Managing
Electronic Records
The South Carolina Freedom of Information Act, defines
public records as
"all books, papers, maps, photographs, cards, tapes,
recordings, or other documentary materials regardless of physical
form or characteristics, prepared, owned, used, in the possession
of or retained by a public body."
Electronic records of state and local governments are
subject to the same controls and legal requirements as paper documents
and information on other media. Electronic records include all documents,
applications, databases, spreadsheets, and other materials made by any
microcomputer, minicomputer, or mainframe.
If you match the records of a paper series to the documents
created or maintained in a PC directory, the retention schedule for
the paper record can apply to the documents on the PC. This eliminates
the need for a separate schedule for the PC documents.
If you generate records on a PC that will constitute
a new records series with no paper equivalent, you need a schedule for
them. In addition, your written procedures must cover the maintenance
of the documents on the PC, storage disk, or tape, for the duration
of their scheduled retention period.
If you are maintaining both paper documents and PC documents,
you should establish in writing the correlation between the two. You
should give each the same name, or if the name of the paper document
is more than eight characters long, modify the name or create a new
one for the PC.
For more information, call (864) 656-4336 or send e-mail
to Isaac Wallace .
Public Records Stored as Digital Images: Policy Statement
http://www.state.sc.us/scdah/lflt13.pdf
Electronic and Digital Signatures
http://www.state.sc.us/scdah/erg/ermEDS.pdf
Electronic Records Management Guidelines
http://www.state.sc.us/scdah/erg/erg.htm
Trustworthy Information Systems Handbook
http://www.state.sc.us/scdah/erg/tis.htm
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