Electronic Records
As defined by the South Carolina Uniform Electronic Transactions Act [UETA] (Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, Section 26-6-10 through 26-6-210) an electronic record is “a record created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means.” Examples could include databases, e-mail, desktop files, digital images, geographic information system (GIS) files, audio and video files.
All state and local government records, regardless of their format, must be kept for as long as needed for legal, fiscal, administrative, and historical reference needs. As with paper records, the retention value of electronic records depends upon their content, not their format. The legal retention and disposition of all state and local government records, including those in electronic formats, is managed through the establishment of record retention schedules prepared and approved in accordance with the South Carolina Public Records Act (Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, Section 30-1-10 through 30-1-140, as amended).
Contact the Records Services Branch at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History and a records analyst will work with you to establish retention schedules for all your records, including those in electronic formats.
Yes. In accordance with Section 30-4-30 of the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act, “Any person has a right to inspect or copy any public record of a public body, except as otherwise provided by Section 30-4-40, in accordance with reasonable rules concerning time and place of access. Public records, as defined by South Carolina law, include “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.” Legal custodians of public records are required to protect them against deterioration, loss, or destruction and in such arrangement as to be easily accessible for convenient use.
No. At this time, the Archives does not have the resources to provide this service. We recommend that you store security copies off-site in a secure location and that you examine them periodically to ensure that all information is readable. For further guidance, refer to the Digital Media Storage – Facilities and Procedures section of the Electronic Records Management Guidelines.
Q. Can state agencies and local governments transfer their archival electronic records to the Archives for permanent retention?
At the present time, we are able to accept electronic records transfers only on a case-by-case basis and only under a limited number of circumstances. Refer to our electronic records program scope statement for more information. We are currently in the planning stages of developing a more comprehensive approach for establishing a digital archives for the archival electronic records of state government.
Yes, but for state government only and not to any large extent. All are described in this report. http://www.state.sc.us/scdah/elctronicholdings.htm
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Proper storage and handling of electronic records hinge on several factors including the type of media used to store the records, the record’s format, providing a consistent room temperature, security, and disaster planning among others. For more information on the storage and long-term care of electronic records consult the Electronic Records Management Guidelines especially the "Digital Media Storage - Facilities and Procedures" "Digital Media" and "File Formats" sections.
The best way to ensure your records will be intact, authoritative, and available when you need them is to plan ahead and thoroughly document the system. Before initiating any information system (or switching to a new system) decide whether or not you will need to support legal requirements for recordkeeping or to document official transactions. If so, review your enabling legislation and other legal mandates and analyze the business functions supported by the system. The next step is to properly document your system. Documentation can be wide ranging and include recorded information about system hardware and software, security and disaster procedures, or implementing metadata schemes to assist the retrieval of electronic information. With proper planning and documentation your recordkeeping system will support your agency’s activities through implementation of rules, procedures and controls that will meet all legal obligations. For more information on designing and maintaining authentic and reliable recordkeeping systems, review the "Trustworthy Information Systems Handbook.”
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Q. Is there any software available to help me manage electronic records?
There is a variety of electronic records management application software on the market, offered either as stand-alone products or in conjunction with electronic document management systems (EDMS). If you are in the market for records management application software, we would strongly recommend that you purchase a product that has been certified to be compliant with the U.S. Department of Defense DoD5015.2 standard. The Department of Defense maintains a list of software products that have been tested and certified to comply with the mandatory requirements of that standard. http://jitc.fhu.disa.mil/recmgt/register.html
An electronic document management system (EDMS) is a software program that manages the creation, storage and control of documents electronically. The primary function of an EDMS is to manage electronic information within an organization’s workflow. A basic EDMS should include document management, workflow, text retrieval, and imaging. Not all EDMSs have records management capability. To qualify as a records management system, an EDMS must be capable of providing secure access, maintaining the context, and executing disposition instructions for all records in the system. For additional information and guidance, see the Electronic Document Management Systems section of the Electronic Records Management Guidelines. Agencies considering the purchase of an EDMS should consult the South Carolina Enterprise Architecture standards. http://www.cio.sc.gov/SCEA/eap/eap-E-Document-Management-Systems.pdf Several systems are available for purchase under state contract. http://cio.state.sc.us/itmo/contract/osp/DocManage/Index%20.htm
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Q. How long do I have to keep e-mail?
The amount of time e-mail must be kept is determined by the value of the content and not all e-mail requires the same level of control. One official copy of all e-mail used in or relating to the transaction of government business is a public record and, just like all public records, must be retained and disposed of in accordance with properly approved record retention schedules. Each agency or local government must determine, through policy, who is responsible for retention of the official copy. Other e-mail, including personal messages, announcements unrelated to government business, listserv or bulletin board posts, and all extra copies do not need to be scheduled and may simply be deleted when no longer needed. For additional guidance, see the E-mail Management section of the Electronic Records Management Guidelines.
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