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Here's what you should know to manage data records efficiently
With proper electronic data management, your business can lower costs, improve efficiency, eliminate duplication, and be protected in the event of a lawsuit. This book provides an overview of records management solutions and implementation strategies in plain, non-technical English. Step-by-step instructions show you how to begin managing records and information and how to maintain the program once you have it established. Sample forms for inventory, scheduling, and necessary documentation are also available on the companion website.
Records Management For Dummies helps your business save money and improve efficiency with effective electronic records management.
Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Conventions Used in This Book 2
Foolish Assumptions 2
How This Book Is Organized 2
Part I: Setting the Stage 3
Part II: Filing Made Simple 3
Part III: Capturing Records 3
Part IV: Parking Spaces 3
Part V: Creating a Plan 4
Part VI: The Part of Tens 4
Bonus Content: Appendix 4
What You're Not to Read 4
Icons Used in This Book 5
Where to Go from Here 5
Part I Setting the Stage 7
Chapter 1 Fundamentally Speaking 9
The Inside Scoop - Terms and Terminologies 10
What is information? 10
For the record 10
Business value 11
Nonvalue 11
The information life cycle 12
Grooving with the records (and the information retention schedule) 13
Hold on! 13
Role Playing 13
The Records and Information Manager 14
The evolution of the records manager 15
The big bang! 15
School is in session 16
I can associate with that 17
Let me see your credentials 17
I've got to do what?! 20
The written word 20
Professionally speaking 22
I'm Excited - Why Aren't You? 23
Core function junction 23
Show me the benefits! 23
Trimming expenses 24
Improving efficiencies 26
Increasing staff productivity 27
Risky business 28
Creating your support group 29
Marketing Your Program 33
Chapter 2 Appraising 35
Preparing for the Appraisal 35
Push for the purge 36
Don't forget the hard drives 37
Choosing an Appraisal Method 39
A method to the madness 39
The good and the … good 40
Conducting the Appraisal 42
Capturing appraisal information 43
Taking inventory 43
Going through with an interview 44
Quizzing with a questionnaire 45
Documenting the appraisal 45
Processing the appraisal results 48
Chapter 3 Scheduling 49
Keeping Your Options Open 50
Working with the Departmental retention schedule 50
Scheduling based on function 52
Bring out the big buckets 54
Conducting the Investigation 56
Considering the value 57
Researching retention periods 58
Mining your natural resources 59
Assigning retention periods to nonrecord information 61
Looking for Approval 62
Department management 62
Paying a visit to the Tax department 62
Legalizing your retention 63
Creating the Retention Schedule Document 63
The pieces to the retention schedule puzzle 63
Sampling retention schedule forms 67
Implementing the Retention Schedule 68
Keeping it electronic 69
Providing direction 69
Updating the Retention Schedule 70
Part II Filing Made Simple 73
Chapter 4 :I Know It's Here Somewhere 75
Filing Methods 75
The alpha file 76
The numbers don't lie 77
Filing alphanumerically 78
Evaluating Filing Equipment and Supplies 80
The right equipment makes a difference 80
File folders under "important" 86
Selecting a Filing Method 90
Creating a records profile 91
Growing, growing - gone! 91
Evaluating the current state of affairs 92
Creating a Digital Filing System 92
Drawing the parallels 92
Naming folders and files 95
Chapter 5 Drives Can Drive You Crazy 97
At-Risk Drivers 97
Out of sight - out of mind 98
Driving up the costs 98
Driving down function lane 99
Cleaning Up Your Driving Record 99
Taking time to know your drives 100
Mapping a course of action 101
Creating a folder structure 102
Administering shared drives 104
Planning the file review 107
Reviewing files 108
Cleaning up with software 110
Maintaining Your Drives 110
Creating a usage policy 111
Relying on the administrator 111
Using software to maintain your drives 112
Chapter 6 A Message about E-Mail 113
The Anatomy of an E-Mail 113
Determining the value of the message 114
Scheduling time for e-mail 115
The rising risks of e-mail 116
Managing quotas 117
Filing the Message 118
PSSST! What you need to know about PST folders 118
MSG can be good for your informational health 120
Naming e-mail 122
Using Software to Manage E-Mail 125
E-mail archiving systems 125
Optimizing with DM and ECM applications 125
Part III Capturing Records 127
Chapter 7 Watch Out, I'm Backing Up 129
Creating a Backup Plan 129
Identifying different types of backups 130
Finding a place to back up 131
Distinguishing between backups and archives 132
The tale of the mystery tape 134
Managing Backups 135
Determining what needs to be backed up 135
Applying retention to backups 136
Creating a data retention schedule 137
Deleting backed-up and archived information 139
Chapter 8 Know When to Hold 'em 141
Discovering Discovery 141
Initiating a Legal Hold 143
The components of a legal hold 143
Organizing the search party 145
Searching in the dark 146
E-mail - the smoking gun 147
Keying in on keywords 148
Searching made simple 150
Preserving what you find 150
Maintaining the legal hold 150
We have liftoff 151
Chapter 9 Imaging Documents 153
From Paper to Paperless 153
Understanding the basics of document imaging 154
Benefiting from an image makeover 155
To Image, or Not to Image 156
Conducting an imaging needs assessment 156
Stepping through the imaging process 158
Prep school 158
Scanning documents 161
Recognizing a good thing when you see it 161
Applying indexes 162
Controlling the quality 164
Determining Your Imaging Approach 165
What happens in-house stays in-house 165
Equipping your imaging operation 166
Gathering Requirements 170
Conducting a document analysis 170
End of the beginning 171
Calculating the Return on Investment (ROI) 172
Investing in the benefits 172
Knowing your customer 173
Valuating the benefits 174
Evaluating Imaging Hardware and Software 175
Examining document scanners 175
The role of document-imaging software 177
Chapter 10 Software Applications 179
Examining Software Options 179
Laying the software foundation 180
Types of software 181
Assessing Your Needs 187
Calculating the return on investment (ROI) 188
Identifying your "pain points" 189
Conducting a requirements analysis 189
Evaluating Vendors 191
Determining your evaluation approach 191
Using business-use cases 192
Detailing the results 192
It's not all about functionality 193
Comparing the results 195
Guiding You through Implementation 195
Why implementations fail 196
How to ensure that your implementation is a success! 197
Part IV Parking Spaces 199
Chapter 11 Storage Locations 201
Storing Inactive Records Onsite 201
Protecting your inactive records 202
Implementing access control procedures 203
Optimizing your inactive storage 205
Getting to Know the Record Storage Vendor 207
Understanding the fee structure 207
Making sure that your requirements are met 209
Contracting with the vendor 210
Chapter 12 Compliant Destruction 213
Determining the Appropriate Destruction Method 213
Deciding on Your Shredding Approach 214
Shredding your own documents 214
Getting to know the shredders themselves 216
Outsourcing your shredding 217
Selecting the Right Shred Vendor 218
How to ensure that electronic information is unrecoverable 218
Establishing your shredding requirements 219
Developing an Information Destruction Policy 221
If you can't do it, don't include it 222
Elements of an effective destruction policy 222
Part V Creating a Plan 225
Chapter 13 Codifying the Policies 227
Developing a Records and Information Management Policy 227
Understanding what a policy is (and isn't) 228
The basic characteristics of a good policy 228
Talking records and information 229
Making the Policy Available 230
Distributing the hard copy 231
Attaching a soft copy 231
The missing link 232
Auditing the Policy 233
Developing an audit plan 233
Determining what to audit 234
Communicating the audit 236
Documenting the audit findings 236
Chapter 14 Train the Troops 237
I'm Aware of That! 237
From the top 238
What's in it for me? 238
Creating a creative awareness campaign 239
Developing a Training Plan 241
Deciding on the curriculum 241
One size doesn't always fit all 242
How refreshing 242
Training the Masses 243
How much time do I have? 243
Face-time training 244
Webinars 244
Intranet-based training 245
Part VI The Part of Tens 247
Chapter 15 Ten Simple Management Guidelines 249
Limiting E-Mail Attachments 249
Knowing How to Dispose of Information 251
Structuring Electronic Folders 252
Naming Files 252
Managing Active and Inactive Periods 253
Scheduling Destruction and Deletion 254
Creating the Proper Filing System 254
Avoiding the "Keep Everything" Syndrome 255
Managing Copies 255
Keeping It Simple 257
Chapter 16 Ten Emerging Trends 259
Governing Information 259
Computing in the Clouds 260
Big Data 261
Social Media 262
Putting Some Structure to It 263
Let's Collaborate 264
Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles 265
Mapping Your Data 266
Enterprise Searching 267
Don't Get Duped 268
Appendix: Sample forms and Vendor Listings 269
Index 281
Overview
Here's what you should know to manage data records efficiently
With proper electronic data management, your business can lower costs, improve efficiency, eliminate duplication, and be protected in the event of a lawsuit. This book provides an overview of records management solutions and implementation strategies in plain, non-technical English. Step-by-step instructions show you how to begin managing records and information and how to maintain the program once you have it ...