Managing Electronic Records

The general principles of records management apply to records in any format. Digital records (almost always referred to as electronic records) raise specific issues however. It is more difficult to ensure that the content, context and structure of records is preserved and protected when the records do not have a physical existence. Guidance on the management of electronic records can be found on the websites of National and State Archives authorities listed below.

Unlike physical records electronic records cannot be managed without a computer or other machine. Functional requirements for computer systems that can be used to manage electronic records have been produced by the US Department of Defense, the National Archives of England & Wales and the European Commission. It is noteworthy that the Moreq specification has been translated into at least twelve languages and is used beyond the borders of Europe. Development of MoReq was initiated by the DLM Forum, funded by the European Commission.

Particular concerns exist about the ability to retain and still be able to access and read electronic records over time. Electronic records require appropriate combinations of software versions and operating systems to be accessed, and so are at risk because of the rate at which technological changes occur. A considerable amount of research is being undertaken to address this issue, under the heading of digital preservation. The Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) located in Melbourne, Australia published the Victorian Electronic Records Strategy (VERS) which includes a standard for the preservation, long-term storage and access to permanent electronic records. The VERS standard has been adopted by all Victorian Government departments. A digital archive has been established by PROV to enable the general public to access permanent records.