Governance and Recordkeeping, January 2023
ISSN 1916-5714
In this issue
Section 1 — General News
Canada
Library and Archives Canada (LAC)
Vision 2030: A strategic plan to 2030
Vision 2030 was built around the concepts “Discover. Understand. Connect.” This strategic plan defines the institution’s goals until 2030 and the measures by which it plans to accomplish them. Vision 2030 provides LAC with a framework that will enable it to better acquire, process, preserve and provide access to Canada’s documentary heritage.
See also: LAC opens its new Preservation Storage Facility
Federal Government—Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
Updated Access to Information and Privacy online platform launched
The platform has been enhanced to make it faster and easier for Canadians to request information. Access to information and personal information requests can be submitted to 227 institutions through this single platform. These updates will streamline the process of requesting information and allow international users to submit Privacy Act requests.
Australia
The Data Availability and Transparency Act 2022 is in force
The Act establishes the DATA Scheme through which Commonwealth bodies are authorized to share their public sector data with accredited users. The DATA Scheme is focused on increasing the availability and use of Australian government data. The Act establishes the role of the National Data Commissioner, who is the regulator for the DATA Scheme.
Brazil
Government amends digital strategy to include govtechs
The plan is to create a framework to facilitate the interaction between public sector agents working on digital transformation and start-ups in 2022. The government sees the role of govtechs (technology-based start-ups focused on the public sector) as one of the key measures to enable these improvements.
Estonia
AI Govstack to help other countries digitalize, will offer virtual administrative assistant
The government is developing artificial intelligence (AI) components that can underpin digital services and is making them available through its AI Govstack. The initiative includes Bürokratt, an AI virtual administrative assistant. Bürokratt is expected to be implemented across 10 government departments by the end of 2022.
France
National Archives 2021–25 strategy (French only)
The strategy has four themes: Citizens at the centre of our policies; Open archives about the city; Documents and data more accessible to all; and A collective memory for future generations.
Ireland
Connecting Government 2030: A digital and an information and communications technology (ICT) strategy for Ireland’s public service launched
The design principles of this strategy are digital by default and cloud-first; all-of-government approach; new ways of working; and privacy-driven and secure by design. The aims include better access to trusted, high-quality digital government services, and secure and transparent reuse of personal data.
See also: Civil service to recruit over 100 ICT apprentices
Jamaica
Jamaica Archives and Records Department (JARD) preserves documentary heritage
JARD remains steadfast in its quest to preserve the documentary heritage of the country. By collecting archival materials relating to Jamaica, primary materials of cultural value will be preserved. JARD also ensures the efficient and effective management, use and preservation of official information and archival records at all stages of their life cycle.
Japan
Laws requiring use of floppy disks to be changed
The government has pledged to change laws that require floppy disks and CD-ROMs to be used when sending data to the national government. A review of laws governing the process of submitting information has been initiated.
Netherlands
Public cloud services can now be used by government departments
The government was previously allowed to use private clouds only, because of risks concerning privacy and security.
Nigeria
500,000 public servants to be trained on digitization and information technology
This training is intended to improve service delivery. It is in line with the goal of making the public service paperless and fully digitized by 2030.
See also: Le gouvernement annonce un projet pour former les fonctionnaires au numérique (French only); Government to adopt blockchain technology for operation efficiency
Saudi Arabia
"Inclusive Government Program" launched
The program provides integrated digital services to the government sector, encouraging the use of infrastructure and common applications. It also raises the level of data sharing among government agencies and achieves integration between them. This enables and accelerates sustainable digital government transformation.
Singapore
New website to be launched for submission of heritage material in digital formats
The National Library Board (NLB) will launch a new website to allow the submission of materials about Singapore in digital formats such as images and videos. Called “Documenting Singapore Together,” the online platform will also allow members of the public to improve access to the NLB’s collections by lending their expertise in transcribing, translating and transliterating heritage material.
Tunisia
Restoration of audiovisual archives to preserve collective memory continues (French only)
The restoration, digitization and preservation of Tunisia’s audiovisual archives is a major national project. As of June 2022, some 4,500 reels out of nearly 32,000 have been restored. These archives will be useful for researchers, academics, artists and audiovisual students in particular.
United States
Federal Government
Library of Congress selects digital platform developer for its vast holdings
A contract has been awarded to implement an open-source information technology platform that will revolutionize how the library’s vast physical and digital collections are managed and made accessible. When the platform is fully operational, it will enable users to perform comprehensive searches of the extensive collections of the library.
Approach for managing email records to be expanded
To assist agencies that are dealing with increasing amounts of electronic records, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is focusing on guidance to help implement ways of managing these records. The “Capstone” records management guidance approach for email records will be expanded to other forms of digital communications, including text messages, chats and instant messages.
Section 2 — Events
Notice
Please be advised that certain conferences may be held online, postponed or cancelled. The following is the most recent information available at date of publication.
Annual Meetings and Conferences
National
April 2023
2023 British Columbia Library Conference
12–14 April; Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
May 2023
Saskatchewan Libraries Conference 2023
3–5 May; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Archives Association of Ontario (AAO) Conference 2023 (Virtual)
10–12 May
Workshop for Instruction in Library Use (WILU) 2023
16–19 May; Montréal, Quebec, Canada
52e Congrès de l’Association des archivistes du Québec 2023 (French only)
17–19 May; Québec, Quebec, Canada
International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) Canada Privacy Symposium 2023
25–26 May (training 23–24 May; workshops 24 May); Toronto, Ontario, Canada
June 2023
Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians (CAPAL) Congress 2023
1–2 June; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
June/July 2023
Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA) 2023 Conference
28 June to 1 July; Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
International
March 2023
#RLUK23 (Research Libraries UK) Virtual Conference (Virtual)
22–24 March
May 2023
Information and Records Management Society (IRMS) Annual Conference
14–16 May; Manchester, England
Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Information Online 2023 (Virtual)
17–18 May
June 2023
68e Congrès de l’Association des Bibliothécaires de France (French only)
8–10 June; Dunkerque, France
18th Open Repositories Conference (OR 2023)
12–15 June; Stellenbosch, South Africa
American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference and Exhibition 2023
22–27 June; Chicago, Illinois, United States
July 2023
LIBER 2023 Annual Conference
5–7 July; Budapest, Hungary
2023 National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators (NAGARA) Annual Conference
18–21 July; Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Joint Annual Meeting of the Council of State Archivists and the Society of American Archivists (Hybrid)
22–29 July; Washington, D.C., United States
10th Annual International Conference on Library and Information Science
24–27 July; Athens, Greece
Section 3 — Current Trends and Products
Recordkeeping: Current Developments, Projects and Future Initiatives
Canada
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC)—Privacy impact assessment summary for Microsoft Office 365 cloud project
The technology that the OPC currently uses to enhance its operations will be modernized. Additional functions and features beyond the OPC’s current on-premise products will be provided, allowing the OPC to achieve efficient and effective information management to support its program and service delivery.
Belgium
DIGHIMAPS (Digital Maps and Archives: Activating Cartographic Collections in a Digital World) project
Geo-referencing and vectorization of maps and (semi-)automatic recognition of their content will enable more and more maps to be linked to other digital content. The potential of digital cartographic collections as a key to this new digital environment is examined.
See also: Cartesius project maps
Finland
International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI) project
Coordinated by the National Library of Finland, the ISNI project, launched in February 2022, will run until the end of 2023. During this time, a comprehensive range of ISNIs will be acquired for the rights holders represented by the copyright management organizations.
France
Socface project: Artificial intelligence applied to archive documents
The Socface project will develop technologies for large-scale processing of large series of historical documents. The project uses automatic handwriting recognition to analyze all of the lists of names from the 1836 to 1936 censuses (20 censuses in total). The information available in these nominal lists will be disseminated in Open Access, allowing anyone to browse hundreds of millions of records.
New Zealand
National Archives—From atoms to pixels: Digitizing very large format archives
Archives New Zealand holds over seven million archives, which come in many different sizes and formats. Some are “Very Large Format,” which means that they are bigger than A0 paper. Our digitization team has made a survey of the very large items, and more than 2,000 were larger than A0. The ones that needed preservation work to address damage or deterioration were identified, and more than 300 were digitized. (Includes video.)
Somaliland
E-government Capability Enhancement project
The main aims of the project are to enhance Somaliland’s e-government capability by establishing a data exchange platform among government institutions, capacity building and institutional strengthening, and improving government network management. A national information and communications technology (ICT) centre will also be established as a hub for ICT capacity building.
Sri Lanka
National Archives—Digitization of collections project (phase one)
Sri Lanka’s Department of National Archives is on a major digitization drive that will see 10 petabytes of digital and digitized content archived by 2027. Existing storage will be expanded to 500 terabytes and include digitized documents, and audio and video files. A trusted digital procedure and a “digital store” to preserve digital content archived at the department will be established.
United Kingdom
British Library—Single Digital Presence project
The Single Digital Presence project will develop a digital platform to improve public access to the collections, exhibitions and online events of libraries across the United Kingdom. The platform will allow libraries to share content and resources with audiences around the world, promote two-way traffic with local library websites, and give national visibility to local events and collections. The beta version will be available for users and the sector by early 2023.
See also: February 2022; May 2022; October 2022
National Archives—An access service for government project (born-digital records)
The UK’s archives face the challenge and opportunity to develop an access service for born-digital records. There is currently no tailored solution for government teams to access born-digital records after their transfer to The National Archives. This project will uncover the opportunities and challenges in developing a sustainable, secure and effective solution for government access to these records.
United States
Library of Congress—Diving into digital ephemera: Identifying defunct URLs in the web archives
This project investigated ways to identify content in the Library of Congress Web Archives that is no longer available on the live web. Identifying and communicating the status of uniform resource locators (URLs) captured in a collection can not only demonstrate the value of web archives, but also illustrate the impermanence of the Internet more broadly.
Products and Tools from Around the World
Canada
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec—Guide sur la gestion de l’information des cabinets de ministres (PDF), May 2022 (French only)
Documents in a minister’s office must be managed and organized to allow for identification and efficient use. This guide aims to make ministers and their staff aware of the importance of sound management of information and to inform them of their responsibilities.
Australia
National Archives—Developing an enterprise-wide information management strategy
Topics include: What is an information management strategy?; Things to include; Interaction with other strategies; Information management strategy template; and Parts of an information management strategy.
State Records Office of Western Australia—Records Management Advice: Working Remotely ("Work from Home")
The State Records Office is aware that state and local government employees work remotely, whether occasionally or for extended periods. It is important to remember that recordkeeping responsibilities are the same, whether at home, in another office, in a mobile workplace or in a public space. The advice includes Records and Information Management Working Remotely Checklist, and Recordkeeping Tips and Guidance for All Employees.
Europe
The Recommendation System
This artificial intelligence–based system recommends cultural heritage objects on the Europeana website to users based on their previous interactions. Every time a user opens an item or gallery page, a set of recommended items is presented at the bottom of the page, helping users to engage with more items on the website.
France
Doxtreem: Electronic Document Management (EDM) solution
Doxtreem is an open, interoperable platform that makes it possible to classify documents, index them and set up business spaces (human resources, contract management, invoices, etc.), integrating classification plans and predefined workflows. This allows organizations to reduce start-up costs and accelerate the deployment of EDM.
See also: Avec Doxtreem, Numen met la GED à portée de tous (French only)
Kuwait
Sahel app
In line with the government’s vision for Kuwait 2035, “A New Kuwait,” the app unifies and digitizes a wide range of Kuwait government services. The app is dedicated to the modernization of government transactions that deliver e-government services for a range of departments.
Scotland
Scottish Government records management plan
This sets out the Scottish Government’s records management plan, policy and retention schedules as well as plans to digitize its records. There are 15 elements and supporting documents.
South Africa
KYOCERA Cloud Information Manager (KCIM)
With the transition to remote and hybrid working, KCIM is an easy-to-implement, user-friendly solution for digitizing all physical business documents and enabling a more agile approach to work. Organizations can move from paper-based to digital document management, enabling remote staff to access documentation anytime and from different locations.
United Kingdom
Digital Preservation Coalition—Computational Access: A beginner's guide for digital preservation practitioners
Computational access, often linked with text mining, machine learning and artificial intelligence, is mentioned with increasing frequency by those in the digital preservation community. This guide has been created to provide an introduction to this topic, and to help the community move forward in applying computational access techniques.
United States
Texas State Library and Archives Commission—One-Page Quick Reference Guides
The Records Management Guidance Library has developed one-page quick reference guides on important topics, with frequently asked questions. The quick reference guides cover disposition, email records, imaging and scanning, local government compliance, and social media records.
Global
ISO/TS 18759:2022 Document management—Trustworthy storage system (TSS)—Functional and technical requirements
This document specifies the functional, technology-neutral requirements for trustworthy storage systems. They ensure that electronically stored information will be kept and managed in a protected, secure fashion during the life cycle of the information.
Studies and Surveys
Canada
2022 Institutional RDM Strategy Survey Report
Written by Lucia Costanzo, Digital Research Alliance of Canada (Alliance) Research Data Management (RDM) Research Intelligence Expert Group (RIEG) Coordinator (University of Guelph), and Alexandra Cooper, Chair, Alliance RDM RIEG (Queen’s University); published by the Digital Research Alliance of Canada, July 14, 2022.
The survey was launched in March 2022. Ninety-two responses were received from post-secondary institutions and research institutes with RDM professionals responsible for particular stages related to the RDM life cycle working in conjunction with the Alliance RDM team.
Institutional strategy development across Canada is summarized. Using data from the March 2022 survey, the report suggests additional resources needed to support Canadian institutions in developing RDM strategies.
Australia and New Zealand
The Pulse of the Industry Report 2022 (PDF)
Survey conducted by RecordPoint in partnership with the Records and Information Management Practitioners Alliance (RIMPA), May 2022.
The report is based on a survey that provides an industry-wide health check for RIMPA members and the organizations they support. It provides the opportunity to establish an ongoing annual benchmark.
Key goals of the survey included understanding the maturity of RIMPA member organizations’ information management programs, transition to the cloud initiatives, the impact of the pandemic, and approaches to managing a growing data estate. The report provides a number of key strategic and operational insights. It includes recommendations that inform records and information management practices, and it highlights several opportunities for improvement.
France
Secteur public : quelles perspectives pour automatiser les processus et optimiser les développements d’applications? (French only)
Survey conducted for Appian by Markess by exægis; published September 2022.
Interviews were conducted with 50 decision makers in the French civil service between March and May 2022.
Process automation is recognized as a “high priority” goal for 2025 by 80 percent of French public sector decision makers. Although digital management systems are often used to store public documents, the lack of interconnection and automation is often a major obstacle to effective implementation. The Appian survey (PDF) highlights the approaches, solutions and skills in terms of process automation and rapid development of applications.
Section 4— Selected Readings and Recordings
Articles, White Papers, Presentations, Reports, Videos and Podcasts
Canada
Statistics Canada: A Use Case on Metadata Management
Written by Ekramul Hoque, Senior Data Scientist; modified June 21, 2022.
Metadata are data that provide information about other data; in other words, “data about data.” Metadata are core components of data governance, as they impose management discipline on the collection and control of data. Faster insights can be generated when there is access to underlying metadata. Topics include: Why does an organization need a metadata management system?; Metadata use case; and A metadata management solution.
Australia
Article: Is your information governance being sabotaged by content sprawl? Recognising the red flags
Written by Objective Corporation; featured in Government News, August 29, 2022.
As organizations grow in size and complexity, so too does the volume of content they create and govern. It is becoming increasingly difficult to identify what content needs to be kept, and this makes applying correct retention policies a near-impossible task. The article discusses the red flags of content sprawl.
France
Prédire l’état matériel des documents : Dalgocol, un programme de recherche en intelligence artificielle à la BnF (French only)
Interview with Philippe Vallas, Deputy Director of the Department of Conservation, National Library of France (BnF); featured in Bulletin des bibliothèques de France, 2022-1.
Philippe Vallas discusses the opportunities opened up by Dalgocol (Data mining and ALGOrithms for the prediction of the state of COLlections). The objective is to test the possibility of using artificial intelligence methods on the computer data produced by the BnF as part of its conservation activities. Approximately two million documents were tested.
Ghana
Article: Privacy Impact Assessment… why it is important for organizations
By Emmanuel K. Gadasu, Data Protection Officer, Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana (IIPGH), and Data Privacy Consultant and Practitioner at Information Governance Solutions; featured in Modern Ghana, April 29, 2022.
Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is a tool for measuring compliance, identifying and minimizing privacy-related risks, and demonstrating accountability. PIAs systematically identify the risks that a planned initiative poses to privacy and personal data, as well as examine and evaluate alternative ways for data processing to mitigate these potential risks. The article includes the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s PIA assessment flow chart.
South Africa
Article: File analysis, encryption and management of unstructured data
Written by Tiana Cline for Meniko Records Management Services; featured in ITWeb, March 15, 2022.
With file analysis, encryption and management of unstructured data, it is important to know what unstructured data exists, with respect to content and volumes, and where it is located. The encryption of files should not be related to a platform but rather be based on the data itself, to protect personal information regardless of whether it is in transit or not, in the cloud or on-premises, or solution-based.
United Kingdom
Article: Building a bigger home for the British Library collection
Written by Tom Airey, BBC News, March 12, 2022.
The British Library’s main storehouse, situated at Boston Spa, West Yorkshire, is a marvel. Its collection is stored on 300 miles (approximately 485 km) of shelves tended by robot librarians. But as the library’s millions and millions of titles continue to grow, it desperately needs somewhere to put them. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) took a rare tour inside its vaults and found out about plans to ensure that the nation’s printed works are preserved.
United States
Article: Records Inventory 101
Written by Lisa Morris, Municipal Master Clerk, City of Brooksville, Florida; featured in ARMA Magazine, April 11, 2022.
In records administration, an inventory is a detailed listing of each record/record series or system, along with a location indicator, and other essential data. It is not a list of each document or folder. An inventory of an agency’s documents is required as part of a successful records management program, as is the identification of present retention schedules or the design of new retention schedules for those records. Subjects include: Creating an Inventory Plan; Where and How Are Your Records Kept?; Calculating Eligibility Dates; and Creating an Agency Inventory File Plan or Road Map.
Global
Article: Bright future for libraries in the cloud
Written by Siân Harris, Publications and Engagement Manager at INASP (International Network for Advancing Science and Policy); featured in Research Information, Summer 2022 issue, July 4, 2022.
Despite the widespread enthusiasm for cloud-based library services, their adoption is not evenly distributed around the world. This article looks at what role cloud-based services play in libraries today, their benefits and limitations, and what challenges remain. Organizations profiled include Lancaster University, SAGE Publishing (Talis and Lean Library), and Zepheira, part of EBSCO Information Services.
Books
Selected Readings
Gomes, Daniel, Elena Demidova, Jane Winters and Thomas Risse, editors, The Past Web: Exploring Web Archives, 2021.
Structured in six parts, this book provides practical information about web archives, offers inspiring examples for web archivists, raises new challenges, and shares recent research results about access methods to explore information from the past preserved by web archives.
Kipps, Kayla and Allison Kaiser Jones, Collection Management in the Cloud: A Guide for Using Cloud Computing Technologies in Libraries, 2022.
As remote work has become routine, cloud-based technology tools have become increasingly necessary to communicate with staff. This guide provides insights into how collaborative, dynamic and accessible these cloud-based solutions are for a technologically shifting workspace, and it considers the challenges to adopting cloud-based solutions.
Miller, Steven Jack, Metadata for Digital Collections (Second Edition), 2022.
Since it was first published, library and information science students and professionals have relied on this authoritative manual for clear instruction on the real-world practice of metadata design and creation. Now fully updated, it is even easier for readers to use to acquire the knowledge and skills they need, whether they use the book on the job or in a classroom. The book contains numerous practical examples that clarify common application issues and challenges.
Vialle, Coline and Vanina Gasly, La gestion des archives : Maîtriser les documents et les données, 2022.
The management of a community’s documents and data is a challenge for the control of information. This book gives an overview of the major missions to be carried out to manage the documents and data of a community. It makes it possible to position the management of “paper” and digital information in a project approach, and to have avenues for reflection and tools to create, collect, store, transmit, communicate and enhance this information.
Wheeler, Christina and Johnny Lopez, Mastering Microsoft Teams: Creating a Hub for Successful Teamwork in Office 365, 2022.
This book shows readers how to communicate intelligently and effectively within Microsoft’s Office 365. All of the topics required for a full and comprehensive understanding of collaborating within the Microsoft suite of software are covered. Readers are introduced to the architecture and structure of the software before being shown, in a straightforward and simple way, how to optimize the collaboration experience.