Issue 1 2008 > Paper and Electronic Records Stand Side by Side
Paper and Electronic Records Stand Side by Side
Christine Ardern is a records and information management consultant, based in Toronto, with over 30 years experience in developing and implementing archives and records management programs. She has worked with Canadian and International organizations in both the private and public sectors to help them develop and implement archives, records and information management programs and technologies. In addition to working in North America, her projects have taken her to Barbados, India and Hong Kong. Prior to becoming a consultant, Christine was the Manager of Archives and Records Management at CIBC, The Art Gallery of Ontario and The Salvation Army.
The era of electronic records management is upon us but we are still relying on paper and are struggling to get our electronic records under control. Despite early predictions, paper has not gone away. The challenges are being compounded by the fact that the legal and compliance environments are becoming more stringent, as a result of corporate scandals, improperly destroyed electronic records and the expanding reliance on computers to store records.
The electronic workplace is creating an environment where paper and electronic records exist side by side. The laws and standards being developed to address them are both local and global in nature. Different laws may affect what can be done with records, but standards can provide useful guidance to develop appropriate frameworks. As records management becomes truly global and the need for records management programs reaches the board room, there are many issues to consider. An understanding of the legal and compliance environments is a good place to start.
Laws governing different types of records such as financial (in particular income tax laws) and human resource (labor, pension and benefit related laws) records govern requirements to maintain records for specific periods of time. Industry-specific laws, such as pharmaceutical, financial and environmental industries provide guidance on business requirements and can be used to develop records policies and procedures. Laws are changing to allow for the admissibility of electronic records. Electronic transactions and e-commerce laws acknowledge that electronic business transactions are now more prevalent than paper-based transactions. The issues around data protection and privacy as a result of differing laws from country to country are raising issues about the management of records on all media.
Every organization is subject to laws which govern the way electronic records are created, captured and managed. A number of legal issues must be addressed as organizations move from a paper-based environment to an electronic one. It may be that even though the organization is creating the majority of its records and information electronically, the country’s laws have not yet changed to accept these electronic records.
If that is the situation, take the opportunity to build an electronic records infrastructure, begin managing the electronic records and send the paper to storage until such time as the laws change; or using a risk analysis methodology, determine what the risks are of disposing of the paper and relying on your electronic records for business purposes.
Individual countries will have their own laws and regulations which govern the management of records and information. Some factors to consider include:
- Corporation, business and company laws which likely dictate which records are to be maintained in which location. They may have an impact on corporate records centralization or outsourcing.
- “Electronic Evidence Acts” determine whether or not electronic records are admissible in court in place of paper. Alternatively, case law may support the admission of electronic records. Such laws and cases are supporting the transition from paper to electronic records management.
- Digital Signatures may be used in place of written signatures on paper documents and records.
- eCommerce and eTransactions provide for the use of electronic records in place of paper, on the assumption that certain processes are in place to ensure that the electronic records are authentic and reliable and can be trusted in place of paper records.
- Data Protection and Privacy define what is meant by personal information. They provide details about how personal information must be collected, managed and protected, if and how the information can be shared across geographic boundaries, what access may be granted to it and how it must be disposed of