Transcript PowerPoint Presentation - Record Keeping and the Web

Record Keeping and the Web
Johanne Pelletier
McGill University
Garron Wells
University of Toronto
ECURE October 12 2001
Session Objectives

Review why preserving the web is an issue
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Development of the web within IT framework
Archival/RM literature key issues
Outline strategies and operational
considerations for preservation
Promote awareness of the importance of web
site analysis for institutional accountability
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University of Toronto
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University of
Toronto, est. 1827
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Largest university in
Canada
60,000 students
10,000 employees
University Archives


Archives & Records
University Library
(RBSC)
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McGill University

McGill University





Universitas 21
est. 1821
35,000 students
8,000 employees
University Archives
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
Archives & Records
University Secretariat
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Why the Web?
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University Web Activity



Communications
 banner or brand
 client services
 recruitment
 student services
& alumni
Teaching/Outreach
 Teaching & Learning
 Research
Administrative Functions

“New” University record:
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Static sites
 Calendars
 Administrative
functions

Interactive functions
 Admissions
 Teaching
 Access to
Administrative
data/Intranet
applications
 HR
 Finance
 Student Records
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Policy Gap?
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Site creation
Content ownership
“Vision” of the web/branding
Content management
Privacy/Risk
Concurrence of sites with other records systems
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Site Development Issues =
Implications for Preservation
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Content control &
accuracy
Branding
“official” sites
Compliance on “look
and feel”
Preservation formats &
strategies
Access and privacy
Links/consistency
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Relative url
addresses
XHTML use for all
sites
Minimize software
dependence – use
neutral formats
Avoid use of
proprietary search
engines
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Policy Infrastructure & Risks
•
•

RM & Preservation
Strategy
Web Policy
IT Policy
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Administrative
Research
Teaching & Learning
•
? Content control
-
-
•
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data, records,
information accuracy
Ownership &
management
? Uneven content
across the university
? Accountability
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Risk loss of records
Risk release of corporate
information
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Accountability and Records
Authenticity
Tampering
Transmission
Accessibility
Reliability
Technological
obsolescence
Trust in content
Completeness of form
Record
Evidence
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Literature – Key Issues

McClure/Sprehe Study – Risk Analysis

Information Management Forum (IMF)

National Archives of Australia (NAA)
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McClure/Sprehe
Features of McClure and Sprehe
study:
 identified confusion in terms ‘record’ and
‘publication’ when applied to web sites
 proposed guidelines for managing
information on web sites based on
records management theory
 developed risk model to analyze an
organization’s accountability exposure
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IMF
IMF Features:
 applied McClure/Sprehe model to
Canadian government and its agencies
 added feature: Local Site repository
 separated responsibility for preservation
of web site information between
National Archives and the National
Library
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NAA
NAA Features:
 builds on McClure/Sprehe and IM Forum
work
 simplifies risk assessment model
 provides practical strategies for storage
and preservation of web-based
resources for long term accessibility
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NAA
Purpose of
Site
Goods and Services
Communication & collaboration
Information
Frequency &
Regularity of
Change
LEVEL
OF RISK
Frequent & regular
Frequent & irregular
Infrequent & regular
Infrequent & irregular
Complexity
of Site
Dynamic generation
Dynamic data acces s
Static, with forms
Static
Public Visibility
of Agency
High
Medium
Low
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Current Responses
Responses
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Policy level intervention
Records management scheduling
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Pilot projects
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Web sites as series
Snapshots – local site repositories
Intranet
Comprehensive approaches:
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Policy
Snapshot – LSR + Historical Log
Scheduling/Transfer/Preservation Strategy
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Snapshot (Dollar Consulting)
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Complete, accurate, executable copy of a site
or html page. Replicates al functionality of the
site (option is to capture as object in PDF)
Must also capture third-party web sites or
links within the sites
advocated by NARA and NAA for archival
transfer
PDF capture option (but cannot be exported
back into HTML)
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U. of T. Strategy
Strategies:
 assessing risk - records management
strategies:
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Accountability: Low, Moderate and High
Risk Sites
Historical Log
Local Site Repository
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U. of T. Strategy
r
Partners in Preservation
W
eb
ma
ste
UT
AR
M
S
ce
ffi
nt
O
te
M
as
te
or
ds
on
r
R
ec
C
r
Website
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Faculty of Arts and Science
Factors
Public Visibility
-
-
Risk Level
Recordkeeping
Response
High
-
All pages viewable
by general public
and U. of T.
Community
Low
Little adverse
criticism about
content
Continue to monitor
reactions to content
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Faculty of Arts and Science
Factors
Risk Level
Recordkeeping
Response
Moderate - High
-
Purpose
-
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Disseminating
(publishing) and
sharing
information
Soliciting
responses and
feedback (via
email)
Provide some
online services
(POSt)
-
Level of risk
increases if records
and publications are
only disseminated on
web
Ensure close
integration with
office’s record
keeping system
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Local Site Repository
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electronic repository, established under the
control of an office for the purposes of
temporarily managing dormant copies of that
office’s electronically recorded information
until the corporate recordkeeping system is
adequate for the task
replicates at time of posting all pages posted
to an active web site in a separate storage
device
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Local Site Repository (Cont’d)
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Features:
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is a means of reconstructing the
information content of an active site;
facilitates the organized disposition of
recorded information through:
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controlled deletion
transfer of archival records to UTARMS (both
publications and official records)
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Historical Log
Is an official record and is subject to a retention schedule

Contains the following data elements:
 Title or name of posting
 Version number of posting
 Originating author/office name, address, contact
info. This is the Content Manager, the person or
office responsible for content creation
 Hyperlinks in this posting
 Date of Initial posting
 Date of last modification
 Date of replacement or withdrawal
 Disposition of posting after replacement or
withdrawal
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Faculty of Arts and Science
Factors
Risk Level
Recordkeeping
Response
Low - Moderate
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Complexity
-
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Predominately
static documents
PDF forms
Document-centred
(low interactivity)
POSt
Access to ROSI
Low - Moderate
-
Increase in
dynamic and
interactive
documents will
increase level of
risk
Assess adequacy of
record keeping
system and
integrate web
records
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Faculty of Arts and Science
Factors
Risk Level
Frequency &
Regularity of
Change
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Irregular (i.e. as
required)
Infrequent (i.e.
longer than 3
months between
changes
Recordkeeping
Response
-
Moderate - High
-
-
Historical log
Records retention
and disposition
Local site
repository
Transfers to
UTARMS
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Conclusion – U of T
University Archives role:
 Acquisition and Accessioning
 Arrangement and Description
 Use
 Preservation
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Strategic Approach RM/Archives
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Jurisdiction:
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Archives Act & Privacy Legislation support
RM (for records in all forms)
Combined RM/Archives program
Campus wide records retention schedule
(approved by government agency)
Reports to Administration
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Record Keeping “Culture”
•RM Program
•Decentralized IT
•WEB: Uneven
content across
the university
•Emerging web
policy
infrastructure
•Emerging vision
for IT development
•Record “aware”
community
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Cues - Key Factors
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Approach web as records – APPRAISE
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Appraise sites (site development broadly)
within records retention schedule
“Look and Feel” preservation does not
drive the process
Policy development and infrastructure
development before preservation
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Ideally…

Schedule the Web - RM
 Treat web sites as a records series?
 Transfer web sites and pages to archives
“repository” & require that documentation
accompany the transfer of sites and pages
 Use policies requiring “required” documentation
about web sites
 Site content, creation, version control,
technology platform supports
 Impediments??
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Operational Considerations
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Can your institutional archives manage
electronic transfers?
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Can the sites and pages be copied/reformatted
to new storage media?
Secure environment with read only access
Back up copies
Disaster recovery, temperature/humidity
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Comprehensive Strategy
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Policy leadership/development 2001
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Senate Committee on Information Systems
and Technology
Site/page integration into records
retention schedule (appraise sites as
per risk analysis) 2002 –
Risk Analysis & Test projects (2002-)
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Snapshots/local site repository
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IT Policy & Web?
RM/DM
Teaching & Learning
computing
Web
Administrative computing
(HR, FINANCE, GOVERNANCE)
Research
computing
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Policy “Agenda”
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Technical infrastructure
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Content
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Management
- Key Areas
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Policy Issues – Beyond “Look
and Feel”

Technical infrastructure




Relative url addresses
XHTML use for all sites
Minimize software dependence – use
neutral formats
Avoid use of proprietary search engines
44
Policy Issues – Beyond “Look
and Feel”
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Management
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Routine capture of major changes
Capture of audit trail metadata
Copy sites and pages
Minimize hardware dependence – transfer of sites to
new storage media
Operational support for long-term preservation
Secure access to personal information
High risk sites/risk analysis/loss of data/information
Preservation of sites/retention
 costs/operational demands to manage sites
designated for preservation
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Policy Issues – Beyond “Look
and Feel”
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Content
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Defines “official” content and sites (analogy to
scheduled agencies in federal governments)
Site accuracy (risk in posting inaccurate content?)
Branding/hallmarking
Compliance campus-wide
Privacy and access considerations
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Next: Administrative Computing
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Defining adminstrative computing
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Information policy
Data/record/information « trustees »
Computing Model/Hardware Standardization
Software Standardization
Workflow/document management
Integrated Archives/records Functions
Office enabling software (Groupware solutions)
Enterprise resource planning (custody, transfer of
data between data holders)
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Recommendations
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Clues from record keeping culture
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Jurisdiction support & record keeping
culture
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Collaboration
Integration of RM
Policy development
Test pilot projects (snapshots)
Combined strategies
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Recommendations
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Ensure operations can support
preservation strategy
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archives/records supported for long-term
preservation
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Recommendations
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Preservation strategy reflected in frontend policies
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administrative, web policies
Appraise sites/html as other records
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Session Objectives

Review why preserving the web is an issue




Development of the web within IT framework
Archival/RM literature key issues
Outline strategies and operational
considerations for preservation
Promote awareness of the importance of web
site analysis for institutional accountability
51
Session Objectives - Summary
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Session Objectives - Summary

Why preserve the web? OR Where are
we going?

“archival” approach applies across record
formats (goal is the same – preserve
records of long-term value, ensure
accountability)
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Session Objectives - Summary
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Strategies & Operational Issues
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Strategies vary according to institutions
 Preservation strategy must be supported
by front-end policy
 Archives/RM operational needs for
preservation
Importance of Analysis
 Ease of storage costs does not relieve
responsibility for preservation
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Bibliography
Educause (www.educause.edu/policy/policy.html)
IM Forum Internet and Intranet Working Group. Managing internet and
intranet information for long term access and accountability - implementation
guide. Sept. 24, 1999
http//:www.imforumgi.gc.ca/consult/inter-intra/implement2_e.pdf
McClure, Charles and J. Timothy Sprehe, Analysis and development of model
quality guidelines for electronic records management on state and federal
websites. January, 1998.
http://istweb.syr.edu/~mcclure/nhprc/nhprc_title.html
National Archives of Australia. Archiving web resources - policy (revised
January, 2001) www.naa.gov.au/recordkeeping/er/web_records/policy
Archiving web resources - guidelines (March 2001)
www.naa.gov.au/recordkeeping/er/web_records/guide
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Bibliography
McGill and University of Toronto sites:
McGill University Web Communications Group Policies
www.mcgill.ca/administration/vpist/web/wcg/goals/
University of Toronto Web Publishing Guidelines
www.library.utoronto.ca/webguide.htm
University of Toronto Guidelines for Archiving Web Sites
www.library.utoronto.ca/utarms/preservation
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Questions?
Johanne Pelletier
Garron Wells
[email protected]
[email protected]
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