Create and Capture - Guidelines on better
recordkeeping
The
purpose of these guidelines is to assist NSW public offices to create
appropriate records of their activities and to capture these records into
official records systems. Under
the State Records Act 1998 (NSW),
‘each public office must make and keep full and accurate records of the
activities of the office’. State Records’ annual
records management surveys have nevertheless revealed that record creation
and capture is not systematically and consistently occurring within NSW
public offices. As a result, organisations are placing themselves at risk
of not being able to operate effectively, account for their actions and
decisions or comply with legal requirements. These guidelines aim to specifically
support compliance with Principle 1 in the
Standard on Full and Accurate
Records (issued April 2004) which states that
Often,
the ways in which people and organisations do business results naturally
in the creation and accumulation of records. However, this is not always
the case. New business processes may be introduced without regard for
recordkeeping. Likewise, electronic business systems may not be designed
to create or capture records of the business activities undertaken using
those systems. Consequently, organisations need to consciously develop
and implement strategies for ensuring that records are created and incorporated
into official records systems. These
guidelines suggest a range of strategies for fostering and promoting the
creation and capture of records as evidence. The strategies described
are consistent with strategies outlined in the Australian and
International Standard AS ISO 15489–2002,
Records Management which has been adopted as a code of best practice
within NSW. Public offices can choose to adopt the strategies, either
individually or in combination, that best suit their corporate culture,
business needs and technological environment. Supporting
the guidelines are a number of practical tools that can be utilised by
Corporate Records Managers and others with responsibility for developing
and implementing organisation-wide strategies for recordkeeping. It is
hoped that adoption and implementation of these tools will ensure
that public offices more consistently and systematically make and keep
full and accurate records of their activities.
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