Discovery

6.3.1 Records must be accessible

6.3.1.1 PSOs must be able to find records and information promptly, and be able to read and produce them when required for as long as they need to be retained.

• Search precision and recall should meet the information needs of all stakeholders, including searches related to legal discovery orders and subpoenas, freedom of information requests, audits, and investigations and inquiries.
• Records and information are searchable, retrievable and available in open formats, including within business systems, to facilitate appropriate sharing and re-use by government, the community and industry.

6.3.1.2 PSOs must implement measures to mitigate the effects of technical obsolescence of records and information management systems, for example system upgrades and data migration programs, to preserve the usability of long term records and information.

• Records in all formats need to be stored and maintained to ensure accessibility for the length of the retention period of the record. This includes the physical storage environment, management of control records and security.

6.3.1.3 PSOs must apply an authorised functional classification system to title or label records.

• Classification of records by business function facilitates better control over the retention, security and disposal of records as business functions remain relatively stable through administrative and organisational changes.
• Classification schemes within a records management system allow for controlled titling, or the application of other meaningful tags, to records at the point of capture. A uniform classification may be applied to all records within a RMS if appropriate.

Industry accepted classification schemes relevant to the appropriate discipline of the organisation may also be used to classify functional records.

6.3.2 Records must be usable

6.3.2.1 Open and technology neutral formats must be used for long-term storage and access.

• Examples of open digital file formats are: TXT, PDF/A-1; XML; TIFF; and JPEG. (8) Adoption of open digital formats, in general, facilitates easier reuse and value-adding of the corporate information resource.
• Proprietary file formats should be avoided for long-term storage as vendors may discontinue support, or not provide continuity, in newer versions of software.

6.3.2.2 Storing records in encrypted form is not permitted and encrypted records must be decrypted before being captured into records management systems.

• PSOs should avoid the misuse of digital (information) rights management technology and encryption. While encryption and digital signatures may have a valuable role to play in ensuring the authenticity and integrity of records in transmission, they present risks to the ongoing useability of the record as decryption keys and public keys for digital signatures may expire while the record is still required