RM 2.1 makes record capture very easy, but we haven't discussed where these captured records go or how the records management team deals with them.
To understand this lets take a look at the file plan.
Those of you who are already acquainted with previous versions of the Alfresco Records Management module will recognize this familiar sight, with the more observant of you spotting the new 'Unfiled Records' filter on the left hand side.
An unfiled, or unclassified, record is one that not yet been filed, or placed, into it's final location within the file plan. The 'Unfiled Records' filter shows the records management team all these unfiled records in one place, called the unfiled record container. This area that can be thought of as a staging area for new records.
When a record is declared within a collaboration site behind the scenes it ends up here and awaits the records managements team attention.
The records management team has a few options when dealing with unfiled records:
File into the file plan - This moves a record from the unfiled record container into a record folder within the file plan where it will be classified by the appropriate disposition schedule.
Reject - This removes the unfiled record from the file plan. In the case of an in-place record it will be returned it's original location with information about why it was rejected.
Request more information - This allows the records management team to request more information about a new record via a workflow. This workflow request is passed to the content authoring team and makes it easy for the records management team to gather missing information or understand the context of the record.
So now we can see how the records management team deals with newly captured records, but how do we automate these tasks to reduce their work load?
In part 4 we will take a look at automatic filling and how it can be used to dynamically build areas of the file plan based on record context.