Records Management

Chapter 5: Digital recordkeeping

Digital recordkeeping is the practice of creating, managing, storing, and preserving records and documents in digital formats. Digital recordkeeping leverages electronic systems and technologies to capture, organise, and maintain records throughout their lifecycle.

Digital records include those created in a digital format (born digital) and those converted into a digital format (for example, scanned documents).

Creating and managing digital records

1. Digital first: Create and manage new records digitally whenever possible and reduce the creation and use of paper records.
2. Use authorised and compliant systems: Keep digital records in school administration systems and compliant third-party systems. Do not store any personal or sensitive information on the curriculum drive.
3. Metadata: Capture and maintain metadata alongside each digital record to describe its context and content. Refer to the section below ‘Minimum metadata requirements’ for more information.
4. Access controls: Implement and regularly update access controls to protect digital records from unauthorised access, alteration, or theft. At the end of every term, check that authorised users of school administration systems are current and that any users who have left the school or changed roles during the previous term can no longer access systems used at your school, as per the end-of-term checklist. School administrators can assist with this at the direction of school principals.
5. Naming conventions: Follow naming conventions when creating digital records to ensure consistency and make records easy to locate.
6. Third-Party systems: If using third-party systems to create or store digital records, ensure they meet the minimum metadata requirements detailed below and other recordkeeping requirements.
7. Procedures and processes: Include recordkeeping requirements in documented procedures and processes to ensure digital records are routinely created and captured in school systems.
8. Relationships between records: Create relationships between digital records to establish a business context where appropriate. Refer to this CASES21 Administration User Guide and other relevant user guides for further information on this.
9. Long-term sustainable formats: Use long-term sustainable formats for permanent and long-term temporary records – refer to further guidance below.

Minimum metadata requirements

Metadata is essential data that describes the context, content and format of records which enables their management through time. A document title is one type of recordkeeping metadata.

Metadata helps others find records. Metadata tells people who created the record and when. Metadata can also capture what the record is about, how sensitive the information it contains is, and how long it must be kept.

Capture and maintain the following metadata for all records:

• Identifier: This can be a document title and/or a system-generated number that helps identify a specific record, for example, student and family ID is automatically generated by CASES21 at the time of creating a new record.
• Author and/or editor: Information about the individual, for example, a role, program area or system that acted on a record, for example by creating or modifying it.
• Date/s: All relevant date/s of actions affecting the record, for example, creation date, modification date, date of transfer to another school.

Note: some school administration systems automatically capture metadata or help you capture metadata when creating records with the use of mandatory fields. Systems such as SharePoint, Microsoft office, CASES21 may generate this metadata automatically.

Additional metadata for permanent and long-term records

For permanent or long-term temporary records, capture the following additional metadata:

• Disposal: Information about the retention period and disposal actions that relate to a record, including whether the record is permanent.
• Description: Further information about a record and/or its context. Examples of descriptions may include a title if the identifier is numeric, or an extended description of the record.
• Format: A description of the record’s format, such as a text-based document, image file or data table.

Long-term sustainable formats

Permanent and long-term temporary records must be kept in long-term sustainable formats. Long-term sustainable formats allow digital records to survive and remain accessible and readable using readily available software for the required life of the record.

Long-term sustainable formats include:

• Portable Document Format (.pdf) (do not use PDF/A-3)
• Microsoft Word (.doc, docx)
• Plain text (.txt)
• Microsoft Excel (.xls, .xlsx)
• Comma separated values (.csv)
• Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx)
• Microsoft Outlook (.msg or .pst)
• Joint Photographic Experts Group (.jpg, jpeg)
• JPEG2000 (.jp2)
• Tagged image file format (.tif, .tiff)
• Portable Networks Graphic (.png)

Tip: If using scanners to create digital records, configure them so that scanned records meet long-term sustainable formats (see below), some metadata is automatically captured, and the images are captured into the relevant system.

Backup and archiving

Records created or stored in third-party systems or temporary storage locations (such as the school’s P drive), that require long-term retention, should be backed up regularly. Inactive records that do not need to be accessed regularly should be archived.

Backup

It is recommended to backup data stored on staff and student devices by configuring cloud-based data storage services on these devices. The department-approved cloud-based data storage services for use by schools are:

• Google Drive
• Microsoft OneDrive

For further guidance on backing up records to your school’s U drive refer to ICT Infrastructure Backup and Recovery – Schools.

For further information on backing up CASES data stored in the temporary P: drive refer to the CASES21 Administration User Guide – Chapter 1, Introduction (PDF) (staff login required).

Archiving

When archiving digital records, school staff must ensure the records are:

• saved in a format that will mean they can be accessed easily, such as in a long-term sustainable format
• stored in a secure location that is well maintained and backed up regularly, such as the U: drive or a department provisioned SharePoint site.

Further information

For any further queries contact the Records and Mail Services team at archives.records@education.vic.gov.au