[IARA - State Agency Records Managers] May 2024 Monthly Bulletin and Chat Invitation
Indiana Archives and Records Administration sent this bulletin at 05/15/2024 01:24 PM EDT
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💐🌺🌹 🌷 All the May Flowers. All of Them. 🌷 🌹🌺💐
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A Happy May to You, Records Managers!
Especially if it's the month of your birth (cough) or if, like two - two! - of our IARA staffers, it's the month of your first child's birth. That's right, we now have two new Archives and Records Administration babies, born within days of each other, that we didn't have in April. (Because April was too busy being Records and Information Management Month, obviously.) |
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Last Month on As The Record Turns...
On MS Teams, we had our April State Records Managers Chat on the 25th. We met with 29 Records Managers from 28 agencies. Attending from IARA were Amy Robinson (State Records Analyst), Amy Christiansen (County/Local Records Liaison), Anna Lucas (Electronic Records Archivist), Kalita López (Electronic Records Archivist) and Madison Young (County/Local Records Analyst). |
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We discussed April's bulletin topics, which were
I've posted a link to the YouTube video of the April chat in our RM Bulletins and Chat Archive, where you can also find all of the previous bulletins we've sent out. |
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News You Can Use
Oversight Committee on Public Records Update
April's OCPR meeting occurred on the 24th. Approved were the State General Retention Schedule, IARA's agencywide and Forms Management schedules, the Department of Correction Ombudsman within the Department of Administration, the Comptroller's Office, 3 schedules for the Indiana Finance Authority, and the State Election Division within the Secretary of State's Office.
We sent out a special bulletin going over the updates to the General Retention Schedule, so I won't make you re-read that here, but will go over it for you in our May RM Chat.
There will be no OCPR meeting in May this year due to some content and timing issues. Next month's meeting is scheduled for June 19.
Last Month's Destruction Webinar Now Online!
Our Records and Information Management Month webinar for State agencies, Responsible Records Destruction for State of Indiana Agencies, happened on the 23rd, and is now available for viewing on IARA's website.
Featuring speakers from Records and Information Management, Electronic Records, and the State Records Center, this webinar discusses the rules, methods, and options for legally and responsibly disposing of state agency records in both physical and electronic formats, including changes to the process of requesting confidential shredding.
IARA Special Appearances this Month
IARA will have a booth in the State Library on Government Information Day, May 17, staffed by representatives from both the State Archives and RIM, so stop by to see us if you're over there!
In addition to once again having an agency booth at MPH Data Day this year on May 29 (games a game, candy, and other free stuff, just saying!), Kalita Lopez of the Electronic Records and RIM Team will be co-presenting with Jen Cooper from Management Performance Hub at 11 a.m. on Navigating the Intersection of Data Governance and Records Management in the Public Sector.
News You Can't Use
You're welcome.
RIM Topic of the Month:
Data and Records
Data and records are terms that are often used interchangeably. It can be hard to separate them and understand our responsibilities as creators and managers of public records. So today we will focus on defining these, explaining where they overlap and where they differ, and how to manage your data as responsible records custodians.
Data
Data is defined by ARMA International as, “symbols or characters that represent raw facts or figures and form the basis of information.” Data must be organized in order to be usable. Raw data on its own is devoid of context and has no meaning.
Records
As you may have heard us say many times, records are any recorded information, regardless of medium or format. Public records are any recorded information, regardless of medium or format, created in the course of government business and which belong to the public.
Data and Records Management
Managing data from a records management perspective can seem daunting at first. Many times, the first instinct is to save an entire database forever, or to want to transfer the entire contents of a database to the State Archives. However, if you look at data as the building blocks that create records, it becomes much simpler.
When we look at data as building blocks, there are essentially three questions we need to ask ourselves:
- How long will this data be needed for business use?
- Does the data fall under a record series on a retention schedule your office or agency follows?
- Is there historic value to the data?
Some common business uses of data are specific reporting, decision making, program development, KPI reporting, APRA requests, and information or research requests. If you determine, for example, that you will need to build reports from your database for as long as your agency exists, then you will want to plan to manage your database permanently. While you may not need to maintain all of the data within the database permanently, you will want to ensure that you can always access the data you do need in the format in which you need it.
To determine if data may fall under a record series, check all retention schedules that your agency follows. This may include your agency-specific schedule, divisional schedule, and/or the General Retention Schedule for all State Agencies. If you find that data your agency creates does fall under a record series, but the retention period or description are not accurate because of changes to how you are generating or using the data, please reach out to rmd@iara.in.gov for assistance!
Not all data, or all databases, need to be transferred to the State Archives. The Archives only needs what we refer to as a “historic sub-set" of most data.
One example of this at the State level is the data that falls under RS 84-907: HRMSTAFF (Human Resources Management System). This record series covers staffing or manning tables for Indiana State employees and includes, but is not limited to, data on position, agency, job classification, salary, status, and hiring dates. The State Archives does not need all of this data, so instead we collect a historic sub-set in the form of an annual report which includes data on position, hire dates, agency, and termination dates.
We hope this brief dive into data and records was helpful. If you have questions about how data and records intersect, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
May Records Managers Chat
Meeting Information
Date: 2024-05-30
Time: 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST
Place: Microsoft Teams
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.
I've included an agenda to help keep me us all on topic, so there'll be plenty of time for your questions and records management discussion once Amy (the me one, not the other Amy) remembers to click Mute!
Adding Yourself to the Meeting Invite List
✉ Desktop Outlook
Save the attached Monthly State Records Managers Chat.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.
Because this meeting is recurring, you should never have to add yourself again.
✉ Outlook on the Web
Save the attached Monthly State Records Managers Chat.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.
Because this meeting is recurring, you should never have to add yourself again.
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
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Dial 1-317-552-1674 at the designated meeting time, then enter this PIN when prompted:
707 553 068#
- We'll let you into the meeting.
To Join the Meeting by Computer
- Click here at the designated meeting time.
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A new tab or window will open in your default web browser. From there:
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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.
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Choose the option to join on the web if you don't normally use Teams, then click "Join now."
If you have other questions about how to use Teams, or about the meetup, just contact me and we'll figure things out together!
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Looking forward to seeing you,
Amy A. Robinson (CIP) | (she/her)
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