[IARA - State Agency Records Managers] Monthly Bulletin and Chat Invitation, October 2021

Spooky Greetings, Agency Records Managers!

Welcome to my favorite month, in which I put Halloween stickers on everything within reach, secretly cultivate my Chia Zombie under the desk light in an empty cubicle, and try to help state agencies avoid the ghosts of poor records management decisions past. You know, the ones that tend to rise up to haunt you when someone says it's time to empty out that storeroom in the back? The room that nobody ever goes into because the boxes are in there it's full of cobwebs and has that creepy, abandoned vibe...

Well, I've successfully scared myself, at least!

On to less frightening stuff: our second Records Manager Chat was held on September 30th, with my colleagues Meaghan Fukunaga, Jeannine Roe, and Amy Christiansen in attendance alongside nine Records Managers representing seven agencies. It was a cozier meeting than the first one, but we had plenty to talk about, including:

• changes to the the State General Retention Schedule
• how to get your own agency's schedule updated
• Electronic Records Day
• new electronic records guidance from IARA that you can read about below
• pandemic-related records being collected under RS GRADM-10

Many thanks to those who attended; we're very much looking forward to chatting with you all again on October 28th!

News You Can Use

As mentioned above, IARA's E-Records team have been working very hard on an electronic records guidance document, trying to make it as helpful and understandable as possible for employees at every level of Indiana government, and now it's here!

IARA's Electronic Records Guidelines were developed to help State agencies and County/local government determine how to:

• image records in-house, using a vendor, or in partnership with the State Imaging and Microfilm Lab
• manage electronic records (born-digital or imaged)
• name and organize files
• deal with records in collaborative electronic environments like Sharepoint and Teams
• store electronic records for the long-term.

The field of Electronic Records Management is rapidly evolving, and these guidelines will be updated as new information becomes available. The recommendations are consistent with currently accepted best practices, and the update history can be found at the end of the document.

The Guidelines are arranged so that you can read them in full or find just the section you need help with right now. They work with and reinforce Oversight Committee on Public Records Policies 20-01 and 20-02, so when you see "as long as the terms in the Indiana Archives and Records Administration Electronic Records Guidelines are met" in those policies, you now actually have those guidelines to consult!

If you have any questions about the Guidelines, or questions about electronic records that are not addressed in the publication, please reach out to IARA's Electronic Records program: erecords@iara.in.gov. 

 

News You Can't Use

Spotted while leaving Indiana Government Center South.  Complete coincidence. Evil clown loose in the Washington Street parking garage. Someone in this building shares my sense of humor, and I must meet them. Unless they're an evil clown.   Unless the clown has candy.

 

Records Management Topic of the Month: Education

Specifically, "Where Can I Find Out More About Managing Records?"

First up, IARA tutorials!

IARA offers offer four online Records Management courses for state employees, and we plan to develop more in the future.

Want to watch them anywhere, without logging in to anything?

We've got you covered, including text-only versions for those who use screen-reading devices and apps.

1. Records Management Basics (ELRN SOI_IARA_000001 in SuccessFactors): How and why we manage public records in state government, and how IARA can help.
   
   If you onboarded with the State anytime after January, 2019, you've probably seen this, because it's one of the recommended courses in electronic onboarding. We strongly suggest this one for anybody who's been around longer than that and hasn't taken it. This is the basic information every employee should learn about dealing with government records and who can help.
   
   IARA Website Player | Text-only version (MS Word) | Text-only version (PDF)
   —
2. Reading and Understanding Records Retention Schedules (ELRN SOI_IARA_000002 in SuccessFactors): What a Retention Schedule is, what it looks like, and how to apply it.
   
   Required for Records Coordinators, useful for anyone who manages records.
   
   IARA Website Player | Text-only version (MS Word) | Text-only version (PDF)
   —
3. Creating and Updating Records Retention Schedules (ELRN SOI_IARA_000003 in SuccessFactors): A guide to the process of working with IARA to make sure your agency Retention Schedule is current and accurate, and how to update it when that's not the case.
   
   Required for Agency Records Coordinators and mostly geared toward you, but also useful for agency and division directors, or any employee who may be asked to assist in an update project.
   
   IARA Website Player | Text-only version (MS Word) | Text-only version (PDF)
   —
4. Tips for E-Mail Management (ELRN SOI_IARA_000006 in SuccessFactors):Useful for any and every State Employee, because when it comes to e-mail, everybody has to be a Records Manager!
   
   IARA Website Player | Text-only version (MS Word) | Text-only version (PDF)

The first three courses should be viewed in the order listed, the first time you watch them, because each one references concepts explained in the previous tutorial.

E-Mail Management, you can view anytime. Over and over if you like. Pretend it's October and you're watching your favorite scary movie. 

...Wait. It is October, and many people's inboxes are a horror show. This tutorial can help.

Want to take them for credit and add them to your employee profile?

1. Log in to SuccessFactors.
   
   
2. Click the dropdown menu button on the top-left that says "Home" and choose "Learning."
   
   
3. In the "Find Learning" box, type "IARA" then click Go.
   
   
4. IARA's current course offerings will be displayed, and you can choose any of the listed courses to take or review.
   
   (You'll also see a course on Forms Management, ELRN SOI_IARA_000005, which isn't necessary of you only work with records, but will be useful if you're one of those Records Coordinators who does double-duty as your agency's Forms Coordinator.)
   
   

But wait, there's more: Data Proficiency for State Employees, from Indiana's Management Performance Hub

Every piece of electronic data that we create and collect as part of our state employee jobs is a record, or part of a record, and MPH has created "a state-wide data proficiency program that engages employees at all knowledge levels and shows how data impacts all of our jobs every day."

Currently offering six courses with more being added each month and badges available for passing a quiz after completing each level, this program will teach you about the kinds of information we collect, the importance of interpreting it correctly, and the ways we can preserve and utilize it to share information and make government services better for Indiana citizens.

Current offerings:

1. What Are Data and Data Literacy?
2. Misconceptions in Data Analysis
3. Telling Stories with Data Visualizations
4. The Importance of Data Collection
5. Data in the News
6. The Indiana Transparency Portal
   
   

Other Learning Opportunities: Electronic Records

The Council of State Archivists (COSA) offers free webinars, some on general Records Management topics, some geared towards professional archivists and records managers, and some, created through their State Electronic Records Initiative (SERI), on managing electronic records:

• Arriving next month is Digital Preservation Policies as Tools for Accountability, Compliance, and Clarity on November 16th. No technical expertise is required; this is all about the ideas behind managing electronic records.
  
  
• Among COSA's recordings of past webinars is Home Is Where The Records Are: Managing Records In a Teleworking World. Worth a watch if anyone in your office is wondering how to deal with records created while we were working from home. If I saved a work file on my home desktop, is it still a record? (Spoiler: yes.)
  
  
• And finally, this year's Electronic Records Day (October 8th) webinar from SERI - which I mentioned in last month's chat  - does indeed have a recorded version online now that it's over: Fantastic Bits and How to Preserve Them.

 

October Records Managers Chat

Our next Records Managers Chat will be happening just two weeks from now! Attending in costume is not required, but doing so may help to ward off evil clowns. Just saying. 

Date: October 28th, 2021
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. eastern time
Place: Microsoft Teams

About the Meeting

This 30-minute meetup is an informal setting in which to ask questions or talk about records management concerns; normally I'll begin by introducing any IARA colleagues attending, talk a bit about the topic of the monthly bulletin and make any announcements, then open things up for questions and discussion.

Adding the Meeting to Your MS Outlook Calendar

✉ Desktop Outlook

• Save the attached MonthlyStateRecordsManagersChat.ics file to your desktop.
• Make sure Outlook is open.
  
• Double-click the .ics file.
  
• Outlook will open it up as a traditional meeting invitation.
• Click "Accept" to add it to your calendar.

✉ Outlook on the Web

• Save the attached MonthlyStateRecordsManagersChat.ics file to your desktop.
  
• In your web version of Outlook, go to the Calendar page.
  
• Choose "Add Calendar," then in the left pane, "Upload from file."
  
• Click "Browse" and find the .ics file, then click "Open."
  
• Choose a preferred calendar from the dropdown list. (Even if you only have one.)
• Click "Import."
• Outlook will add the meeting to your calendar.

Meeting-Up in MS Teams

Are you new to using Microsoft Teams? No worries, IARA can help you navigate.

MS Teams is a collaboration app that many state agencies are now using to stay organized and have conversations with colleagues inside and outside of the agency.

But if your agency doesn't use Teams? No worries. You don't need to have the software installed on your computer to participate in a Teams call. 
 

To Join the Meeting By Phone

1. Dial 1-317-552-1674 at the designated meeting time, then enter this PIN when prompted: 
   489 794 94#
   
   
2. We'll let you into the meeting.
    

To Join the Meeting by Computer

1. Click here at the designated meeting time.
   
   
2. A new tab or window will open in your default web browser. From there:
   
   
   • Choose the option to join on the web if you don't normally use Teams, then click "Join now."
     
     
   • Join through your desktop or mobile application if you're familiar with using Teams and would prefer that to the web version. 
      

If you have other questions about how to use Teams, or about the meetup, just contact me and we'll figure things out together!

. . .

Looking forward to seeing you,

Amy A. Robinson (CIP)
State Government Records Analyst
Indiana Archives and Records Administration

o: 317-232-3285  |  f: 317-233-1713
e: arobinson@iara.in.gov |  w: www.in.gov/iara
a: 402 W. Washington St., Room W472, Indianapolis, IN 46204

---

• Monthly State Records Managers Chat.ics