" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><h3 style="font-size: 1.2em; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="" name="08" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a>8. Assess your records management staff.</h3><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">A strong records manager is critical to meeting the directive’s goals. However, records managers currently vary greatly in experience, training and skill levels. </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Records managers can fill one or more of these roles on the Directive Response Team:</div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">Explaining federal recordkeeping to the team.</li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">Translating NARA requirements into agency requirements.</li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">Assisting in crafting policy and procedural solutions for electronic records management.</li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">Assisting in crafting technology solutions.</li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">Serving as a leader and/or champion for the records management solutions selected to address the directive’s goals. </li>
</ul><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">To achieve success, all of these roles must be filled. Currently not all records managers have the requisite, experience, training and skills to participate effectively in transitioning to electronic recordkeeping. Agencies must assess whether their current records staff has the qualifications needed to play their role(s) in addressing the goals laid out in the directive. If not, agencies will need to upgrade their staff via training, hiring or contracting.</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#top" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><h3 style="font-size: 1.2em; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="" name="09" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a>9. Assess your current policy and records schedules.</h3><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The biggest challenges in implementing electronic recordkeeping have stemmed from poor policy foundations, not technology. Most of those who are not part of the records management community (and even some of those who are) think records management policy is set in stone. It isn’t. Federal records management principles remain, but what they mean and how to implement them effectively is often radically different today. </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The easiest way to simplify the management of all records – but especially electronic ones – is to clearly identify the records “containing adequate and proper documentation of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential transactions of the agency.” That is what agencies are required to create and preserve. An agency’s definition of record may be understood more broadly than that, but in most cases, records not required for “adequate and proper documentation” can be disposed of relatively quickly. </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Records schedules often contribute to the problem. Many records schedules do not identify the specific documents needed as part of the “adequate and proper documentation.” When employees are in doubt, they tend to keep everything. Records schedules should identify specific records or categories of records to be included or excluded from the file. </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The bottom line? Rrecords management policy and guidance must be simple and clear. </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#top" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><h3 style="font-size: 1.2em; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="" name="10" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a>10. Managing permanent electronic records – manual, automated or a mix.</h3><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">When most of us think of managing electronic records we think of an entirely automated solution – an electronic records management application (ERMA) engineered to accomplish specific tasks.</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">An alternative (but more manual) process would be making a specific individual or individuals responsible for electronic filing. In many agencies that is already the case with important records –records that need to be safe from change or deletion, filed so they can be located and preserved so they can be transferred to NARA as required by federal recordkeeping regulations. The only records that need to be managed to meet the directive mandate are the ones identified as permanent. </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">An ERMA is one solution that may be appropriate for your organization, but it is not required, and for smaller agencies with more simple record-keeping and tighter budgets, it may be overkill. The challenge is finding an acceptable balance between manual intervention and automation. How much are your employees able and/or willing to do to manage their records? The more they can do, the less expensive and complex the automation component. </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#top" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><h3 style="font-size: 1.2em; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="" name="11" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a>11. Managing email – not all records are created equal.</h3><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">We all can define a record; it’s tougher to get agreement on whether a specific email or document fits the definition. The actual question is not whether an email is a record, but whether it is necessary for “adequate and proper documentation of agency activities.” If it is, it definitely needs to be made part of an electronic recordkeeping system. If not, I would argue that it is part of a working file (which I do consider record material) to be maintained separately from the “adequate and proper documentation” file with its own retention. </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Directive Target 1.2 requires managing emails in an “appropriate system . . . for as long as they are needed.” This allows agencies considerable latitude in determining retentions for things like working files, and NARA is working on a “tiered” approach to managing email that should simplify maintenance. The guidance is due out late in 2013.</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#top" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><h3 style="font-size: 1.2em; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="" name="12" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a>12. Look for outside help.</h3><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Agencies aren’t in this alone. NARA has worked hard to collect and make available products developed by federal agencies that can be adapted for use in other agencies, and under part II of the directive, the agency and its partners will provide additional guidance and tools to assist records managers in responding to the directive. </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Even more useful in many cases are the personal contacts that agency records officer can make attending NARA-sponsored training and events such as BRIDG meetings. In the D.C., metro area, there is a wide range of activities where federal records managers discuss common issues. Many federal records mangers who have good solutions don’t have the time to publish their ideas, but are available at in-town professional meetings, or one of the many local training seminars, many of which are free to federal employees. These provide excellent opportunities for learning and information sharing. Agencies should encourage their records managers, especially the less-experienced ones, to attend these activities. </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The transition to electronic recordkeeping will benefit everyone – agencies, the regulated community, citizens and the government as a whole. It will make government more transparent and effective. The real transition isn’t from paper to electronic. It requires a change in how people do their jobs – and that is always difficult. </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html#top" style="color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div></div><br clear="all" style="background-color: #b5b5b4; font-family: Arial, 'MS Trebuchet', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <div class="attribution-line" style="background-color: #b5b5b4; font-family: Arial, 'MS Trebuchet', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">You may use or reference this story with attribution and a link to<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Does-the-Presidential-Directive-on-Records-Management-Really-Require.html</i></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-20055281348341366192013-01-05T17:46:00.001-08:002013-01-05T17:46:35.757-08:00Records management: A list of 7 resources and applications<a href="http://secure360.org/2012/12/records-management-a-list-of-7-resources-and-applications/">Records management: A list of 7 resources and applications</a><br />
<br />
<script type="text/javascript">var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));</script><script type="text/javascript">try {var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");pageTracker._trackPageview();} catch(err) {}</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-12299072298000286742013-01-01T17:03:00.001-08:002013-01-01T17:03:29.073-08:00Electronic Discovery & Records Management - Tip of the Month: Cloud Computing and Data PrivacyElectronic Discovery & Records Management - Tip of the Month: Cloud Computing and Data Privacy
28 December 2012
Mayer Brown Newsletter
Scenario
A multinational company is negotiating an agreement with a cloud computing provider to maintain and hold all of the company’s electronically stored information and data. The general counsel of the multinational company is concerned about data privacy and data protection both in the United States and worldwide.
What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is the use of computing resources, including both hardware and software, that are made available over the Internet by a subscription-based service provider. Because cloud computing is Internet-based, it offers several advantages over more traditional access to a company’s data and software. Cloud-based software and files can be accessed “on demand” from virtually any computer with an Internet connection. For example, when email is stored “in the cloud,” the contents of a user’s email folders may actually be stored in one or more easily accessed Internet-connected servers located around the world. Moreover, because a company that receives cloud computing services does not rely on its own servers, the amount of data that can be stored is unlimited. Finally, because cloud computing services typically are managed by a third-party provider, they have the potential to reduce a company’s IT costs by eliminating the need to acquire and maintain expensive hardware and software. For all of the above reasons, many businesses are seeking to take advantage of this still-evolving technology.
Potential Risks: Data Privacy, Data Storage, and E-Discovery
Data privacy is an issue of concern for companies, their IT professionals and legal departments, whether files stay on-site or are stored electronically with a cloud computing provider. For companies considering cloud computing options, it is particularly important to carefully evaluate the provider’s policies and procedures to ensure that they provide sufficient safeguards to protect confidential data. The company’s lawyers and IT professionals should develop an understanding of the technology so that they can make informed decisions about whether cloud computing provides the level of protection they require.
One specific risk is that electronically stored information (ESI) may be co-mingled with the ESI of another company or of a separate but related corporate entity. Such situations can make it difficult to determine what entity has “possession, custody, or control” of the data and is under an obligation to preserve or produce the data. Moreover, if a cloud computing provider stores data in multiple servers around the world, ESI may be split up among jurisdictions with different data protection and transfer laws, making it difficult to keep track of how to access and retrieve data, and how to keep data private and secure.
ESI stored with a cloud computing provider can also present challenges to the discovery process in litigation. For example, the U.S. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allow a party to request discovery of ESI in the responding party’s “possession, custody, or control.” If a company has contracted with a cloud computing provider to maintain and hold its ESI, the company does not have direct control over, or possession of, the ESI. For purposes of discovery, however, the company still has a duty to preserve and produce that data, as long as it has the practical ability to do so.
Tips for Managing Risks
The use of cloud computing should not fundamentally change the way a company handles ESI. No matter where the ESI resides, a company is responsible for being aware of the information that it creates and for governing that information in accordance with applicable business and legal requirements. It is important that the company be familiar with and closely monitor how its information is stored, retrieved, retained and disposed of by its cloud provider. A company should also develop effective procedures for auditing such activities by its cloud provider. At a minimum, the company should make sure it is capturing sufficient data when information is created (including what the information is, who created it, and for what purpose) to properly govern it.
Before signing a service contract with a cloud computing provider, a company should be sure that the contract contains provisions protecting the company’s interests and its need to comply with data privacy requirements. Consider the following items when negotiating a service contract:
Access: The company should have the right to access all ESI “on demand” and in a specified format that is easy to use.
Control: The company should have the ability to reasonably direct actions of the provider to preserve and produce ESI.
Cooperation: The provider should be willing to comply with the company’s directions regarding its ESI and to comply with any and all legal holds.
Speed: The provider should agree to cease any data destruction in a timely manner and to produce data with sufficient speed to meet the company’s obligations.
Metadata: The company should inquire as to the form or format in which data will be stored and returned for production during litigation, including whether metadata will be intact.
Costs: Beyond the subscription price for the service, the contract should address the costs of potential production, as well as potential indemnification policies and attorneys’ fees should the cloud provider’s failure to comply with the contract terms result in liability for the company.
Transparency: The contract should address confidentiality, data integrity and availability issues, including whether data will be commingled with the data of other cloud customers.
Jurisdiction: The company should discuss with the provider where the data will be maintained and should consider whether production of the data might require compliance with data transfer laws or international privacy laws.
Ownership: The contract should clearly state that the company owns the data.
Security: The company should inquire about the security measures that the provider has in place to protect data privacy and attorney-client privilege and whether the company will be informed in the event of a security breach.
Policies: The company should determine whether the provider’s policies and procedures could impede the company’s obligations to preserve, collect and produce ESI during litigation.
Disaster Recovery: The company should have contingency plans in the event the provider was to suffer a server crash or other data loss or go bankrupt or out of business. The contract should stipulate that its provisions will remain in force if the provider is acquired by another company.
The best way to manage the data privacy and security risks associated with cloud computing is to gain a comprehensive understanding of how the company plans to use cloud computing and to establish procedures and contract terms with the cloud computing provider that meet the company’s data security and privacy needs.
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-19300792894483041882012-09-03T07:39:00.001-07:002012-09-03T07:39:58.518-07:00The FOIA Ombudsman » Government-wide Records Directive Addresses Electronic Records<a href="http://blogs.archives.gov/foiablog/2012/08/28/government-wide-records-directive-addresses-electronic-records/">The FOIA Ombudsman » Government-wide Records Directive Addresses Electronic Records</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h2 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 1.6em; line-height: 20.46666717529297px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">Government-wide Records Directive Addresses Electronic Records</h2><div class="contenttext" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.46666717529297px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;"><div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_864" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); float: right; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 2px 5px; padding: 2px 2px 0px; text-align: center; width: 243px;"><a href="http://blogs.archives.gov/foiablog/files/2012/08/Recs-Management-Written-Word_-Endures-ARC-518154.jpg" style="background-color: inherit; color: #333399; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: initial;"><img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-864" height="300" src="http://blogs.archives.gov/foiablog/files/2012/08/Recs-Management-Written-Word_-Endures-ARC-518154-233x300.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(208, 208, 208); margin: 3px 10px 3px 0px; padding: 0px;" title="The Written Word Endures" width="233" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;">Good records management is key to ensuring government actions and decisionmaking is preserved for future FOIA requesters (among others).</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;">By the end of the decade, Federal agencies must digitize management of electronic records—including the millions of emails sent and received each year—according to a new records directive introduced last week.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;">With a focus on a digital transition, the <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2012/m-12-18.pdf" style="background-color: inherit; color: #333399; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: initial;">Managing Government Records Directive</a> issued jointly by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), intends to improve records management policies and practices across the executive branch. Specifically, the August 24, 2012 directive establishes two broad goals coupled with specific steps for agencies to take to achieve those goals.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;">The first goal, to “Require Electronic Recordkeeping to Ensure Transparency, Efficiency, and Accountability,” sets a 2019 deadline for all agencies to electronically manage their permanent records , with a 2013 cutoff to come up with a plan to do so. It also requires agencies to manage all email electronically by 2016.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;">The second goal is to “Demonstrate Compliance with Federal Records Management Statutes and Regulations.” Agencies will designate a senior official to oversee review of the existing records management program, ensure records are properly transferred to NARA, establish agency-wide records management <a href="http://blogs.archives.gov/foiablog/2012/08/28/government-wide-records-directive-addresses-electronic-records/#" id="_GPLITA_2" in_rurl="http://trkjmp.com/click?v=VVM6MjQ4NDI6NDp0cmFpbmluZzoxNTYwOTZlM2E3Yzk5OGY3OTIwMjljYjcxZDU3M2JlZDp6LTEwODUtMzQzNDk6YmxvZ3MuYXJjaGl2ZXMuZ292OjEzOTA2OmltYWdlX29ubHk" style="background-color: inherit; color: #333399; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Powered by Text-Enhance">training</a> and work with NARA to ensure comprehensive agency-wide records schedules.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;">Implementing these steps should lead to improved openness and accountability by better documenting agency actions, more effective transfer of permanently valuable records to NARA—OGIS’s parent agency—and cost savings through more efficient operations agency-wide, according to the directive.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;">The directive, ordered by President Barack Obama in his November 28, 2011 <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/28/presidential-memorandum-managing-government-records" style="background-color: inherit; color: #333399; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">Memorandum on Managing Government Records</a>, was a joint product of NARA and OMB. The Office of Personnel Management will work with NARA and OMB to carry out the stated goals, including establishing a new records management <a href="http://blogs.archives.gov/foiablog/2012/08/28/government-wide-records-directive-addresses-electronic-records/#" id="_GPLITA_0" in_rurl="http://trkjmp.com/click?v=VVM6MjQ3MTY6ODk1OmVtcGxveW1lbnQ6MGE3ZTMxODVhOWYyY2FkNGRjMjc5YTZiMjUyMDJmNTc6ei0xMDg1LTM0MzQ5OmJsb2dzLmFyY2hpdmVzLmdvdjoxMzk4ODpzbWFsbF9iYW5uZXI" style="background-color: inherit; color: #333399; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Powered by Text-Enhance">employment</a> series requiring specialized skills and giving records managers a heightened role.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;">NARA will <a href="http://blogs.archives.gov/foiablog/2012/08/28/government-wide-records-directive-addresses-electronic-records/#" id="_GPLITA_1" in_rurl="http://trkjmp.com/click?v=VVM6MjA4MDM6Njpjb250aW51ZTplNWZlZjZlZDg3Mzc4MjAzMjQwYWY3MjIwZTFhNzYxMjp6LTEwODUtMzQzNDk6YmxvZ3MuYXJjaGl2ZXMuZ292OjEyNTY5OmltYWdlX29ubHk" style="background-color: inherit; color: #333399; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Powered by Text-Enhance">continue</a> to play a major guiding role in carrying out all aspects of the directive. The agency will review related regulations to incorporate necessary changes to achieve the directive, issue new email guidance, explore cloud-based storage solutions and implement a government-wide analytical tool to assess agencies’ records management programs. The Archivist of the United States, David Ferriero, will convene and work with the senior officials from all 99 Federal departments and agencies to discuss progress and implementation of the directive each agency.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;">As the directive notes, “Records are the foundation of open government, supporting the principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration.” At OGIS, we couldn’t agree more. We look forward to working within NARA and with other Federal agencies to improve recordkeeping which we hope, in turn, will improve the FOIA process.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;">For more on the Directive, take a look at <a href="http://blogs.archives.gov/records-express/?p=1692" style="background-color: inherit; color: #333399; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: initial;">Records Express</a>, the blog of our records management colleagues here at NARA.</div></div><br />
<br />
<script type="text/javascript">var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));</script><script type="text/javascript">try {var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");pageTracker._trackPageview();} catch(err) {}</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-68116632900218133382012-06-19T17:58:00.001-07:002012-06-19T18:06:53.125-07:00Requirements and Best Practices ChecklistRequirements and Best Practices Checklist
http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long">http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long</a><br />
<br />
<h1 class="title" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #a10000; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.44em; margin: 0px 267px 4px 0px; padding: 0px;">Requirements and Best Practices Checklist</h1><div class="node" id="node-251" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; color: #232d32; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="meta" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></div><div class="content" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="" name="top-of-page" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a>The <a href="http://www.howto.gov/communities/federal-web-managers-council" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Federal Web Managers Council</a> developed this “checklist” to<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#" id="_GPLITA_2" in_rurl="http://www.textsrv.com/click?v=VVM6MjE0MjM6MTM1NzpoZWxwOmQyOWQ1YTIyMGZlZmFjYmNlMTFjNmMzZjJiZmMyOGRhOnotMTA4NS0zNDM0OTp3d3cuaG93dG8uZ292" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Powered by Text-Enhance">help</a> you assess how well your agency meets federal website requirements and follows government web best practices.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Click a topic below to skip to a specific section, or scroll down to see the entire list. </strong></div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#requirements" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Requirements</a> (Must do)</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#best-practices" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Best practices</a> (Should do)</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#required-links" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Required links/icons</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#customer-service" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Customer service</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#search" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Search</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#plain-writing-act" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Plain Writing Act</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#accessibility" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Accessibility/Section 508</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#privacy" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Privacy</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#identity management" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Identity management</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#foia" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#open-government-directive" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Open government</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#naming-and-branding" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Naming and branding</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#lobbying" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Prohibition on lobbying</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#linking" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Linking</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#web-records" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Web records</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#copyright" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Copyright</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#paperwork-reduction-act" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#security" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Security</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#information-quality" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Information quality</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#multilingual-websites" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Multilingual websites</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#no-fear-act" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">No Fear Act</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#gpea" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA)</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#gpra" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Government Performance Results Act (GPRA)</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#sbpra" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Small Business Paperwork Relief Act</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#site-policies-page" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Site policies page</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#common-content" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Common content</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#social-media" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Social media</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#mobile" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Mobile</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#managing-content" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Managing content</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#usability-and-design" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Usability and design</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#collaboration" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Collaboration</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#governance" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Management and governance</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#promote" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Promote online services</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#homepage-link" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Homepage link</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#jobs" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Jobs</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#grants" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Grants</a><br />
<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#regulations" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Regulations</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><h2 style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 1.33em; line-height: 1.11em; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 0px 12px;"><a href="" name="requirements" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a>Requirements</h2><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="required-links" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Required links/icons</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Include all <a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/categorize/links/required-links" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">required links/icons</a> on your site, in compliance with relevant guidance. Required links include, but are not limited to: privacy policy, FOIA info, USA.gov</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/categorize/links/required-links" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">See full list of required links/icons</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.archives.gov/about/laws/egov-act-section-207.html" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">E-Government Act of 2002</a> (Sections 204 & 207)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_a130_a130trans4" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">OMB Circular A-130, Management of Federal Information Resources</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda/fy2005/m05-04.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">OMB M-05-04, Policies for Federal Agency Public Websites</a> (PDF, 48 KB, 5 pages, December 2004)</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="customer-service" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Customer service</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Agencies must set service standards and use customer feedback to improve the customer experience. Agencies that provide significant services directly to the public are required to identify and <a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#" id="_GPLITA_0" in_rurl="http://www.textsrv.com/click?v=VVM6MjE3MDA6MTQ0MTpzdXJ2ZXk6NzNkZjM0OGMxNWRkNjE4MDY2YjlkMjEzMDdiNWQ2OTI6ei0xMDg1LTM0MzQ5Ond3dy5ob3d0by5nb3Y%3D" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Powered by Text-Enhance">survey</a> their customers, establish service standards and track performance against those standards, and benchmark customer service performance against the best in business.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/customer-service/customer-service-government" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance on implementing the Customer Service Executive Order</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/04/27/executive-order-streamlining-service-delivery-and-improving-customer-ser" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Executive Order 13571 - Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service</a> (April 2011)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2011/m11-24.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">OMB M-11-24, Implementing Executive Order 13571 on Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service</a> (PDF, 2 MB, 6 pages, June 2011)</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="search" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Search</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Ensure your website includes a search function, to help the public easily locate government information. Follow industry standard best practices to ensure your search function is as effective as possible. Write content in Plain Language, using the words of your customers, so they can easily find what they need when searching the web or your website</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/tech-solutions/site-search" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">How to implement effective search functionality</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda/fy2005/m05-04.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">OMB M-05-04, Policies for Federal Agency Public Websites</a> (PDF, 48 KB, 5 pages, December 2004)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h946enr.txt.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Plain Writing Act of 2010</a> (PDF, 153 KB, 3 pages, January 2010)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.archives.gov/about/laws/egov-act-section-207.html" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Section 207(f) of the E-Gov Act of 2002</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><div class="rteright" style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#top-of-page" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="plain-writing-act" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Plain Writing Act</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Requires the federal government [executive branch] to write all new publications, forms and publicly distributed documents in a “clear, concise, well-organized” manner.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/laws-and-regulations/plain-writing-act" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance on implementing the Plain Writing Act</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h946enr.txt.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Plain Writing Act of 2010</a> (PDF, 153 KB, 3 pages, January 2010)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.plainlanguage.gov/plLaw/law/index.cfm" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Executive Orders 12866 and 12988</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2011/m11-15.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">OMB Final Guidance on Implementing the Plain Writing Act of 2010 </a>(PDF, 269 KB, 6 pages, April 2011)</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="accessibility" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Accessibility/Section 508</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Make online information and services fully available to individuals with disabilities; Conduct accessibility testing when making significant changes to your site, or before launching a new site</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Designing sites to work well on mobile devices usually also improves overall accessibility</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/accessibility" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Make your website accessible</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/guide/act.htm" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973</a>(29 U.S.C. 794d)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Implementing Section 508</a> (Section508.gov)</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><div class="rteright" style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#top-of-page" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="privacy" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Privacy</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Provide a link to your privacy policy on every page (can be included in your overall site policies); Conduct a privacy impact assessment of your website; Post a “Privacy Act Statement” that explains your legal authority for collecting personal data and how the data will be used; Translate privacy policies into a standardized machine-readable format</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Be aware of and comply with all other existing laws and directives that address the need to protect the privacy of the American people when they interact with their government online</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/laws-and-regulations/privacy" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance on privacy requirements</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.usdoj.gov/opcl/1974privacyact-overview.htm" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Privacy Act of 1974</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda/m03-22.html" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">OMB M-03–22, Guidance for Implementing the Privacy Provisions of the E–Government Act of 2002</a> (September 2003)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/memoranda_2010/m10-22.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">OMB M-10-22, Guidance for Online Use of Web Measurement and Customization Technologies</a>(PDF, 130 KB, 9 pages, June 2010)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/memoranda_2010/m10-23.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">OMB M-10-23, Guidance for Agency Use of Third-Party Websites and Applications</a> (PDF, 78 KB, 9 pages, June 2010)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a130/a130appendix_i.html" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">OMB Circular A–130, App 1</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.ftc.gov/ogc/coppa1.htm" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA)</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><div class="rteright" style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#top-of-page" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="" name="identity management" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a>Identity Management</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Allow the public and business partners to <a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#" id="_GPLITA_1" in_rurl="http://www.textsrv.com/click?v=VVM6OTY1MjoxNDU6cmVnaXN0ZXI6NDE4YzdmNmY3MjVjZmZiODBjOTM1MzFhNmQ4OGVhMTk6ei0xMDg1LTM0MzQ5Ond3dy5ob3d0by5nb3Y%3D" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Powered by Text-Enhance">register</a> or log on to Assurance Level 1 systems using externally-issued credentials</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/laws-and-regulations/privacy" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance on privacy requirements</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/laws-and-regulations/security-protocols-to-protect-information" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance on security protocols to protect information</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/sites/default/files/omb-req-externally-issued-cred_0.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Requirements for Accepting Externally-Issued Identity Credentials</a> - memo from Federal CIO to Executive Branch Agency CIOs (PDF, 166 KB, 4 pages, October 2011) </div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="rteright" style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px; text-align: right;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="foia" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">FOIA</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Your website must have a page that includes certain content as required by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/laws-and-regulations/foia" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">How to implement FOIA requirements</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/foia_guide07/text_foia.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)</a> (PDF, 109 KB, 13 pages, April 2007)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.foia.gov/" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">FOIA.gov</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><div class="rteright" style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#top-of-page" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="open-government-directive" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Open Government Directive</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;">In the spirit of transparency, participation and collaboration, agencies are directed to:<ul style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px 20px;"><li style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://www.howto.gov/sites/default/themes/howto/images/bullet.gif); background-position: 0px 7px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; line-height: 1.5em; list-style: none none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.5em 10px;">Publish government information online;</li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://www.howto.gov/sites/default/themes/howto/images/bullet.gif); background-position: 0px 7px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; line-height: 1.5em; list-style: none none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.5em 10px;">Improve the quality of government information;</li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://www.howto.gov/sites/default/themes/howto/images/bullet.gif); background-position: 0px 7px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; line-height: 1.5em; list-style: none none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.5em 10px;">Create and institutionalize a culture of open government; and</li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://www.howto.gov/sites/default/themes/howto/images/bullet.gif); background-position: 0px 7px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; line-height: 1.5em; list-style: none none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.5em 10px;">Create an enabling policy framework for open government</li>
</ul><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/open" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">More about the Open Government Directive</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/open" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Open Government Initiative</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/open/documents/open-government-directive" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">OMB M-10-06, Open Government Directive</a>(PDF, 81 KB, 11 pages, December 2009)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.data.gov/datapolicy" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Data.gov data policy</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/social-media/using-social-media" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Using social media in government</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="naming-and-branding" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Naming and branding</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Host the website on a .gov, .fed.us, or .mil domain; Clearly display the name of your agency on every page on the website</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/omb-policies/domains" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance on naming and branding your website</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda/fy2005/m05-04.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">OMB M-05-04, Policies for Federal Agency Public Websites</a> (PDF, 48 KB, 5 pages, December 2004)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="https://www.dotgov.gov/portal/web/dotgov/program-guidelines" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">.GOV Internet Program Guidelines</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="lobbying" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Prohibition on lobbying</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Consult your agency’s legal staff for guidance to ensure that your site does not advertise for, or provide preferential treatment to, private individuals, firms, or corporations. Follow the "rule of 3" - when linking to non-government information, show at least three similar examples, to avoid the appearance of endorsing a single source, service or product</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/laws-and-regulations/lobbying" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance on lobbying restrictions</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+18USC1913" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Prohibition of Lobbying</a> (Title 18, Section 1913, U.S. Code)</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><div class="rteright" style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#top-of-page" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="linking" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Linking</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Publish your policy describing how and why you link to other websites, including criteria or guidelines for how your agency selects links to non-federal websites;<br />
Publish and follow a schedule for reviewing the appropriateness and relevancy of external links</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Notify visitors when a link on your website will take them to a non-federal-government website, include a disclaimer about content and privacy policies; Refrain from disclaiming content when linking to other federal sites, since to the public, all agencies are part of “the government”</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/omb-policies/linking" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance on linking policies</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda/fy2005/m05-04.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">OMB M-05-04, Policies for Federal Agency Public Websites</a> (PDF, 48 KB, 5 pages, December 2004)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda/m03-22.html" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">OMB Guidance for Implementing the Privacy Provisions of the E-Government Act of 2002</a>(Section 3D)</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="web-records" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Web records</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Comply with existing laws and regulations related to the management of public web records.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Create an inventory of content that targeted audiences need or want. Identify categories of information (e.g., press releases or publications), not specific documents. Post the inventory, priorities, and schedule for posting additional content on the website for comment.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Regularly delete or archive content that is obsolete and is not required by law or regulation.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/laws-and-regulations/archiving-content-and-web-records" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">More guidance on web records</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.archives.gov/about/laws/egov-act-section-207.html" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">E-Government Act of 2002</a> (Section 207)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.archives.gov/about/regulations/subchapter/b.html" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Parts 1220-1238</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/bulletins/2006/2006-02.html" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">NARA guidance for implementing Section 207(e) of the E-Gov Act</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/policy/managing-web-records-index.html" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">NARA guidance on managing web records</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/bulletins/2011/2011-02.html" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">NARA guidance on managing social media records</a> (October 2010)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="copyright" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Copyright</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Inform the public about your policies on digital rights, copyrights, trademarks, and patents. If your organization uses or duplicates private sector information, ensure that the property rights of the private sector source are adequately protected. (These protections apply to any material posted to federal public websites, such as documents, graphics, or audio files.)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/laws-and-regulations/copyright" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Additional guidance on copyright and digital rights</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=105_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ304.105.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Digital Millennium Copyright Act</a> (PDF, 277.66 KB, 60 pgs, January 1999)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.copyright.gov/" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Copyright Law</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/tmlaw2.html" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">U.S. Trademark Law</a> (PDF, 1.48 MB, 260 pgs, March 2010)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+35USC261" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">U.S. Patent Law, U.S. Code 35, Chapter 26</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><div class="rteright" style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#top-of-page" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="paperwork-reduction-act" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Paperwork Reduction Act</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Ensure that information collected from the public minimizes burden and maximizes public utility. Your agency must have OMB approval before collecting information from the public (surveys, forms, etc.), and you much include the OMB control number on the collection. Take advantage of OMB's Fast-Track PRA Review Process to help you collect information in a timely manner</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/laws-and-regulations/paperwork-reduction-act" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) Guidance</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/laws/paperwork-reduction/" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Paperwork Reduction Act</a> (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/04/27/executive-order-streamlining-service-delivery-and-improving-customer-ser" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Executive Order 13571 - Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service</a> (April 2011)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2011/m11-26.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">OMB M-11-26, New Fast-Track Process for Collecting Service Delivery Feedback Under the Paperwork Reduction Act</a> (PDF, 196 KB, 4 pages, June 2011)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/inforeg/SocialMediaGuidance_04072010.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Social Media, Web-Based Interactive Technologies, and the Paperwork Reduction Act</a> (PDF, 83 KB, 7 pages, April 2010)</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="security" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Security</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Organizations are required to have security protocols in place to protect government information. Provide general information to the public about your security protocols to protect information on your website.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/laws-and-regulations/security-protocols-to-protect-information" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance on security protocols to protect information</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.archives.gov/about/laws/egov-act-section-207.html" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">E-Government Act of 2002</a> (Section 207)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-44-ver2/SP800-44v2.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Guidelines on Securing Public Web Servers">Guidelines on Securing Public Web Servers</a> (Source: NIST; PDF, 2.13 MB, 142 pages, Sept 2002)</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="information-quality" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Information quality</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Your site must comply with section 515 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001, Public Law 106-554, to ensure the information you present on your website is current, accurate and authoritative </div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/keep-content-current" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance on keeping content current</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg/reproducible2.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Public Law 106-554, Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Organizations</a> (PDF, 161 KB, 10 pages, February 2002)</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="multilingual-websites" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Multilingual websites</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Comply with the requirements of Executive Order 13166, “Improving Access to Services for People with Limited English Proficiency,” based on Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans discrimination on the basis of national origin.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/multilingual" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance on managing multilingual websites</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/cor/Pubs/eolep.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Executive Order 13166, Improving Access to Services for People with Limited English Proficiency</a> (PDF, 6 pages, 255 KB,August 2000)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.justice.gov/crt/lep/13166/AG_021711_EO_13166_Memo_to_Agencies_with_Supplement.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Dept. of Justice Memo Reaffirming the Mandates of EO 13166 </a>(PDF, February 2011)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.justice.gov/crt/lep/guidance/guidance_index.html" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Federal Agency LEP Guidance</a> (Dept. of Justice)</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><div class="rteright" style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#top-of-page" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="no-fear-act" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">No Fear Act</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Provide a link to information required by the “No Fear Act.”</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">The Federal Web Managers Council recommends that agencies determine the most appropriate placement for this link based on their audience (e.g., “About Us” or “Jobs” page)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/laws-and-regulations/no-fear-act" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">How to implement No Fear Act requirements</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.hhs.gov/eeo/no_fear_act_of_2001.html" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">No Fear Act Notification and Federal Employee Anti–Discrimination and Retaliation of 2002 (No Fear Act)</a> Public Law No. 107–174</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="gpea" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">GPEA</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">The Government Paperwork Elimination Act requires that, when practicable, federal organizations use electronic forms, electronic filing, and electronic signatures to conduct official business with the public, by 2003. Put as many of your services online as you can</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/laws-and-regulations/gpea" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance on complying with the GPEA</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg_gpea2/" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Government Paperwork Elimination Act">Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA)</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="gpra" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">GPRA</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">The Government Performance Results Act of 2003 requires organizations to make their annual performance plans readily available to the public.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/laws-and-regulations/gpra" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance on complying with the GPRA</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/mgmt-gpra/gplaw2m.html" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Government Performance Results Act of 1993</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/open" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Open Government Initiative</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="sbpra" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Small Business Paperwork Relief Act</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relevant law, regulation, or policy</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Designate a single point of contact for small businesses, and to post the contact information on the organization’s website.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/laws-and-regulations/small-business-paperwork-relief-act" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance on complying with the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act</a></div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.sba.gov/advo/laws/hr327_02.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><div class="rteright" style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#top-of-page" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><h2 style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 1.33em; line-height: 1.11em; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 0px 12px;"><a href="" name="best-practices" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a>Best Practices</h2><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="site-policies-page" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Site policies page</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Create a page entitled “Site Policies” that includes links to required information and important policies.</div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/categorize/common-content/posting-policies" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Posting website policies</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="common-content" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Common content</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Include the same types of “common content” found on most federal websites (such as contact information and basic information about your agency). Use terminology consistent with other agencies, and within your agency. Write content using the words of your customers.</div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/categorize/common-content" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Common Content, Terminology and Placement</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Includes "<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/categorize/common-content/about-us-page" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">About Us</a>" and "<a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/categorize/common-content/contact-us-page" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Contact Us</a>" pages, as well as a <a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/categorize/common-content/site-map" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Site Map or A-Z Index</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="social-media" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Social Media</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Engage with the public via social media.</div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/social-media/using-social-media" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Using social media in government</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"> </div><div class="rteright" style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#top-of-page" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="mobile" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Mobile</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Design your site with mobile users in mind, and test your site on mobile browsers to ensure the public can access your information on the go.</div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/tech-solutions/mobile" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Deliver content to mobile devices</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="managing-content" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Managing content</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Regularly review your content (at least annually, and more often for popular content), and update or archive as appropriate.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Ensure content is written for the web, using words familiar to the intended audience, so people can easily find what they need (usually via search), and understand what they need to do</div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/keep-content-current" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Keep content current</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/write-for-the-web" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Write in Plain Language</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="usability-and-design" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Usability and Design</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Follow the “Research-based Web Design and Usability Guidelines” published by the Department of Health and Human Services</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Do regular user testing on your site with real customers, to ensure they can easily and successfully complete their tasks. Design and develop your site for a broad range of visitors and browsers, including mobile devices and those with lower-end hardware and software capabilities</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Implement a coherent information architecture (IA) and navigation scheme (including common labels), and use it consistently throughout your site</div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.usability.gov/guidelines/index.html" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Research–based web design and usability guidelines</a> (Usability.gov)</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/usability/first-fridays" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">First Fridays Product Testing Program</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/usability/design-templates" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Design templates</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/usability/information-architecture" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Information architecture</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/tech-solutions/mobile" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Design with mobile in mind</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><div class="rteright" style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#top-of-page" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="collaboration" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Collaboration</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Collaborate both within your agency and across government to link to the official source for information. Avoid creating duplicate content - stay in your “content lane.”</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Collaborate internally, to make sure all content across your site describes programs, etc. in the same way. Post “program descriptions” in one central place and link there, instead of reposting the same description in several places.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Consult with the Federal Web Managers Council before creating a new portal site.</div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/categorize/duplication" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Don’t duplicate existing content</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/manage-cross-agency-portals" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Cross-agency portals</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/governance/policies/katrina" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Example of “content lanes” used during Hurricane Katrina response</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="governance" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Management and governance</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Document and enforce your agency’s web content policies, procedures and style guide.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Regulary (at least annually) review and improve your site policies and procedures, in accordance with the latest government requirements and industry best practices for managing websites and content.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Develop and test procedures and continengency plans to keep your website running during an emergency, or take your website offline.</div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/governance/policies/governance-procedures" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Developing policies and procedures</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/communities/federal-web-managers-council/governance-subcouncil" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Federal Web Managers Governance Sub-Council</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/governance/policies/emergency-planning" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Ensure Continuity of Operations During Emergencies</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="analytics" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Analytics</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Collect metrics on: customer focus and experience; quality and compliance; and recognition, in accordance with privacy and other policies.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Make changes to your website based on data, not opinion or "executive whimsy"</div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/analytics" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Web Analytics</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/laws-and-regulations/privacy" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Privacy Requirements</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/communities/federal-web-managers-council/metrics-subcouncil" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Federal Web Managers Metrics Sub-Council</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><div class="rteright" style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#top-of-page" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="promote" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Promote online services</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Offer easy access to online services, displaying them as prominently as possible, to help the public interact with the government on their terms, and serve themselves at their convenience.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Identify the most commonly requested and commonly used online services, forms and publications on your website and make sure can be easily found</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Allow the public to print forms, and also complete and submit them online; provide instructions on how to order forms or publications if they can’t be accessed online </div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/categorize/common-content/online-services" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Best practices for online services</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/focus-on-top-tasks" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Focus on top tasks</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/categorize/common-content/forms-and-publications" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Forms and publications guidance</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="homepage-link" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Homepage link</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Every page on your site should have a text link back to your homepage (if you use a graphical link, you must also provide a text link).</div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/categorize/links/back-to-home" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Linking back to your homepage</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="jobs" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Jobs</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Offer information about jobs or careers at your agency, even if you are a small agency or your site is managed by multiple agencies.</div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/categorize/common-content/posting-jobs" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Posting jobs and employment information</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><div class="rteright" style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#top-of-page" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="grants" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Grants</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Provide information about grant and contracting opportunities on your website.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Link to <a href="http://grants.gov/" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">grants.gov</a> and any other federal portal(s) related to grants</div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Link to <a href="https://www.fbo.gov/" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">fedbizopps.gov</a> and any other federal portal(s) related to contracts.</div></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/categorize/common-content/grants-and-contracts" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Posting information about grants and contracts</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">The <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/omb/budget/fy2002/mgmt.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">President’s Management Agenda</a> of 2001 made this a priority (PDF, 633 KB, 64 pages, August 2001)</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#0000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 724px;"><tbody style="border: none;">
<tr><td style="border: 0px;" width="55%"><a href="" name="regulations" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Regulations</strong></td><td style="border: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guidance</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Provide information about regulations, notices and rules:</div><ul style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px 20px;"><li style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://www.howto.gov/sites/default/themes/howto/images/bullet.gif); background-position: 0px 7px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; line-height: 1.5em; list-style: none none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.5em 10px;"><a href="http://www.federalregister.gov/" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">FederalRegister.gov</a></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://www.howto.gov/sites/default/themes/howto/images/bullet.gif); background-position: 0px 7px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; line-height: 1.5em; list-style: none none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.5em 10px;"><a href="http://www.regulations.gov/#!home" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Regulations.gov</a></li>
</ul></td><td style="border: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage/categorize/common-content/regulations" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Posting information about regulations</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><br />
</div><div class="rteright" style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/web-content/requirements-and-best-practices/checklists/long#top-of-page" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back to top</a></div></div></div><div class="node" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; color: #232d32; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="content" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 1.08em; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.howto.gov/suggest" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Content Lead</a>: </strong><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to=rachel.flagg@gsa.gov" style="border: 0px; color: #285575; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Rachel Flagg</a> </div></div></div><br />
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script><script type="text/javascript">
try {var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");pageTracker._trackPageview();} catch(err) {}
</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-81592887126910630622012-06-15T18:24:00.001-07:002012-06-15T18:24:13.782-07:00National Archives Open Government Plan<a href="http://www.archives.gov/open/open-plan.html">National Archives Open Government Plan</a><br />
<br />
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script><script type="text/javascript">
try {var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");pageTracker._trackPageview();} catch(err) {}
</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-90521719228079228032012-06-15T18:21:00.001-07:002012-06-15T18:21:43.597-07:00National Archives and Records Administration agenda for 2012-2014 | SpittalStreet.com<a href="http://spittalstreet.com/?p=5147#.T9vfVGihWRo.blogger">National Archives and Records Administration agenda for 2012-2014 | SpittalStreet.com</a><br />
<br />
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script><script type="text/javascript">
try {var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");pageTracker._trackPageview();} catch(err) {}
</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-65627513068026340242012-05-28T12:10:00.000-07:002012-05-28T12:10:51.067-07:00Electronic Records Management-Converting to paper!<embed src="http://n3.slideserve.com/player.swf" FlashVars="moviePath=http://n3.slideserve.com/video/438245.swf&viewkey=presentation/438245/Electronic Records Management&IfClosedAds=Close" quality="high" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="540" height="446" name="slideservev align="middle" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" /></embed><div style="font:normal 11px", face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Uploaded on <a href="http://www.slideserve.com/" target="_blank">SlideServe</a> by <a href="http://www.SlideServe.com/users/nili" target="_blank">nili</a> | <a href="http://www.slideserve.com/upload" target="_blank">Upload your own presentation</a>
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-41106035993605097712012-05-28T06:24:00.000-07:002012-05-28T06:24:17.301-07:00Electronic Records - Strategies and Methods for Managing Their Life Cycle<embed src="http://n3.slideserve.com/player.swf?moviePath=http://n3.slideserve.com/video/438248.swf&autostart=true&showfsbutton=true" FlashVars="viewkey=presentation/438248/Electronic Records - Strategies and Methods for Managing Their Life Cycle" loop="False" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="540" height="446" name="slideserve" allowFullScreen="true" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" />
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-92047437369720547952012-05-27T17:51:00.001-07:002012-05-27T17:51:11.323-07:00On The Record | Records Management Blog<a href="http://recordsmanagement.tab.com/">On The Record | Records Management Blog</a><br />
<br />
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script><script type="text/javascript">
try {var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");pageTracker._trackPageview();} catch(err) {}
</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-80194461404847297702012-05-04T19:28:00.001-07:002012-05-04T19:28:10.048-07:00Agencies continue to struggle with records management - FederalNewsRadio.com<a href="http://www.federalnewsradio.com/85/2849918/Agencies-continue-to-struggle-with-records-management">Agencies continue to struggle with records management - FederalNewsRadio.com</a><br />
<br />
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script><script type="text/javascript">
try {var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");pageTracker._trackPageview();} catch(err) {}
</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-21833610980718071862012-05-04T13:04:00.001-07:002012-05-04T13:04:23.296-07:00NARA Report Shows Little Progress In Protecting Government Records From Improper Destruction | CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington<a href="http://www.citizensforethics.org/blog/entry/national-archives-little-progress-protecting-government-records-destruction">NARA Report Shows Little Progress In Protecting Government Records From Improper Destruction | CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<div id="entry-date" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">May 02, 2012</div><h1 class="f-replace-bold" style="background-color: white; color: #333232; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 25px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><cufon alt="NARA " class="cufon cufon-canvas" style="display: inline-block !important; font-size: 1px !important; height: 25px; line-height: 1px !important; position: relative !important; vertical-align: middle !important; width: 80px;"><canvas height="24" style="height: 24px; left: 0px; position: relative !important; top: -1px; width: 100px;" width="100"></canvas><cufontext style="display: inline-block !important; height: 0px !important; overflow: hidden !important; text-indent: -10000in !important; width: 0px !important;"></cufontext></cufon><cufon alt="Report " class="cufon cufon-canvas" style="display: inline-block !important; font-size: 1px !important; height: 25px; line-height: 1px !important; position: relative !important; vertical-align: middle !important; width: 91px;"><canvas height="24" style="height: 24px; left: 0px; position: relative !important; top: -1px; width: 110px;" width="110"></canvas><cufontext style="display: inline-block !important; height: 0px !important; overflow: hidden !important; text-indent: -10000in !important; width: 0px !important;"></cufontext></cufon><cufon alt="Shows " class="cufon cufon-canvas" style="display: inline-block !important; font-size: 1px !important; height: 25px; line-height: 1px !important; position: relative !important; vertical-align: middle !important; width: 84px;"><canvas height="24" style="height: 24px; left: 0px; position: relative !important; top: -1px; width: 103px;" width="103"></canvas><cufontext style="display: inline-block !important; height: 0px !important; overflow: hidden !important; text-indent: -10000in !important; width: 0px !important;"></cufontext></cufon><cufon alt="Little " class="cufon cufon-canvas" style="display: inline-block !important; font-size: 1px !important; height: 25px; line-height: 1px !important; position: relative !important; vertical-align: middle !important; width: 73px;"><canvas height="24" style="height: 24px; left: 0px; position: relative !important; top: -1px; width: 92px;" width="92"></canvas><cufontext style="display: inline-block !important; height: 0px !important; overflow: hidden !important; text-indent: -10000in !important; width: 0px !important;"></cufontext></cufon><cufon alt="Progress " class="cufon cufon-canvas" style="display: inline-block !important; font-size: 1px !important; height: 25px; line-height: 1px !important; position: relative !important; vertical-align: middle !important; width: 117px;"><canvas height="24" style="height: 24px; left: 0px; position: relative !important; top: -1px; width: 137px;" width="137"></canvas><cufontext style="display: inline-block !important; height: 0px !important; overflow: hidden !important; text-indent: -10000in !important; width: 0px !important;"></cufontext></cufon><cufon alt="In " class="cufon cufon-canvas" style="display: inline-block !important; font-size: 1px !important; height: 25px; line-height: 1px !important; position: relative !important; vertical-align: middle !important; width: 33px;"><canvas height="24" style="height: 24px; left: 0px; position: relative !important; top: -1px; width: 53px;" width="53"></canvas><cufontext style="display: inline-block !important; height: 0px !important; overflow: hidden !important; text-indent: -10000in !important; width: 0px !important;"></cufontext></cufon><cufon alt="Protecting " class="cufon cufon-canvas" style="display: inline-block !important; font-size: 1px !important; height: 25px; line-height: 1px !important; position: relative !important; vertical-align: middle !important; width: 136px;"><canvas height="24" style="height: 24px; left: 0px; position: relative !important; top: -1px; width: 156px;" width="156"></canvas><cufontext style="display: inline-block !important; height: 0px !important; overflow: hidden !important; text-indent: -10000in !important; width: 0px !important;"></cufontext></cufon><cufon alt="Government " class="cufon cufon-canvas" style="display: inline-block !important; font-size: 1px !important; height: 25px; line-height: 1px !important; position: relative !important; vertical-align: middle !important; width: 163px;"><canvas height="24" style="height: 24px; left: 0px; position: relative !important; top: -1px; width: 183px;" width="183"></canvas><cufontext style="display: inline-block !important; height: 0px !important; overflow: hidden !important; text-indent: -10000in !important; width: 0px !important;"></cufontext></cufon><cufon alt="Records " class="cufon cufon-canvas" style="display: inline-block !important; font-size: 1px !important; height: 25px; line-height: 1px !important; position: relative !important; vertical-align: middle !important; width: 109px;"><canvas height="24" style="height: 24px; left: 0px; position: relative !important; top: -1px; width: 128px;" width="128"></canvas><cufontext style="display: inline-block !important; height: 0px !important; overflow: hidden !important; text-indent: -10000in !important; width: 0px !important;"></cufontext></cufon><cufon alt="From " class="cufon cufon-canvas" style="display: inline-block !important; font-size: 1px !important; height: 25px; line-height: 1px !important; position: relative !important; vertical-align: middle !important; width: 74px;"><canvas height="24" style="height: 24px; left: 0px; position: relative !important; top: -1px; width: 94px;" width="94"></canvas><cufontext style="display: inline-block !important; height: 0px !important; overflow: hidden !important; text-indent: -10000in !important; width: 0px !important;"></cufontext></cufon><cufon alt="Improper " class="cufon cufon-canvas" style="display: inline-block !important; font-size: 1px !important; height: 25px; line-height: 1px !important; position: relative !important; vertical-align: middle !important; width: 126px;"><canvas height="24" style="height: 24px; left: 0px; position: relative !important; top: -1px; width: 146px;" width="146"></canvas><cufontext style="display: inline-block !important; height: 0px !important; overflow: hidden !important; text-indent: -10000in !important; width: 0px !important;"></cufontext></cufon><cufon alt="Destruction" class="cufon cufon-canvas" style="display: inline-block !important; font-size: 1px !important; height: 25px; line-height: 1px !important; position: relative !important; vertical-align: middle !important; width: 148px;"><canvas height="24" style="height: 24px; left: 0px; position: relative !important; top: -1px; width: 158px;" width="158"></canvas><cufontext style="display: inline-block !important; height: 0px !important; overflow: hidden !important; text-indent: -10000in !important; width: 0px !important;"></cufontext></cufon></h1><div id="authorline" style="background-color: white; color: #333232; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;">By CREW Staff</div><div id="category-placer" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.citizensforethics.org/pages/category-results/c/federal-agencies" style="color: #999797; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Federal Agencies</a>, <a href="http://www.citizensforethics.org/pages/category-results/c/national-archives-and-records-administration-nara" style="color: #999797; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)</a>, <a href="http://www.citizensforethics.org/pages/category-results/c/transparency" style="color: #999797; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Transparency</a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333232; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="National Archive Building" height="117" src="http://www.citizensforethics.org/page/-/images/press_release/National_Archives.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 6px 9px;" title="National Archives Records Destruction" width="175" />The federal government made little progress last year in improving records management, according to a <a class="external" href="http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/resources/self-assessment-2011.pdf" style="background-image: url(http://www.citizensforethics.org/page/-/images/small_pdf_icon.gif); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #136ea2; outline: none; padding: 0px 13px 0px 15px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="NARA Self Assessment Report">new report</a> from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) based on yearly agency self-assessments. In 2011, the records at 90 percent of federal agencies were at high or moderate risk of being improperly destroyed, down slightly from the 95 percent in the <a class="external" href="http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/pdf/rm-self-assessmemt.pdf" style="background-image: url(http://www.citizensforethics.org/page/-/images/small_pdf_icon.gif); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #136ea2; outline: none; padding: 0px 13px 0px 15px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="NARA self assessment 2010">2010 report</a>. Federal government records are backbone of transparency and accountability, but the vast majority of them remain at risk.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333232; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;">Some agencies are simply abysmal at records management. The worst two, with a score of only 3 out of 100 possible points, were the Postal Regulatory Commission and the Marine Mammal Commission. On the other hand, the Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement was the top agency with a score of 99, followed by a 98 score for two other Interior agencies, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Office fo the Special Trustee for American Indians.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333232; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;"><a class="external" href="http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/resources/self-assessment-2011.pdf" style="background-image: url(http://www.citizensforethics.org/page/-/images/small_pdf_icon.gif); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #136ea2; outline: none; padding: 0px 13px 0px 15px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="2011 NARA Self Assessment"><strong style="font-style: inherit;">Read the 2011 Records Management Self-Assessment Report</strong></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333232; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;">Managing email and other electronic records continues to be a serious problem, including a lack of understanding of electronic records by agency officials. Over 80 percent of agencies still use "print and file" as one of their methods for preserving email, with another 49 percent using backup tapes. Only 19 percent used using an electronic records management system or records management application to capture email. In addition, many agency respondents did not know or understand key terms related to electronic records. Agencies also increasingly use social media and cloud computing, but most have not developed policies for managing records in these environments.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333232; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;">The new report comes in the middle of a <a class="external" href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/28/presidential-memorandum-managing-government-records" style="background-image: url(http://www.citizensforethics.org/page/-/images/icons/new_window.png); background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #136ea2; outline: none; padding: 0px 13px 0px 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="White House open government initiative">push by the White House</a> to institute better records management throughout the federal government. Last November, President Obama issued a presidential memo on managing government records requiring all agencies to provide NARA reports describing their plans improving their records management programs, especially electronic records. Those reports were submitted in March, and NARA and OMB are now working on a Records Management Directive that will direct agencies to take specific steps to reform and improve records management policies and practices.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333232; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;">CREW again applauds the White House for taking this important step, and NARA for its continued commitment to records management. At this point, however, the bottom line remains the same. The government’s continued failure to comply with its record keeping obligations leaves the public with a massive gap in our historical record and jeopardizes public accountability. The new report again shows this shameful neglect and underscores the need for focused attention on this critical issue.</div><br />
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script><script type="text/javascript">
try {var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");pageTracker._trackPageview();} catch(err) {}
</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-56147821166470327422012-05-01T18:32:00.001-07:002012-05-01T18:32:54.903-07:00Agencies having difficulties managing electronic records -- Federal Computer Week<a href="http://fcw.com/articles/2012/05/01/nara-report.aspx">Agencies having difficulties managing electronic records -- Federal Computer Week</a><br />
<br />
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script><script type="text/javascript">
try {var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");pageTracker._trackPageview();} catch(err) {}
</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-70469434374365205752012-04-29T16:59:00.001-07:002012-04-29T16:59:25.632-07:00How Document Scanning and Records Management Help Organizations<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the age of information technology, it is now very easy for business organizations to store and secure their records and docmumetns in the form of digital and electronic files. However, since there is a significant amoutn of documents that need filing, storing, and securing, it can be very overwhelming and time consuming for organizations to properly manage this amoutn of information and data. As a result, there may be some records that will be lost and in worst cases, some information is leaked and stolen. It is definitely alarming that sensitive and private information regarding the company are disclosed to competitors and other organizations. For this reason, it is vital for every company to have a proper recorods and document scanning and management process.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Records management procedure is a very critical part of any business organization process. This process keeps track of relevant and essential information that can smooth operations in a company. If an organization does not have this procedure they might suffer from data loss and other severe consequences. For example, data can easily arise form situations wherein the file is accidentally deleted, or when a wrong folder is shredded, or if someone steals sensitive data and information. Having a proper record management system and procedure can help manage the classification, archiving, storage, and destruction of company documents and records thus it can prevent costly and damaging consequences.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">However, if the company cannot afford to focus on their record management process, they will need to seek the services of a record management company. Record management companies can offer excellent services such as document storage, scanning, and secure shredding.. With the help of a reputable and credible record management company, the company can easily store, collect, retrieve, and destroy documents. They can also organize, file, and manage their electronic files since a record management company can offer them with a reliable record management system.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Effective document scanning and management can help the company in their road to success. This is possible since it allows the company to easily collect business statistics and information that can lead to better decision making. This process can also enhance the security of the company’s records and documents thus it prevents the data from getting into the wrong hands. Proper record management procedure can also prevent data loss thus avoiding disastrous situations. This process can definitely improve the performance of the business estabishment.</div><br />
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script><script type="text/javascript">
try {var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");pageTracker._trackPageview();} catch(err) {}
</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-2079262495232500192012-03-25T18:07:00.001-07:002012-03-25T18:07:57.873-07:00Getting to the Big Data Problem<div class="entry-author" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="entry-source-title-parent">From <a class="entry-source-title" href="http://www.google.com/reader/view/feed/http%3A%2F%2Fwordofpie.com%2Ffeed%2F" saprocessedanchor="true" style="color: #1155cc; display: inline-block; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Word of Pie</a></span> <span class="entry-author-parent">by <span class="entry-author-name">Pie </span></span></div><div class="entry-debug" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div class="entry-annotations" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div class="entry-body" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 650px; padding-top: 0.5em;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="item-body" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><blockquote>The amount of data in your organization is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean you might think that it take a long time to read your inbox but that’s just peanuts to how much your organization touches in a single day.<br />
<div align="right">- Mangling of quote by Douglas Adams in <u>Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy</u></div></blockquote>The amount of data in your organization is massive. Anyone who has been in the Content Management industry for more than a few years can tell you that much. All those content repositories are nothing more than messy, poorly structured, <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/chris_p_walker/status/182499443503927296" saprocessedanchor="true" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">data warehouses</a>.<br />
The part that I didn’t realize until watching <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/cshirky" saprocessedanchor="true" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Clay Shirky</a>’s <a href="http://social-biz.org/2012/03/22/aiim2012-clay-shirkey-keynote/" saprocessedanchor="true" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">keynote at AIIM 2012</a> was that the amount of data that many organizations is amassing isn’t always enough. Many organizations just are dealing with what I will now shockingly classify as “traditional” Big Data issue. They don’t have the volume, variability, variety, or velocity of data. (Your actual “V”s may vary)<br />
This is actually an even bigger problem. All those organizations are leaving useful insights on the table. How can tell what my customers, employees , or members need without actually tracking what they are doing?<br />
<a href="http://samann1121.blogspot.com/2008/01/scrabble-dabble.html" saprocessedanchor="true" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" height="181" src="http://wordofpie.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/image2.png?w=219&h=181" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; float: right; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="219" /></a>Let’s talk about you, the reader. If you are reading this, you are likely an Information Professional and the kind of person that AIIM wants to help become better at solving all these information challenges.</div></div></div></div><br />
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script><script type="text/javascript">
try {var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");pageTracker._trackPageview();} catch(err) {}
</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-75999919542338298792012-03-04T16:26:00.000-08:002012-03-04T16:26:06.846-08:00e-CFR Data for electronic records managemente-CFR Data is current as of March 1, 2012
Return to search results
Amendment from October 02, 2009
PART 1236—ELECTRONIC RECORDS MANAGEMENT
Section Contents
§ 1236.1 What are the authorities for part 1236?
§ 1236.2 What definitions apply to this part?
§ 1236.4 What standards are used as guidance for this part?
§ 1236.6 What are agency responsibilities for electronic records management?
§ 1236.10 What records management controls must agencies establish for records in electronic information systems?
§ 1236.12 What other records management and preservation considerations must be incorporated into the design, development, and implementation of electronic information systems?
§ 1236.14 What must agencies do to protect records against technological obsolescence?
§ 1236.20 What are appropriate recordkeeping systems for electronic records?
§ 1236.22 What are the additional requirements for managing electronic mail records?
§ 1236.24 What are the additional requirements for managing unstructured electronic records?
§ 1236.26 What actions must agencies take to maintain electronic information systems?
§ 1236.28 What additional requirements apply to the selection and maintenance of electronic records storage media for permanent records?
Subpart A—GeneralSec.1236.1What are the authorities for part 1236?1236.2What definitions apply to this part?1236.4What standards are used as guidance for this part?1236.6What are agency responsibilities for electronic records management?Subpart B—Records Management and Preservation Considerations for Designing and Implementing Electronic Information Systems1236.10What records management controls must agencies establish for records in electronic information systems?1236.12What other records management and preservation considerations must be incorporated into the design, development, and implementation of electronic information systems?1236.14What must agencies do to protect records against technological obsolescence?Subpart C—Additional Requirements for Electronic Records1236.20What are appropriate recordkeeping systems for electronic records?1236.22What are the additional requirements for managing electronic mail records?1236.24What are the additional requirements for managing unstructured electronic records?1236.26What actions must agencies take to maintain electronic information systems?1236.28What additional requirements apply to the selection and maintenance of electronic records storage media for permanent records?
Authority: 44 U.S.C. 2904, 3101, 3102, and 3105.
Subpart A—General
§ 1236.1 What are the authorities for part 1236?
top
The statutory authority for this part is 44 U.S.C. 2904, 3101, 3102, and 3105. OMB Circular A–130, Management of Federal Information Resources, applies to records and information systems containing records.
§ 1236.2 What definitions apply to this part?
top
(a) See §1220.18 of this subchapter for definitions of terms used throughout Subchapter B, including part 1236.
(b) As used in part 1236—
Electronic information systemmeans an information system that contains and provides access to computerized Federal records and other information.
Electronic mail systemmeans a computer application used to create, receive, and transmit messages and other documents. Excluded from this definition are file transfer utilities (software that transmits files between users but does not retain any transmission data), data systems used to collect and process data that have been organized into data files or data bases on either personal computers or mainframe computers, and word processing documents not transmitted on an e-mail system.
Metadataconsists of preserved contextual information describing the history, tracking, and/or management of an electronic document.
Unstructured electronic recordsmeans records created using office automation applications such as electronic mail and other messaging applications, word processing, or presentation software.
§ 1236.4 What standards are used as guidance for this part?
top
These regulations conform with ISO 15489–1:2001. Paragraph 9.6 (Storage and handling) is relevant to this part.
§ 1236.6 What are agency responsibilities for electronic records management?
top
Agencies must:
(a) Incorporate management of electronic records into the records management activities required by parts 1220–1235 of this subchapter;
(b) Integrate records management and preservation considerations into the design, development, enhancement, and implementation of electronic information systems in accordance with subpart B of this part; and
(c) Appropriately manage electronic records in accordance with subpart C of this part.
Subpart B—Records Management and Preservation Considerations for Designing and Implementing Electronic Information Systems
§ 1236.10 What records management controls must agencies establish for records in electronic information systems?
top
The following types of records management controls are needed to ensure that Federal records in electronic information systems can provide adequate and proper documentation of agency business for as long as the information is needed. Agencies must incorporate controls into the electronic information system or integrate them into a recordkeeping system that is external to the information system itself (see §1236.20 of this part).
(a)Reliability:Controls to ensure a full and accurate representation of the transactions, activities or facts to which they attest and can be depended upon in the course of subsequent transactions or activities.
(b)Authenticity:Controls to protect against unauthorized addition, deletion, alteration, use, and concealment.
(c)Integrity:Controls, such as audit trails, to ensure records are complete and unaltered.
(d)Usability:Mechanisms to ensure records can be located, retrieved, presented, and interpreted.
(e)Content:Mechanisms to preserve the information contained within the record itself that was produced by the creator of the record;
(f)Context:Mechanisms to implement cross-references to related records that show the organizational, functional, and operational circumstances about the record, which will vary depending upon the business, legal, and regulatory requirements of the business activity; and
(g) Structure: controls to ensure the maintenance of the physical and logical format of the records and the relationships between the data elements.
§ 1236.12 What other records management and preservation considerations must be incorporated into the design, development, and implementation of electronic information systems?
top
As part of the capital planning and systems development life cycle processes, agencies must ensure:
(a) That records management controls (see §1236.10) are planned and implemented in the system;
(b) That all records in the system will be retrievable and usable for as long as needed to conduct agency business (i.e., for their NARA-approved retention period). Where the records will need to be retained beyond the planned life of the system, agencies must plan and budget for the migration of records and their associated metadata to new storage media or formats in order to avoid loss due to media decay or technology obsolescence. (See §1236.14.)
(c) The transfer of permanent records to NARA in accordance with part 1235 of this subchapter.
(d) Provision of a standard interchange format (e.g., ASCII or XML) when needed to permit the exchange of electronic documents between offices using different software or operating systems.
§ 1236.14 What must agencies do to protect records against technological obsolescence?
top
Agencies must design and implement migration strategies to counteract hardware and software dependencies of electronic records whenever the records must be maintained and used beyond the life of the information system in which the records are originally created or captured. To successfully protect records against technological obsolescence, agencies must:
(a) Determine if the NARA-approved retention period for the records will be longer than the life of the system where they are currently stored. If so, plan for the migration of the records to a new system before the current system is retired.
(b) Carry out upgrades of hardware and software in such a way as to retain the functionality and integrity of the electronic records created in them. Retention of record functionality and integrity requires:
(1) Retaining the records in a usable format until their authorized disposition date. Where migration includes conversion of records, ensure that the authorized disposition of the records can be implemented after conversion;
(2) Any necessary conversion of storage media to provide compatibility with current hardware and software; and
(3) Maintaining a link between records and their metadata through conversion or migration, including capture of all relevant associated metadata at the point of migration (for both the records and the migration process).
(c) Ensure that migration strategies address non-active electronic records that are stored off-line.
Subpart C—Additional Requirements for Electronic Records
§ 1236.20 What are appropriate recordkeeping systems for electronic records?
top
(a)General. Agencies must use electronic or paper recordkeeping systems or a combination of those systems, depending on their business needs, for managing their records. Transitory e-mail may be managed as specified in §1236.22(c).
(b)Electronic recordkeeping. Recordkeeping functionality may be built into the electronic information system or records can be transferred to an electronic recordkeeping repository, such as a DoD–5015.2 STD-certified product. The following functionalities are necessary for electronic recordkeeping:
(1)Declare records. Assign unique identifiers to records.
(2)Capture records. Import records from other sources, manually enter records into the system, or link records to other systems.
(3)Organize records. Associate with an approved records schedule and disposition instruction.
(4)Maintain records security. Prevent the unauthorized access, modification, or deletion of declared records, and ensure that appropriate audit trails are in place to track use of the records.
(5)Manage access and retrieval. Establish the appropriate rights for users to access the records and facilitate the search and retrieval of records.
(6)Preserve records. Ensure that all records in the system are retrievable and usable for as long as needed to conduct agency business and to meet NARA-approved dispositions. Agencies must develop procedures to enable the migration of records and their associated metadata to new storage media or formats in order to avoid loss due to media decay or technology obsolescence.
(7)Execute disposition.Identify and effect the transfer of permanent records to NARA based on approved records schedules. Identify and delete temporary records that are eligible for disposal. Apply records hold or freeze on disposition when required.
(c)Backup systems.System and file backup processes and media do not provide the appropriate recordkeeping functionalities and must not be used as the agency electronic recordkeeping system.
§ 1236.22 What are the additional requirements for managing electronic mail records?
top
(a) Agencies must issue instructions to staff on the following retention and management requirements for electronic mail records:
(1) The names of sender and all addressee(s) and date the message was sent must be preserved for each electronic mail record in order for the context of the message to be understood. The agency may determine that other metadata is needed to meet agency business needs,e.g.,receipt information.
(2) Attachments to electronic mail messages that are an integral part of the record must be preserved as part of the electronic mail record or linked to the electronic mail record with other related records.
(3) If the electronic mail system identifies users by codes or nicknames or identifies addressees only by the name of a distribution list, retain the intelligent or full names on directories or distributions lists to ensure identification of the sender and addressee(s) of messages that are records.
(4) Some e-mail systems provide calendars and task lists for users. These may meet the definition of Federal record. Calendars that meet the definition of Federal records are to be managed in accordance with the provisions of GRS 23, Item 5.
(5) Draft documents that are circulated on electronic mail systems may be records if they meet the criteria specified in 36 CFR 1222.10(b) of this subchapter.
(b) Agencies that allow employees to send and receive official electronic mail messages using a system not operated by the agency must ensure that Federal records sent or received on such systems are preserved in the appropriate agency recordkeeping system.
(c) Agencies may elect to manage electronic mail records with very short-term NARA-approved retention periods (transitory records with a very short-term retention period of 180 days or less as provided by GRS 23, Item 7, or by a NARA-approved agency records schedule) on the electronic mail system itself, without the need to copy the record to a paper or electronic recordkeeping system, provided that:
(1) Users do not delete the messages before the expiration of the NARA-approved retention period, and
(2) The system's automatic deletion rules ensure preservation of the records until the expiration of the NARA-approved retention period.
(d) Except for those electronic mail records within the scope of paragraph (c) of this section:
(1) Agencies must not use an electronic mail system to store the recordkeeping copy of electronic mail messages identified as Federal records unless that system has all of the features specified in §1236.20(b) of this part.
(2) If the electronic mail system is not designed to be a recordkeeping system, agencies must instruct staff on how to copy Federal records from the electronic mail system to a recordkeeping system.
(e) Agencies that retain permanent electronic mail records scheduled for transfer to the National Archives must either store them in a format and on a medium that conforms to the requirements concerning transfer at 36 CFR part 1235 or maintain the ability to convert the records to the required format and medium at the time transfer is scheduled.
(f) Agencies that maintain paper recordkeeping systems must print and file their electronic mail records with the related transmission and receipt data specified by the agency's electronic mail instructions.
§ 1236.24 What are the additional requirements for managing unstructured electronic records?
top
(a) Agencies that manage unstructured electronic records electronically must ensure that the records are filed in a recordkeeping system that meets the requirements in §1236.10, except that transitory e-mail may be managed in accordance with §1236.22(c).
(b) Agencies that maintain paper files as their recordkeeping systems must establish policies and issue instructions to staff to ensure that unstructured records are printed out for filing in a way that captures any pertinent hidden text (such as comment fields) or structural relationships (e.g., among worksheets in spreadsheets or other complex documents) required to meet agency business needs.
§ 1236.26 What actions must agencies take to maintain electronic information systems?
top
(a) Agencies must maintain inventories of electronic information systems and review the systems periodically for conformance to established agency procedures, standards, and policies as part of the periodic reviews required by 44 U.S.C. 3506. The review should determine if the records have been properly identified and described, and if the schedule descriptions and retention periods reflect the current informational content and use. If not, agencies must submit an SF 115, Request for Records Disposition Authority, to NARA.
(b) Agencies must maintain up-to-date documentation about electronic information systems that is adequate to:
(1) Specify all technical characteristics necessary for reading and processing the records contained in the system;
(2) Identify all inputs and outputs;
(3) Define the contents of the files and records;
(4) Determine restrictions on access and use;
(5) Understand the purpose(s) and function(s) of the system;
(6) Describe update cycles or conditions and rules for adding, changing, or deleting information in the system; and
(7) Ensure the timely, authorized disposition of the records.
§ 1236.28 What additional requirements apply to the selection and maintenance of electronic records storage media for permanent records?
top
(a) Agencies must maintain the storage and test areas for electronic records storage media containing permanent and unscheduled records within the following temperature and relative humidity ranges:
(1) Temperature—62° to 68 °F.
(2) Relative humidity—35% to 45%.
(b) Electronic media storage libraries and test or evaluation areas that contain permanent or unscheduled records must be smoke-free.
(c) For additional guidance on the maintenance and storage of CDs and DVDS, agencies may consult the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 500–252, Care and Handling of CDs and DVDs athttp://www.itl.nist.gov/iad/894.05/papers/CDandDVDCareandHandlingGuide.pdf,contact phone number (301) 975–6478.
(d) Agencies must test magnetic computer tape media no more than 6 months prior to using them to store electronic records that are unscheduled or scheduled for permanent retention. This test should verify that the magnetic computer tape media are free of permanent errors and in compliance with NIST or industry standards.
(e) Agencies must annually read a statistical sample of all magnetic computer tape media containing permanent and unscheduled records to identify any loss of data and to discover and correct the causes of data loss. In magnetic computer tape libraries with 1800 or fewer tape media, a 20% sample or a sample size of 50 media, whichever is larger, should be read. In magnetic computer tape libraries with more than 1800 media, a sample of 384 media should be read. Magnetic computer tape media with 10 or more errors should be replaced and, when possible, lost data must be restored. All other magnetic computer tape media which might have been affected by the same cause (i.e., poor quality tape, high usage, poor environment, improper handling) must be read and corrected as appropriate.
(f) Before the media are 10 years old, agencies must copy permanent or unscheduled data on magnetic records storage media onto tested and verified new electronic media.
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-25087053691025028362012-03-03T19:43:00.000-08:002012-03-03T19:43:30.500-08:00Update from the GRS Team<a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RecordsExpress/~3/B0OfnJTZPow/">Update from the GRS Team</a>: <p>The General Records Schedules (GRS) Team has received the following comment on the recent RM Communication, <a title="Link to AC 09-2012" href="http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/memos/ac09-2012.html">AC 09.2012: Announcing a New General Records Schedule Team</a>, and wanted to share their response in the event that the expressed concern is shared by others.</p><br /><p><strong>Comment</strong>: It is just our experienced opinion that before the GRS Team embarks on the “much needed” Schedule for Web and Social Media Records, NARA might consider filling the glaring gaps for records that have been missing in the Schedules for years and really are “much needed” (e.g. Environment, Health, and Safety, Annual Employee Engagement Survey, and the new series created as a result of shared automated systems for Federal Travel, Employee Benefits, Payroll that are not clearly addressed, just a few examples). Then, NARA can consider Social Media. NARA has no idea how to manage Social Media records (mounted on third party sites) at this early stage, so clear guidance, as opposed to a GRS is needed, rather than preliminary generalized scheduling.</p><br /><p><strong>GRS Team response</strong>: The GRS Team does plan on addressing gaps in the GRS. However, before we can address those gaps we need to identify what they are. Part of our upcoming survey (<a title="Link to AC 10-2012" href="http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/memos/ac10-2012.html">see AC 10.2012</a>) asks agencies to let us know what is missing so that we know what we need to add. Many of the gaps specifically noted in your e-mail relate to existing GRS schedules and those records will be addressed as we go through the revision process. Those that are completely new categories will be worked into our overall plan as well.</p><br /><p>There has been a call from Federal agencies for NARA to work on a new GRS for web and social media records. It was one of the main concerns addressed to the Chief Records Officer at the recent ARMA meeting. We chose it as the first new GRS project because NARA and the Federal Records Council have already been working towards a GRS to cover social media records and because it was a readily identifiable need. We recognize that further guidance is needed in regard to managing web and social media records and we believe that drafting a GRS is a step forward.</p><br /><p>We welcome further comments and input as we proceed with updating the GRS. As stated above we will be sending out a survey to Federal Records Officers to gather some basic input, followed by some web and hopefully in-person sessions to delve further into issues and address agency needs. If you would like to comment or express concerns about the GRS or the GRS revision process, please feel free to contact us at <a href="mailto:GRSTeam@nara.gov">GRSTeam@nara.gov</a>. We welcome your input in order to improve the GRS to better meet agency needs.</p><br /><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RecordsExpress/~4/B0OfnJTZPow" height="1" width="1"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript">var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));</script><script type="text/javascript">try {var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");pageTracker._trackPageview();} catch(err) {}</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2836352361415670559.post-33609987599515176882012-03-03T16:07:00.000-08:002012-03-03T16:07:32.094-08:00National Archives Frequently Asked QuestionsFrequently Asked Questions<br /><br />These are introductory answers to frequently asked questions about the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and our holdings and services.<br /><br />Select a subject from the menu on the left to view questions and answers relating to your selection.<br />Links will guide you to further information on our web site or to other sources.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.archives.gov/faqs/index.html#electronic-records">National Archives Frequently Asked Questions</a><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript">var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));</script><script type="text/javascript">try {var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");pageTracker._trackPageview();} catch(err) {}</script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-9185760-4");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script></div>chapkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943579588214289537noreply@blogger.com1