Draft Guidelines for Managing Electronic Documents in Australian Government Agencies

Prepared by the IESC's Electronic Data Management Subcommittee

Draft for comment

 Copyright © Commonwealth of Australia 1995

ISBN 9999999999

This work is copyright. Apart from any use which is permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without the written permission of the Principal Adviser, Information Technology and Systems Group, Financial Management Division of the Commonwealth Department of Finance, Newlands Street, Parkes ACT 2600.

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Foreword

Electronic Data Management Subcommittee
Information Exchange Steering Committee
February 1995

Contents

  1. INTRODUCTION
    1. DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT AND CHANGING TECHNOLOGY
    2. STRATEGIC DIRECTION
      1. Fully electronic document management
      2. Parallel electronic and paper systems
      3. Continued reliance on paper
      4. Do nothing
    3. OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE OF THESE GUIDELINES
  2. THE CASE FOR BETTER DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT
    1. BENEFITS OF GOOD DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT
    2. COST OF POOR DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT
      1. Tangible Costs
      2. Intangible Costs : consequences of inability to access documents
  3. ESSENTIAL GROUNDWORK: REVIEW OF CURRENT PRACTICES
    1. SCOPE OF THE REVIEW
    2. THE REVIEW TEAM
  4. LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENTS
    1. FORMAL REQUIREMENTS
    2. AUDIT ACT 1901 (AS AMENDED), FINANCE REGULATIONS AND FINANCE DIRECTIONS
    3. CRIMES ACT 1914 (AS AMENDED)
    4. PUBLIC SERVICE ACT 1922 (AS AMENDED) AND REGULATIONS
    5. COPYRIGHT ACT 1968 (AS AMENDED)
    6. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982 (AS AMENDED)
    7. ARCHIVES ACT 1983 (AS AMENDED)
    8. PRIVACY ACT 1988 (AS AMENDED)
    9. EVIDENCE ACT 19?? (AS AMENDED)
    10. RELATED LEGISLATION
  5. INTRODUCING A DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
    1. THE CONTEXT: INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
    2. DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES
    3. SENIOR MANAGEMENT COMMITMENT
    4. PROJECT MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES
    5. STAFF INVOLVEMENT
    6. PROJECT TEAM SKILLS
    7. IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES
    8. SEEKING EXPERT ADVICE
  6. TRAINING AND AWARENESS
  7. DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES
    1. IDENTIFY YOUR VALUABLE DOCUMENTS
    2. ENSURE THE QUALITY OF THE INFORMATION IN YOUR DOCUMENTS
    3. SECURE YOUR VALUABLE DOCUMENTS
      1. General
      2. Security Developments
    4. PROVIDE APPROPRIATE ACCESS TO YOUR DOCUMENTS
      1. Contextual Details
      2. Authentication Considerations
    5. PRESERVE YOUR VALUABLE RECORDS: THE ARCHIVAL PROCESS
      1. Archival Management of Electronic Records
      2. Appraisal
      3. Compliance With Disposal authorities
      4. Implementation of disposal authorities
      5. Access Over Time
  8. PUTTING ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES INTO PRACTICE
    1. PRIORITIES
    2. CHANGES TO BUSINESS PROCESSES
      1. Need for contextual information
      2. Document migration plans
    3. 3 CHANGES TO AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY
      1. Special requirements of government agencies
      2. Electronic Mail
      3. The Internet
      4. Changing Document Formats
      5. Formats in common use
      6. Formats with Potential
      7. Plain text and compound document formats
      8. Protocols and Interfaces
    4. ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS: FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATIONS 38
    5. USE OF DOCUMENT ATTRIBUTES
    6. FINDERS/KEEPERS
    7. SPECIALIST USES FOR ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS
    8. SOFTWARE
    9. AVAILABLE ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
  9. DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR INDIVIDUALS
    1. GENERAL
    2. CHECKLIST

Preface

These guidelines have been produced by the Commonwealth Government's Information Exchange Steering Committee (IESC), an advisory body, which is responsible for providing guidance to Commonwealth agencies on policies and strategic directions relating to information technology and related issues, including telecommunications.

Through the efforts of departments and agencies represented on the Committee, and the strong support provided by subcommittees and working groups, the IESC publishes a range of reports and guidelines for the benefit of Commonwealth agencies.

In 1991 the IESC's Electronic Data Management Subcommittee produced a report entitled Finding information needles in government haystacks which identified a number of issues affecting the successful management of electronic documents, and expressed concern at the speed at which agencies were moving towards the ‘paperless office’.

In 1993 a further report was published, entitled Management of electronic documents in the Australian Public Service, which addressed the concerns raised in the earlier report, and outlined a series of management principles for the effective management of electronic documents. This report has been warmly received by public and private sector managers as providing timely and useful advice in the management of electronic documents.

Copies of IESC publications can be purchased through the Information Technology and Systems Group, Department of Finance, Canberra, Phone (06) 263 2253 Fax (06) 263 2276, which is also the central contact point for the Information Exchange Steering Committee (IESC).

An information paper on IESC activities is also available (no charge).

Executive summary

To be added

BUSINESS CONSIDERATIONS

To be added