Pocket Guide to the Management of Electronic
Documents in the Australian Public Service
This leaflet has been produced as a ready reference for APS
managers responsible for, or concerned about, the control of
electronically stored corporate records. It provides a
condensed guide to the principles for management of electronic
documents, as set out in the report "Management of Electronic
Documents in the Australian Public Service", published in 1993
by the Commonwealth Government's Information Exchange Steering
Committee (IESC).
- copies are available through the IT & Systems Group,
Department of Finance, Canberra Phone (06) 263 2253 Fax (06)
263 2276 E-mail: max.mcgregor@finance.ausgovfinance.telememo.au
- The IESC is responsible for providing guidance on policies
and strategic directions regarding information technology and
related issues, including telecommunications; copies of an
information paper on the IESC's activities are also available
from the IT&S Group.
WHAT'S THE BASIC PROBLEM ???
The loss of corporate memory and accountability as a consequence
of increasing computerisation is emerging as a real threat, as
Public Sector organisations embrace information technology at an
ever increasing rate in a drive for greater efficiency and
productivity. But there are growing concerns that, while there
have been major efficiency gains, there have also been
significant losses in terms of effective records management.
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The Public Sector as a whole needs to aim towards the use of a
consistent approach to the management of electronic documents.
Individually, Government agencies need to recognise the
problems, and invest time and effort now, to realise the
longer-term benefits.
OTHER PROBLEMS EXPOSED
In producing the 1991 IESC report (1) "Finding Information
Needles in Government Haystacks", a number of government
agencies were asked for their views on issues affecting the
effective management of electronic documents. Responses
revealed concern in the following areas :
- The absence of a coordinated approach;
electronic document management activities remain the
responsibility of individual agencies despite service-wide
expectations of efficient information management;
- Within agencies there is often no clear management
responsibility for electronic documents (although some
agencies do now have "information managers"), and links between
paper and electronic records are tenuous or non-existent;
- It can be difficult to identify the correct
version of a document (lack of access control compounds
this problem);
- There is a general lack of knowledge on how to deal with
legal issues, such as electronic signature
authorisation and the use of electronic documents as evidence;
- Training of staff in the use of office automation
facilities (and their access to those facilities) varies within
agencies; training impacts on skills and attitudes to electronic
document management; also, there is little or no training in
electronic document management.
MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES
WHY SHOULD AN AGENCY MANAGE ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS
???
- To preserve the quality, integrity and accessibility of
information used within the agency; and
- To meet statutory obligations, including agency enabling
legislation and the Australian Archives Act
MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO ADDRESS THESE PROBLEMS ???
Following is a brief summary of the management principles
endorsed by the IESC. More comprehensive details are contained
in the report "The Management of Electronic Documents in the
Australian Public Service" :
Agencies should establish a person/team with
appropriate information management skills to :
- review the types of information on electronic documents; and
- develop an agency policy/strategy/information plan.
Recommended Action :
- develop an Information Management Plan;
- train staff in the requirements of electronic document
management;
- assign responsibility for the management of electronic
documents;
- assess which agency documents fall into personal, work group
or corporate categories;
- identify appropriate access and storage for each category of
document, including privacy and security considerations; and
- adopt a corporate discipline to identify the formats and
types of documents, including the incorporation of spreadsheets,
databases, images within a document.
Agencies should manage information of value to the agency,
by:
- recognising and adapting the life cycle approach to
information management and adaptation of the guidelines' model
to suit agency needs;
- ensuring appropriately skilled staff are managing the
implementation process;
- reviewing the agency information technology capacity and
functionality to determine the appropriate mechanism for
document registration;
- determining the design of the document registration process
;
- ensuring consistency in the indexing of documents across an
agency and promote not only efficient management within the
agency but also improve the potential for cost-effective sharing
of documents at an inter-agency level or following
administrative changes;
- noting that, as the media of documents change, the
principles for their management do not; and
- ensuring availability of information management tools
(agency thesaurus, dictionary, disposal authorities agreed with
Australian Archives, style manual)
Agencies should adopt technology strategies which will support
and enhance their information needs, using the following as a
guide :
- identify the functionality required for the office needs of
the agency to ensure information and documents are properly
managed;
- adopt the use of internationally recognised standards where
they are available and promote their compliance within the
agency; and
- adopt agency-wide standards for hardware and software to
ensure integration and compatibility for information and
document sharing.
WHAT CAN AN AGENCY DO ???
- Obtain senior management support
- Establish a team to develop corporate policy and strategies
to support and enhance information needs (corporate information
plan)
- Review and classify types of information in support of
corporate strategies
- Obtain advice on legal obligations under the Australian
Archives Act
- Progressively implement approved electronic document
management practices throughout the agency
- Provide appropriate guidance and training to all officers,
including technical and non-technical staff
- Review effectiveness and achievements against objectives
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS
An IESC subcommittee is currently developing a set of guidelines
to assist in the
implementation
of electronic document management principles discussed in this
pamphlet.
The subcommittee is comprised of representatives of several
Canberra-based Commonwealth agencies, together with
representatives from the Australian Information Industry
Association (AIIA) and the Records Management Association of
Australia. The subcommittee expects that the guidelines will be
published by the end of 1994, or early 1995.
For further information, contact the following :
Management Principles and Implementation
Guidelines
Information Exchange Steering Committee Secretariat
Department of Finance Newlands Street
PARKES ACT 2600
Phone (06) 263 3553 Fax (06) 263 2276
E-mail: max.mcgregor@finance.ausgovfinance.telememo.au
Archives Disposal Action
Australian Archives
PO Box 34
DICKSON ACT 2602
Phone (06) 209 3633 Fax (06) 209 3931
See also