Group developing strategy for easier records management

The Electronic Records Working Group of the Interagency Committee on Government Information is developing an implementation strategy for all agencies to use standard metadata elements and definitions to manage e-records.Michael Kurtz, the National Archives and Records Administration assistant archivist for records services and co-chairman of the working group, said the group is basing the new criteria on the ISO 11179 standard for classifying data elements and developing rules for data definitions.“We want the implementation strategy to be flexible and not prescriptive,” Kurtz said yesterday during a conference on the E-Government Act sponsored by the Federal Library and Information Center Committee in Washington.The working group identified 13 characteristics, including creator, date, identifier, Lines of Business code and title. The committee expects to implement the plan this fall, Kurtz said.In addition to the strategy, Kurtz said the working group would launch an e-records management toolkit through a Web portal sponsored by NARA and the committee.By the end of December, the group will identify and put online a series of best practices, guidance, process models and other tools for record mangers to share.The working group also is developing recommendations for the Office of Management and Budget and NARA on how to better integrate records management into agencies.This includes, Kurtz said, capital planning processes and the Federal Enterprise Architecture. The suggestions are due Sept. 30 and OMB has until Dec. 17 to make a final decision.