It’s been a while since our last blog post. Where have you been? …you may ask and what have you been doing?
Well we haven’t been on a long holiday (although that would be nice!) but it’s been a bit like those little ducks swimming in the river – you know, calm on top, feet swimming furiously below. We’ve been researching, using our imaginations and thinking about what we can do to transform digital recordkeeping because it’s an issue that’s been troubling us for a while. We are very pleased that we can finally let you know what we’ve come up with and that some BIG changes are coming, so strap yourselves in for the ride!
Digital recordkeeping transformation
You may know that our mission in life is “to ensure the public records of Queensland are made, managed, kept and preserved for the use and benefit of present and future generations.” Now that may not sound very exciting to you but for us that’s a BIG deal and we want to make this happen for the benefit of all Queenslanders.
We see significant opportunities to improve recordkeeping across the Queensland public sector and to shift the focus from paper to digital records.
Public records form the cornerstone of democratic government. They are critical to good decision making and to delivering on ours rights as citizens to public scrutiny of those decisions. In this day and age, public records are more likely to be born digital. We also know that there are lots and lots and lots of them being created every day and we don’t necessarily know what to do with them. How do we capture them, how long do we keep them, how do we access them and when do we get rid of them?
Over the next 12 months we will be working on some critical projects to transform digital recordkeeping – and we need you, our recordkeeping colleagues to be involved and help shape the future. Here’s what you can expect to see in the next few months.
Minimum requirements
It’s an ambitious goal to transform digital recordkeeping. One of the first things we will be looking at is replacing the current Information Standards 31 (IS31) and 40 (IS40) with new minimum requirements. The new minimum requirements will be more relevant and practical, and we hope will stand you in good stead for meeting the challenges of digital recordkeeping.
Keep an eye out as this project progresses and how you can get involved.
Forum
We know you like to talk so now you can!
We’ve launched the Community of Records and Information Management (CORIM) online forum.
The CORIM forum is an informal, collaborative online environment you can use to connect and collaborate with your colleagues about government recordkeeping issues, challenges and achievements. Got a question about your EDRMS that someone else might be able to help with? Ask CORIM. Want to know what others are doing about digitisation? Post the question to CORIM.
Sign up here so you can stay informed.
Public Records Act review
We all know and love the Public Records Act 2002 but like the information standards it’s been around for a while. It’s time for a review and a serious think about whether it still does what we want it to do i.e. ensure the preservation, management and accessibility of public records particularly in the digital age.
In the New Year we will be taking a long hard look at our Act and asking you for your views on what it should be, what it should cover and whether it meets the needs of Queenslanders and government. We’ll be launching a discussion paper that asks all these questions and more so stay tuned for its release. We’ll keep you posted about when you can expect to see it.
Disposal of source records
We’ve been working on a project to replace the Digitisation Disposal Policy and Toolkit for a while now. Some of you have been involved in helping us shape the source records disposal policy and for that we thank you. When it comes out it’s going to look a bit different but don’t worry we’ll step you though it with guidance and advice. You could always post a question to CORIM for an answer! (Shameless plug!)
A Client Services Charter
Our government clients are a very important part of what we do at QSA so we’ve developed a client services charter to outline the service commitment we make to you. It gives you an idea of what you can expect from us and what we would like to see from you. We’re all in this digital recordkeeping challenge together, so let’s work collaboratively and see what we can achieve!
Newsletter
You should by now have received QCN, our new newsletter for government clients to keep you updated on projects and events and provide you with useful tips and advice on records and information management. If you haven’t received your copy sign up here
What next?
So even though we’ve been a bit quiet, as you can see, we’ve been working on quite a few initiatives and we’d really like to hear what you think. Are we on the right track? Or do we need to change tack? Your thoughts and ideas are really important so do let us know because this effects all of us and our recordkeeping future.
You will hear a lot more from us in the coming months as we publish more blogs about our initiatives and keep you up to date through the newsletter. We’ll be asking you for your help as we try to solve some of the big digital recordkeeping challenges and look to you to share your knowledge with your colleagues.
As you can see – we’re definitely back!
Josephine Marsh
Director Government Recordkeeping