Electronic Mail Management, Retention, and

DispositionUtah State Archives and Records Service

This presentation will focus on how to apply records management procedures to email.

Records ManagementRecords Management

Email ManagementEmail Management

ArchiveArchive

Is email overwhelming?

Definitions: Record

Record as defined by GRAMA is a “book, letter, document, paper, map, plan, photograph, film, card, tape, recording, electronic data, or other documentary material regardless of physical form or characteristics: that is prepared, owned, received, or retained by a governmental entity or political subdivision; and where all of the information in the original is reproducible by photocopy or other mechanical or electronic means.” UCA § 63G-2-103(22)(a)

Documents that are considered non-records include: drafts, personal notes or communications, proprietary software, copyrighted material, junk mail, commercial publications, and personal daily calendars. UCA § 63G-2-103(22)(b)

[emphasis added]

Definition: Email

An asynchronous message, especially one following the RFC 2822 or MIME standards sent via a computer network held in online accounts to be read or downloaded by the recipients. Email consists of a header, with routing information, and a body, which contains the message, separated by a blank line. Email records include metadata and attachments.

Definitions: Metadata

Metadata is data about data. It is information about who created a

document, and when; size; and who changed it, and when. It is a record of events about the particular file.

Definitions: Retention schedule The record series retention schedule refers

to the period of time that a record must be maintained as approved by the State Records Committee. UCA § 63G-2-103(26) Record series retention schedules are either agency

specific or general schedules, which identify records common to all agencies. Either may be used. All are maintained by the State Archives. UCA § 63G-2-604(1)(b)(c)

Definitions: Disposition

The disposition refers to the records’ final destruction or transfer to the State Archives for permanent preservation and access as determined by their value.

Why manage email?

All records contained or maintained by a state governmental entity are the property of the state and shall not be mutilated, destroyed or otherwise damaged or disposed of, in whole or part except as established in an approved record series retention schedule. UCA § 63A-12-105(1)

Why manage email?

“It is unlawful for a person to intentionally mutilate, destroy, or to otherwise damage or dispose of the record copy of a record knowing that the mutilation, destruction, damage, or disposal is in contravention of” the applicable retention schedule. UCA § 63A-12-105(3)(a)

Violation is a Class B misdemeanor and an employee may be subject to disciplinary action. UCA § 63A-12-105(3)(b) & (c)

Why manage email?

State and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure compel civil litigants to preserve and produce electronic evidence on demand in discovery. Fed.R.Civ.P. 34(a)(1)(A) amended in 2006 provides

that any requesting party may inspect, copy, test, or sample “any designated documents or electronically stored information…stored in any medium” and that “electronically stored information stands on equal footing with discovery of paper documents.”

Saving as an .rft does not preserve metadata

Preserve format

It is essential that the format of emails be preserved and that they are viewable as they were created. Some means of saving emails, such as plain text, do not preserve the original format, and thus are not ideal for the purposes of records management and not acceptable for ediscovery.

Why manage email?

By managing email accounts, governmental entities can manage records and dispose of obsolete records and personal information appropriately.

Email management

To manage email:1. Identify and categorize email by record

series retention schedules approved by the State Records Committee

2. Set up GroupWise folders according to record series for retention management and disposition

3. Follow best practices email management guidelines

4. Adhere to acceptable use standards

1. Retention management

Currently most retention actions are managed manually at the discretion of the employee and specific agency policies within the context of the current email environment. Individual employees will need to manage their

email records.

Identify the record series

Identify the record series which will indicate the email’s legal retention schedule/period and its ultimate disposition (i.e., destroy or permanent preservation and access).

Administrators and records officers should work together to identify which record series should be used for the agency.

Employees need to work with the agency records officer to identify the appropriate, approved records series retention schedules for the agency.

Records series retention schedules Approved record series retention schedules

can be found on the State Archives website. Administrators should use the philosophy of

“big buckets,” limiting the number of choices (to a dozen or fewer).

After the record series retention schedules are identified, the agency can set up appropriate email folders.

The agency should appoint a destruction officer to approve and review destructions.

Purchasing Plan

FOLDERSDISPOSITION

Transitory Correspondence 2 years Destroy

(GS, Item 1-9, Transitory Correspondence)

Solicitations 5 years Destroy

(Series 16591, Solicitation files)

State Cooperative Contracts 6 years Destroy

(Series 16593, Purchasing contracts)

Agency Contracts 6 years Destroy

(Series 16593, Purchasing contracts)

Performance Measures 4 years State Archives (Series

16584, Administrative correspondence)

Value of records

Like State Purchasing most agencies will have a folder forTransitory Correspondence Routine correspondence, meeting agendas, etc., that have

limited and short-lived administrative value only.

Administrative Records/Program, policy, or decision-making correspondence Business-related messages that provide substantive

information about agency functions, policies, procedures, or programs. These emails document the discussions and decisions of the agency and must be saved.

2. Email management

Folders within the email system can be set up according to function and retention category, or series. When an email worth keeping is sent or received, it is moved to the appropriate folder.

Email management

Categorize the email folders by records series to assist in the email management.

Developing sub-folders will allow records to be further categorized to a more individual level.

Email management

Folder information can include the records series title, description, retention period, and classification.

Record series retention schedulesBUDGET POLICY FILES (Item 2-8)Correspondence or subject files of

formally organized budget offices documenting agency policy and procedures governing budget administration, and reflecting policy decisions affecting expenditures for agency programs.

RETENTIONRecord copy: Permanent. Retain by

agency for 7 years and then transfer to State Archives with authority to weed.

Duplicate copies: Retain by agency for 5 years and then destroy.

SUGGESTED PRIMARY DESIGNATION: Public.

(Approved 07/90)

Disposition

Once a record series retention schedule has been met, email records should be disposed of according to the series retention schedule—either destroyed or transferred to the State Archives.

Destruction of obsolete records should include all records in active and backup storage. If all records are not authentically destroyed, they are still liable for discovery.

Destruction of obsolete records should be reviewed under the approval of the agency’s destruction officer.

http://archives.utah.gov/recordsmanagement/ERM/electronic-records-links.html

3. Email management guidelines Once folders have been organized, email

should be managed according to best practices guidelines. Preserve the record-copy Preserve the thread Use a meaningful subject line Conduct agency business on agency systems Do not combine business and personal email Do not retain copies

Identify the “record-copy” The “record-copy” is the

official copy for reference and preservation to which the retention schedule applies.

Both the received and sent messages will need to be managed.

Record-copy

Primarily, within government, the outgoing (sender’s) copy of an email is the record-copy.

Record-copy

Incoming (the recipient’s) email originating from outside the government is the record-copy.

Preserve the “thread”

Preserve the “thread” of the correspondence. The records series retention schedule applies until a response is made to the initial email, at which point a series of correspondence (thread) is created.

Preserve the “thread”

In such instances, the last email in the thread—the one containing the entirety of the correspondence between two or more persons—becomes the record-copy and thus the copy with the approved retention period.

Ensure the authenticity of the record

Saving just the conversation and not the thread leaves room for data manipulation.

Meaningful subject line

In order to provide accessibility and promote efficient searching mechanisms, all outgoing emails related to government business should have a subject line that clearly reflects the content of the email. Index terms to the metadata may be applied to further promote ease of access.

Conduct state business on state systems Government business conducted via email

should use established and approved agency email systems.

Work done from personal accounts could be transferred to the state system so records may be managed appropriately.

Separate business and personal email

Do not combine messages of business (records) with messages of a personal nature (non-records). If the content of an email contains both personal information and business-related information (record), it must be kept as a record.

Do not save non-records

Emails that are personal messages not related to business, “me-too” messages, listservs, [or already captured by someone else] should not be saved. Dispose of all non-record emails to reduce the amount needing to be managed and stored.

Do not save copies

Copies do not need to be retained. Email can be broadcast to hundreds of people at once, and each of those duplicates should not be saved. Only those recipients who then respond to the correspondence need save copies.

Often employees argue the need for keeping copies of records for their personal work use, past the retention period, or copies of non-records. A GroupWise folder can be created for that use; however, these records and information will still be discoverable.

Personal copies/copies of records

Personal copies

Emails that are strictly personal, and not valuable to work, should be transferred to personal accounts and never saved.

Acceptable use standards

The state’s acceptable use rule, Rule R895-7. Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources, provides basic policy, No expectation of privacy. The email system is a state product and all data is

owned by the state. Email can be broadcast and forwarded by

individuals outside the state’s control.

Review

Remember, to manage email records, Identify record series retention schedules Set up email folders according to record

series selected for agency email Follow the email management guidelines Adhere to acceptable use standards

Review

Email management guidelines: Identify the record-copy Preserve the thread Use a meaningful subject line Conduct agency business on agency systems Do not combine business and personal email Do not retain copies

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Review: Retain or Not to Retain?Review: Retain or Not to Retain?

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Review: Retain or Not to Retain?

Questions?

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For assistance, contact the State Archives, archives.utah.gov