Allegra HuxtableManager Government Recordkeeping

Tasmanian Archives and Heritage Office

Overview• Definitions

• Selecting records, approach planning

• Change management

• Migration of digitised format

• Technical specification - formats

• Quality review

• Destruction of source records

• Managing digital records

• Legal admissibility

Digitisation

• Its not the be all and end all

• Its resource intensive

• Risk Vs return based approach

• There are a number of business issues to consider

Definitions

What is Digitisation?

•Conversion of hard-copy or non-digital records into digital formats.

Types of Digitisation

•Business process digitisation programs

•Back-capture digitisation projects

Business Considerations

Types of records and where they are in there lifecycle

• Types of recordsBusiness RecordsPersonal RecordsShort term value records

• and where they are in there lifecycleActiveInactive

Digitisation – Business ConsiderationsSelecting records and approach

• Review business process• Identify frequency access records• Accessed where efficiency gains can be made • Improve management of permanent records

over time by digitising• Learn business process mapping skills and • Regularly step back and review processes

Digitisation – Business ConsiderationsPlanning for Digitisation

• Select records and approach

• Scope project

• Consider access

• Staffing space and change management

• Reengineer business process don’t just automate

• Policies, procedures, standardisation,

Digitisation – Business ConsiderationsChange Management

• The people factor -actively manage change• Even a short term disruption ( change) to

established work process required proactive change management

• Plan your change get senior management, business unit staff on side

• Identify champions• Offer training and support• Even a small change for a records area is a big

change for a business area

Digitisation – Business ConsiderationsMigration of Digitised Records

Migration of Digitised Records into your EDRMS

• Manual migration – saving individual records and completing metadata form for each is quite time consuming

• Automated bulk load by your IT staff this process can be complicated

Digitisation – Business ConsiderationsTechnical Specification - Formats

Recommend that permanent documents be digitised in following formats

• PDF

• PDFA

• There are many other technical considerations like resolution, compression etc.

• See TAHO Advice

Digitisation – Business ConsiderationsQuality Review

Quality Review of Digitized Content

For business process digitisation need an ongoing process of quality review to ensure that the digitised image had been captured correctly

For back capture digitisation project need to quality review at least 80% of the digitised content – particular if using external vendors to complete this work

Digitisation – Business ConsiderationsDestruction of the original paper record

•Digital record is retained the official record

•Digital records must remain accessible over time – for its entire retention period

•Digital images need to be managed as part of records management program

Digitisation – Business ConsiderationsManaging Digital Images as Records

• Framework for digitisation

• Policies procedures plans in place

• Standards and QA in place

• Technical requirement in place

• Metadata requirements defined

• Storage digital images – EDRMS

• Long term management – migration strategies

Digitisation – Business ConsiderationsRecords with cultural value

Building filesCan be destroyed once they are digitised as long as they meet the conditions set out in DA2159  and if they do not include the following:  

– Files relating to properties on the councils heritage register

– Files relating to buildings identified by the council as having significant architectural or cultural value

– Files containing building plans with an intrinsic artistic value  

These paper files cannot be destroyed

Digitisation – Business ConsiderationsTitling and Metadata standards

• Define standards for titling and metadata including lists of acceptable acronyms that you will allow

• This is important whether digitisation is in house of by external vendor

• Remember metadata = access

Digitisation – Business ConsiderationsLegal admissibility digital records

Can digital images be admissible as evidence?

In Tasmania there is no barrier to organisations tendering digital images of records as evidence. They can be submitted in legal proceedings and used for other evidentiary purposes.

Digitisation – Business ConsiderationsPre 1950s Records

• Historical records or records created prior to 1950 are not covered by any Disposal Schedule and consequently cannot be destroyed without approval from the State Archivist.  As there are so few historical records surviving, TAHO would appraise any pre 1950s records to see if we would be interested in accepting them into the state archive.

Digitisation – Business ConsiderationsConclusions

• Its not digitisation or die – select process to gain business efficiencies

• Start small but smart – define processes, policies, manage change

• This is possible on a small scale

• Remember you can always alter the scope of a pilot or trial process if it is a pilot or trial

Questions?

Allegra Huxtable

Manager Government Recordkeeping

GRK@education.tas.gov.au

Acknowledgement

•Managing Digitisation programs and projects State Records NSW