Technology Review

Electronic Data Retention - A Requirement?

If you attended the “Managing E-Records in School Districts” workshop October 3, 2007, you may already know the answer.  The short answer is Electronic Records Data such as certain email communication should be retained for six years.  The question is how to decipher which email communications are records and which are informal conversations.

The recommendation from the New York State Archives is for school districts to create E-Records Policies that define electronic records the district will retain and the length of time they will be retained. Districts were advised to consult with both legal counsel and their auditors on the retention of emails. Once it is determined which emails will be retained, regularly scheduled notices to staff to move electronic records to archived folders on the desktop was one of the most practical approaches to managing email records.

According to the presenters, it is now acceptable for records to be stored on CDs or DVDs, however, no form withstands the test of time as well as microfilm. One piece of information that could save districts money:  the technology to go directly from electronic records to microfilm is now widely available and far less costly than going from paper records to microfilm. Western Suffolk BOCES is exploring going direct to microfilm from electronic payroll records which will save money, eliminate the labor of putting paper records into ledger books and reduce storage needs.

Presenters from the New York State Archives, Geof Huth, Director of Government Records Services, and Ann Marie Przybyla, Manager of Records Service Development provided an extensive workshop covering all the areas of the ED-1 as well as the FRCP initiated in February of 2006.  They provided their contact information for any additional questions not covered during the workshop. Questions to Geof Huth may be emailed to ghuth@mail.nysed.gov, and Ann Marie can be contacted at aprzbyl@mail.nysed.gov.  The phone number for both is listed as (518) 474-6926 and faxes may be sent to (518) 486-4923.  Also in attendance were local Region 10 Suffolk State Officers Lorraine Hill-Campbell, RAO at lhillcam@mail.nysed, and Donna L. Deckelman, KS at ddeckelm@mail.nysed.gov.  Their respective phone numbers are (631) 952-6864 and (631) 952-6866.

Records managers or designated records officers may find additional workshop and event information and registration at www.archives.nysed.gov.  The information above, along with a summary from the workshop, has been provided to the Long Island BOCES superintendents for their review.

For more information, please contact your project manager, Penny Notarnicola at 631-595-6831, or Carl Jeanniton at 631-595-6811.