Strategic Plan

Version 10
Date: 2 June 2006
Status: Final
Approved: Yes
Audience: ADRI members

Contents

Executive summary
Introduction
Vision
Objectives
Guiding principles
Existing tools and models
Scope
Initiatives
Governance and responsibility
Resourcing
Risk analysis
Stakeholder analysis

Executive summary

The Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative (ADRI) was formed in 2004 to harmonise the efforts of government archives and records authorities in Australia and New Zealand in the area of digital recordkeeping.

This document outlines the strategic vision for ADRI over the next two year. It articulates the vision and objectives of the Initiative and the principles under which ADRI will operate. This document also gives an overview of the existing tools and models that are used by archives and records authorities to undertake digital recordkeeping.

The scope of work that ADRI will undertake fits within this framework of models and tools which can broadly be identified as:

A number of initiatives have been identified that will be undertaken by ADRI over the coming two years. These fall broadly into four categories:

A governance model for ADRI has been established which includes:

Resourcing principles have been established in order to ensure that each ADRI initiative is able to be delivered. A risk and stakeholder analysis has been undertaken.

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Introduction

It has been the experience of government archives and records authorities that the discipline and culture surrounding records management in government has been significantly eroded other than in high-risk, highly regulated or high value business processes. In addition, as more business processes are heavily embedded in information technology there is a growing need to capture and manage digital rather than physical records.

While government agencies are moving towards integrated information technology architectures and approaches that incorporate a records management component, it will take some time to move from current function specific software to this integrated model. Even when effective infrastructure is in place within agencies, it is questionable whether the quality of recordkeeping will improve.

The quality of recordkeeping is more likely to improve where the digital records are recognised and valued and infrastructure exists to capture, manage, preserve and re-use the records.

As the providers of recordkeeping standards and guidance to government agencies, it is incumbent on the government archives and records authorities to assist government agencies more effectively to make, keep and re-use their digital records. It is also important that government archives and records authorities establish internal practices and tools to enable the long-term retention and accessibility of the digital records with which they are entrusted.

Recognition of these circumstances led in 2004 to the formation of the Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative (ADRI).

The primary objective of ADRI is to find better ways to ensure that digital records are captured, managed, preserved and made accessible for the future. This will be done by pooling existing resources and expertise. Every one of the national, state and territory government archives and records authorities in Australia and New Zealand have joined together to form this Initiative. They have agreed to collaborate on the development, articulation and implementation of a common set of strategies for enabling the making, keeping and using of the digital records of governments.

ADRI focuses attention on the importance of archives and records authorities and government agencies working together to preserve digital records.

The Initiative promotes a uniform Australasian approach to digital public recordkeeping across all jurisdictions and provides a space for communication and information sharing between the members. The collaboration ensures the best possible strategic use of limited collective resources and maximises the wider awareness and impact of the agreed approach to addressing the challenge of digital records.

The collaboration builds on and acknowledges many years of Australasian collaboration in the development of concepts, tools, standards and strategies for good recordkeeping. The Initiative’s approach will add value to existing jurisdiction-specific initiatives, placing them in a coherent framework with national and international standards.

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Vision

The Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative (ADRI) has agreed on the following vision for 2005–2007:

All governments in Australia and New Zealand (supported by their archives and records authority) implement a uniform approach to making, keeping and using digital records to ensure accountability and the long-term protection of vital cultural heritage.

This uniformity leads to improved efficiency, economy and interoperability across participating jurisdictions.

Objectives

ADRI has the following objectives:

  1. That each government (including local) in Australia and New Zealand has an governance regime for the digital environment (also known as e-governance) which is supported by sound strategies for making, keeping and using digital records.
  2. That the digital evidence of government business in Australia and New Zealand is captured, preserved and accessible for the benefit of current and future generations.
  3. That, in a digital environment, government agencies can meet their legal and functional responsibilities effectively and economically.
  4. That professional leadership and development in digital recordkeeping is provided by ADRI members.
  5. That all ADRI members are committed to agreed principles for digital recordkeeping.
  6. That vendors provide implementations of standards developed by ADRI.
  7. That ADRI supports members in advocating for appropriate digital recordkeeping to support government in their jurisdictions.
  8. That the best possible strategic use of limited collective resources is made and that information is shared between ADRI members in an efficient and timely manner.

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Guiding principles

  1. Government archives and records authorities are responsible for advocating the implementation of comprehensive records management programs in the public sector and for assisting government agencies accordingly.
  2. An essential prerequisite for successful digital recordkeeping is the design and implementation of recordkeeping systems that enable the creation and capture of records in support of business needs, efficiency, accountability and to meet community expectations.
  3. Everyone involved in recordkeeping processes, including records creators, managers and users1, should be made aware of their rights and responsibilities and given adequate support and training.
  4. In developing and implementing recordkeeping systems it is essential to identify at an early stage what records need to be made and how long those records need to be kept to meet business and accountability needs and community expectations.
  5. Systems for making, keeping and using digital records needed to capture and manage standardised metadata which documents the content, context and structure of records, and which enables records to be linked to their functional context.
  6. Records that are made in digital form should be retained in the form which most appropriately ensures their ongoing integrity, authenticity, preservation and access, with a preference for retention in digital form.
  7. Digital records need to be actively managed and maintained if they are to remain authentic, reliable and usable for as long as they are required.
  8. Preservation formats for digital records should not be dependent on or constrained by proprietary rights. Digital records that are required for long term use should be retained in stable archival file formats in order to avoid problems associated with proprietary software and hardware dependencies.
  9. Safe, secure and trustworthy digital repositories for the protection and preservation of valuable digital public records need to be established and maintained for each jurisdiction. These repositories may be shared by jurisdictions.
  10. As governed by relevant legislation in each jurisdiction, the public has a general right of access to public records. Access regimes for digital records should be instituted that make full use of digital technologies and public networks to promote and maximise access to records as soon as those records are legally able to be made accessible.

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Existing tools and models

A number of national and international standards exist that are used or referenced by archives and records authorities and government agencies in making, keeping and using digital records. (See the ADRI Framework for further information about current national and international standards).

Archives and records authorities have also sought to establish their own tools to assist agencies in meeting the challenges of digital recordkeeping. In addition, a number of models have been developed by archival authorities to aid them to manage digital records as archives.

Broadly speaking the tools and models fall into four areas:

Making and managing digital records

Systems for making, managing, keeping and using digital records need to be well designed to take account of user needs. Users may be internal organisational users, public users or community users. Government agencies need to make meaningful and authentic records with appropriate recordkeeping metadata that enables their digital records to be used for as long as they are required. When records are no longer required they should be appropriately disposed of with reference to relevant laws and to disposal authorisations issued by the relevant archival authority.

The cornerstone of the framework for making and managing digital records is the Australian Standard, AS ISO 15489: Records Management. In order to provide more detailed guidance for agencies, a variety of standards, policies and guidelines addressing different aspects of making and managing digital records have been developed or are under development. All of these separate products are consistent with the strategic and conceptual framework recommended in AS ISO 15489. (See the ADRI Framework for further information about current standards, policies and guidelines).

Keeping digital records in agencies and in archives and records authorities

Digital records need to be actively maintained if they are to remain of use to government and for research in the future. Government agencies however, are usually limited in the extent to which they can accommodate and afford changes to their recordkeeping systems and related infrastructure. Most agencies have to operate with hardware and software spanning a number of generations with limited interoperability.

The members of the Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative have looked at other international approaches to this issue. Our research shows that the best strategy for preserving digital records over the long term is to standardise them into a stable format.

Records such as emails, spreadsheets, and word-processed documents created in commercial software programs are converted and stored in a stable long-term form. Our approach to preserving digital records as archives uses, in part, standardised XML (eXtensible Markup Language).2

Transferring digital records to archives and records authorities

Where government records need to be kept as archives they should be transferred to archival custody for storage in secure digital repositories. Transfer policies and procedures will be in accordance with guidelines issued by the relevant archival authority.

Using digital records and archives

Once digital records have been converted into an archival format, copies can be made available to agency and public users in a variety of formats including via the Internet. Public access to records is governed by legislation in the different jurisdictions and is facilitated by standards-based online search facilities and archival databases.

See the ADRI Framework for a detailed listing of existing tools and products developed by ADRI members.

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Scope

ADRI was formed to articulate and promote a common approach to digital recordkeeping and to collaborate, engage and inform, and share resources in the development of practical strategies for enabling the creation and preservation of, and long-term access to, born-digital and digitised records.

The public records institutions of Australia and New Zealand face similar, if not identical, challenges in the digital era:

The scope of work that ADRI will undertake covers the range of activities that can broadly be identified as:

The existence of ADRI is not meant to override the ability of individual jurisdictions to set their own strategic priorities and jurisdiction-specific policies and strategies, providing such policies and strategies are consistent with the overarching ADRI Framework.

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Initiatives

ADRI initiatives will include common standards and specifications, guidelines and best practice manuals, case studies, marketing and promotional material as well as strategic documents designed to guide the work of ADRI.

ADRI has agreed that member institutions will work together to deliver the following:

Strategic tools

  1. ADRI Strategic Plan and Framework - COMPLETE
  2. Generic business cases for digital recordkeeping
  3. Archival staff training workshops in digital recordkeeping

Common standards and specifications

  1. Standard transfer format for digital records
  2. Generic specifications for records management software functionality
  3. Generic specifications for digital archive hardware and software functionality
  1. Generic specifications for recordkeeping functionality in business applications

Guidelines and best practices manuals

  1. Managing recordkeeping metadata in archival systems (policy/procedure)
  2. High-level implementation plan for implementing digital recordkeeping in an archival institution
  3. Case studies
  1. Statement on Digital Rights Management Technologies Digital Recordkeeping Tools
  1. Online tools for developing disposal authorities and recordkeeping plans

Infrastructural tools

  1. ADRI documentation standard
  2. ADRI website
  3. Communications plan
  1. Issues paper on Intellectual Property
  1. Protocols for the numbering and titling of ADRI documents

More information on each of these initiatives can be found in the ADRI Business Plan for 2005–2007.

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Governance and responsibility

Directorate

The Directorate of ADRI is composed of the Council of Australasian Archives and Records Authorities (CAARA). Other participants may be invited to join as opportunities arise. CAARA members include the heads of:

CAARA has the ultimate authority over ADRI and provides overall direction to the Initiative. It ensures that ADRI outcomes meet the needs and expectations of all ADRI member institutions and that ADRI objectives are met. Ultimately CAARA will resolve any conflicts and issues which may arise. CAARA will prioritise ADRI projects and also ensure appropriate resources are available to individual ADRI projects.

Steering Committee

The Steering Committee will, on behalf of CAARA, provide detailed management and overview of the various projects and activities being pursued at any one time, and provide strategic advice to CAARA on possible future directions and projects. The Steering Committee should be composed of people with expertise in recordkeeping, information technology and information management.

The ADRI Steering Committee consists of:

As more projects are established, it is expected that more members will be coopted to the Steering Committee.

ADRI Plenary

The Plenary is a twice-yearly meeting (may be by teleconference) of team project managers, technical subject leaders and the ADRI Steering Committee. The aims of the Plenary are:

Project teams

Project teams will be formed for each ADRI deliverable. By agreement with the Steering Committee, a member institution will accept sponsoring responsibility for each particular project. The sponsoring institution accepts responsibility for ensuring that the project mandate is carried out. The teams may be made up of representatives from single institutions or from a range of ADRI member institutions. Each team will have one project manager, to be provided by the sponsoring institution, who will have day-to-day authority over the project. The project manager must ensure the delivery of the project to the agreed level of quality, on time and within budget (as determined by the Steering Committee and the sponsoring institution). The project manager will be responsible for convening meetings as appropriate of the project team. The project manager will report to the Steering Committee.

Teams may also include technical subject leaders. Technical subject leaders will provide technical advice about the project to the project manager.

Project teams may consist of one person.

Secretariat

Secretariat services for ADRI are provided by the National Archives. Currently the Secretary is Adrian Cunningham, Director, Strategic Relations.

The Secretariat is responsible for convening Steering Committee meetings, drafting agendas and minutes, and maintaining records, information resources and links for ADRI and the ADRI website.

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Resourcing

The following principles apply to the resourcing of ADRI and its objectives:

As much as possible ADRI deliverables will be based on work already undertaken or planned either by member institutions or by external organisations. Each proposed deliverable will be assessed on the basis of need and available resources (including budget) within one or more member institutions. Unless resources are available and/or the need is great, a proposed deliverable will not be given a high priority.

Prioritising of deliverables and resources will be determined at CAARA meetings based on advice received from the ADRI Steering Committee.

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Risk analysis

All ADRI projects are required to have a risk analysis and a risk management strategy. The following risks have been identified which relate to the objectives of ADRI itself. They are colour coded as follows:

Extreme
High
Medium
Low

Risk or issue

Likelihood of risk occurring
(L, M, H)

Impact of risk occurring
(L, M, H)

Strategy for managing risk/issue
That insufficient resources are provided by ADRI members to enable the production of ADRI deliverables H M CAARA members will commit to provide sufficient resources for each ADRI priority project
That the information technology market moves in a different competing direction M H ADRI will ensure that the tools and models it produces are sufficiently well researched to fit with world best practice
That technology advances too fast and ADRI teams are not able to develop deliverables which meet the changing imperatives of technology M H

The ADRI Plenary will ensure that teams are apprised of changes to technology in order to accommodate them in project plans

CAARA members will re-prioritise projects in order to ensure that current projects meets the needs of the ADRI institutions
That the coordinated approach fails and different jurisdictions move in different, competing directions L H

The governance structure emphasises coordination and consensus. A communication plan will be drafted which will ensure that all ADRI members are informed of strategic directions for the initiative

The ADRI Plenary will ensure that ADRI teams are apprised of any changes in direction in different jurisdictions

Stakeholder analysis

The main ADRI stakeholders are the Governments that members represent, the member institutions themselves and their staff, and the government agencies they service.

Users of records are also stakeholders. They may be public or community users or agency users.

In addition, professionals in the areas of Information Management, Records Management and Archiving and Information Technology – including software vendors – which are grappling with digital preservation issues are also stakeholders.

Other stakeholders include public officials and ministers who resource ADRI member institutions and who require ADRI member institutions to meet the objective of ensuring the continued usability of electronic evidence while making the most efficient use of resources.

Other stakeholders include standard setting organisations like the International Council on Archives, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and Standards Australia as there may be overlap between standards developed by ADRI and these bodies. ADRI may undertake joint work with these bodies. In addition, standards developed by ADRI may be adopted by these organisations or vice versa.

ADRI will also be of interest to academics, libraries and students of related disciplines, and international research initiatives.

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Footnotes

1. Includes internal organisational users, public users and community users of records.

2. Both Xena (the National Archives of Australia's preservation approach) and VERS (the Public Record Office Victoria's preservation approach) use XML as a key component of the transformation process. In addition VERS uses a range of long-term preservation formats.


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