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Table of Contents
File Plan
This records management implementation contains a three level file plan. This made up of Record Series, Record Categories, and Record Folders. Series may only contain Categories, which in turn may only contain folders. Records must always be filed in the file plan nodes (folders). Other file plan features:
- User-defined Metadata at any level of the file plan, can be used for access control
- Multiple Record Types, electronic and physical, where electronic can be any of the following:
- Default
- Scanned Record
- PDF Record
- Digital Image
- Web Record
- Default
- Access control prevents users filing except where they have access
Filing
Records can be filed directly into the Records Management site through Share, IMAP or CIFS. Records can also be filed from an existing Share collaboration site.
- 3 Step Filing (File -> Edit Metadata -> Declare)
- Declare and Undeclare records which have not been cutoff
- File emails with attachments and split attachments into separate records under user control
- User-defined metadata extraction for filed email messages
Disposition Schedules
Disposition schedules control records retention and disposition. These are attached to Record Categories and apply to all folders and records therein.
- There are five possible actions:
- Cutoff: always the first step in a disposal schedule and initiates the rest of the disposal lifecycle; cutoff can be automated by the system, performing the cutoff action on records and folders on behalf of the Records Manager
- Transfer: transfers can be defined to be to a user-defined location (such as 'Deep Storage' or 'Offline Storage'); transfers are handled in a multi-step process
- Create transfer list
- Export transfer records
- File Transfer Report as record (optional)
- Confirm Transfer Successful (records marked as transferred)
- Create transfer list
- Retain: records are retained for the specified period of time or until the specified user event takes place
- Accession: accession is a special type of transfer to National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
- Destroy: if it exits (it can be optional for permanent records), it can only be the last step in a disposal schedule; Destroy always destroys the record content, although it may optionally keep a metadata stub or ghosted record for management purposes
- Cutoff: always the first step in a disposal schedule and initiates the rest of the disposal lifecycle; cutoff can be automated by the system, performing the cutoff action on records and folders on behalf of the Records Manager
- Any number of steps in a disposition schedule
- Steps triggered by one or more of the following:
- Time Period (days, months, CY, FY, Quarter, etc)
- User Events
- System Events
- Time Period (days, months, CY, FY, Quarter, etc)
Events
User-defined events can trigger steps in disposal schedules. Examples of these events are 'Case Closed', 'GAO Audit Complete', and 'Position Re-Designated'. These can then be used in disposal schedules. Suitably privileged users can complete these events on records and folders as they become eligible.
Security
Records Management introduces new and enhanced security for the RM site.
Records Management Roles
Within the system, a Role is a named collection of functional user access (termed capabilities. For a user to be able to use the records management system they must have a role. A role may be assigned to one or more users, but a user may be assigned one, and only one, role at a time.
The system comes with the following predefined roles.
- Records Management Roles
- Records Management Administrator
- Records Management Manager
- Records Management Power User
- Records Management User
Capabilities
The system supports a range of capabilities, currently in excess of 50. A capability is an ability, which individually can be granted to a user, that controls the behavior of the system with respect to that user. This may be to grant a certain operation or privilege or it may be to alter the behavior of the system for that user.
Capabilities cannot conflict and are not hierarchical; that is to say a user can be granted a single capability and that capability will not grant any further capabilities. Any user may have zero or more capabilities within the system. A user which has no capabilities is effectively barred from the records management system.
Examples of capabilities are: Extend Retention Period Or Freeze, Close Folders, Create Modify Destroy Reference Types, or Destroy Records Scheduled For Destruction. A full list can be found in Capabilities
Supplementary Markings
Supplementary Markings are used to elaborate and clarify record handling. They are labels which can be defined by an Administrator and applied to any object within the system. The corresponding label can also be assigned to users, then only those users whose supplementary markings match those one records may access them.
Holds
Users with the appropriate capability (Extend Retention Period Or Freeze) may freeze any number of records or folders. These are placed into a named Hold. A Hold allows objects frozen for a particular reason to be tracked as a set. Whilst not really forming a part of security, Holds will prevent changes to frozen objects. In addition to this, frozen objects have their retention schedules suspended until the Hold is removed.
References
The system comes with a number of predefined Reference types that can be used to create relationships (references) between records. They can be either parent/child relationships or bi-directional relationships as follows.
- Pre-defined references:
- Cross-Reference: Bi-directional
- Enclosures
arent/Child - Obsolete: Parent/Child
- Rendition: Parent/Child
- Supersedes: Parent/Child
- Supporting Documentation: Parent/Child
- Version: Parent/Child
- Cross-Reference: Bi-directional
- Multiple named references between records
- References controlled by capabilities and permissions
- References on records details page are active and can be followed
Searching
Enhanced records searching and screening is provided.
- Search on record and content properties
- Configurable results output and search
- Search restricts on supplementary markings
- Disposal schedules are searchable
- Search on calculated values such as As of Dates
- Screen on record status (such as undeclared, vital, frozen, cutoff)
- Reorder output columns and sort order of results set
- Search on user defined properties
- Save searches for later use and re-edit
Auditing
The audit trail provides a record of actions which the system has performed. This includes actions taken by any type of user, including those with administrative roles, or actions initiated automatically by the system as a result of configuration settings.
- Audit can be filtered by event, user, number of entries, date, and property values
- Metadata changes are logged (before and after values on any metadata change)
- Each audit entry links back to the record or object for further details
- View each objects unique audit trail directly from the object itself
- Audit trails and audit searches can be exported
- Audit searches can be filed and declared as records
Administration
A Records Management Administrative Console is provided for administrators to configure and administer the system.
- Custom Metadata: Allows user-defined properties to be associated with file plan components (such as folders and records)
- Define Roles: Manages existing roles and create new roles, assigning capabilities to roles
- Email mapping: Maps email header values to properties within the file plan for metadata extraction
- Events: Creates new-user defined events for use within disposal schedules
- Lists of Values: Creates lists of values which can be used with custom metadata, appearing in drop;down lists; Supplementary Markings are also managed here
- Relationships: Creates additional relationship types, which allow users to create references of that type between records
