email as records uw colleges and uw - extension dennis larsen, crm records officer february 20, 2014

Email as RecordsUW Colleges and UW - Extension

Dennis Larsen, CRM

Records Officer

February 20, 2014

Goals of Presentation

• Deleting email is a virtue– Deleting unimportant email is necessary– Implementation of Office 365 provides a good

opportunity to do this.

• Learn what email (records) should be retained.– After deleting many email some will remain.– Most of these although retained will also deserve

deletion at a later date.

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Email Retention or Disposition?

• Axiom of records management:– Most records lose significance fast.– Email are often records, but lose value fast.

• After the bill is paid, further reference is close to zero.• Once you have attended a meeting, the email invitation becomes

much less interesting.

• When should we delete?• What practices and official policy does the University

system have regarding email?

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Business Communications

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Official University of Wisconsin

Policy!

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Identify email content

Is the email non- business &

personal, an extra copy, a draft, or

spam?

Is the email business, but has transitory, short

term value?

Is the email routine business, but with an ending

event?

Is the email part of existing a

known schedule?

Wisconsin State Statue 16.61(2)(b) says it is not a record. Delete it!

Retention Schedule*: Keep 7 days or until superseded or event has expired. Delete it!

Retention Schedule*: Keep 6 months after event, project or activity. Delete it!

Follow appropriate retention schedule available at Records Schedules

No

No? Contact records officer

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

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Is the email non- business & personal, an extra copy, a

draft, or spam?

Wisconsin State Statue 16.61(2)

(b) says it is not a record, it is a non-record

Delete it!

Yes

No

Statute 16.61(2)(b)(1-6) Public Records does not include:

1. Records and correspondence of any member of the legislature.

1m. Any state document received by a state document depository library.

2. Duplicate copies of materials the original copies of which are in the custody of the same state agency and which are maintained only for convenience or reference and for no other substantive purpose.

3. Materials in the possession of a library or museum made or acquired solely for reference or exhibition purposes.

Statute 16.61(2)(b)(1-6) Public Records does not include:

4. Notices or invitations received by a state agency that were not solicited by the agency and that are not related to any official action taken, proposed or considered by the agency.

5. Drafts, notes, preliminary computations and like materials prepared for the originator's personal use or prepared by the originator in the name of a person for whom the originator is working.

6. Routing slips and envelopes.

Speaking of Spam

Weeding out non-record material is a best practice.

What are some examples of spam?

Delete it!

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Speaking of Spam

Weed out non-record material

Looks phishy to me.

Delete it!

Delete non-records such as advertising and spam

Delete!

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Non-records

Non-records

Non-records

Non-records

Non-records

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Is the email business, but

has transitory, short term

value?

Keep 7 days or until

supersededor event has

expired.

Delete it!

RDA#UWBC0002

No

Yes

Business Communication: Transitory

Also known as RDA #UWBC0002

RDA is Retention Disposition Authorization

Transitory communication is directly connected to the transaction of public business that is conducted by university employees, but it has a short-term business value.

Source of definitions: University of Wisconsin System Business Communication General Records Schedule.

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Transitory communication has no business value after the information contained in the message has been conveyed or superseded, or the event to which the message is related has occurred. Transitory communication does not establish policies, guidelines, or procedures; certify a transaction; become a receipt; nor perpetuate or formalize business activities of the University of Wisconsin System. Transitory communication is not necessary for statutory, legal, or fiscal purposes; has no historical value; would not be filed in a records management system; and should be destroyed after one week, or when obsolete because the communication has been superseded or the related event has transpired.


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Transitory communication can be memorialized using many different types of business tools, and examples include but are not limited to:

(1) Messages that communicate information that is not the basis for official action, such as news bulletins, holiday notices, charity and welfare appeals, or information about workplace events.

(2) Scheduling information pertaining to an event that has already occurred.

(3) Courtesy copies of communications that convey information but do not require responsive action by the University employee who is the recipient, but not the creator, of the communication.

(4) Communication that is created by, or received from, a distribution list, listserv, or other resource provider for reference purposes.


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(5) A preliminary version of a document that has been shared for review and comment among colleagues after it has been superseded by a successive version of the document. Preliminary versions of a record may be classified as transitory only by the recipient, but not the creator, of the communication.

(6) Transitory requests for information or materials to which a university employee can easily reply, and in response to which a university employee would not have to perform special research, engage administrative processes, or seek supervisory review.


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Delete Non-records and Transitory Email from your Inbox

Delete!See Email Clean-Up for O365 Migration

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Non Records

Non Records

Non Records

Transitory Records

Transitory Records

Deleting MessagesYou can delete messages individually if you'd like, but there's also

two quick ways to delete multiple messages at a time.

• If you want to delete multiple consecutive messages: click the first message, then press and hold the Shift key on your keyboard. While still holding Shift, click the last email that you want to delete. You can now delete all of the highlighted messages at once.

• If you want to delete multiple messages that are not all in a row: Click the first message you'd like to delete, then press and hold the CTRL key on your keyboard. While still holding CTRL, select the next message you'd like to delete. Repeat this until all of your desired messages are highlighted. You can now delete all of the highlighted messages at once.

Source: page 3 Email Clean-Up for O365 Migration

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Is the email routine

business, but with an ending

event?

Keep 6 months after event, project

or activity.

Delete it!

RDA# UWBC0001

No? Contact the Records Officer

Yes

No

Folders for Routine Projects

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Retention 6 months from “event”

“Event” refers to a defined point which starts the retention

clock ticking.

Business Communications Routine

“Routine communication has continuing value as a public record, because it is directly connected to the transaction of public business that is conducted by university employees… comprises the normal communication that occurs when university employees, and sometimes their colleagues who are not university employees, work together to transaction public business on behalf of the University… has no historical value; never includes records that set forth university policies, guidelines, procedures, or directives;…does not formalize business processes…”


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Business Communications RoutineRoutine communication can be memorialized using many different types of

business tools, and it includes but is not limited to communication that:

(1) Allows university employees, and sometimes non-employees, who are in different physical locations to discuss and perform routine aspects of business activities or projects on behalf of the University of Wisconsin System;

(2) Records routine aspects of the decision-making process that occurred between colleagues during the lifecycle of a business activity or project;

(3) Assists employees in administering routine facets of a university activity or business project; or

(4) Allows employees to disseminate to their colleagues routine, substantive materials that are related to a university activity or business project.


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How long should we keep routine business communications i.e. E-Mail?

Due to its routine nature, this type of communication is necessary only for a period of six months after a business activity or project is finished, and thereafter, it can be destroyed.

As the user and manager of your own email, you have the chance to determine when to start the retention for the 6 months of retention. The starting point or trigger of retention periods is often called the event . That event as described above is after a business activity or project is finished. The business activity might the end of a semester, session, cycle of work, quarter, fiscal year…The event could be signified by a committee or task force ends. The event might be triggered by a final presentation, a final document, a report, a recommendation…


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What are recommended practices for retaining and deleting routine email?

• Classify email and store email in folders according to content and the retention rule of 6 months.

• Use clear names for emails in subject which match folders.

• Plan time regularly manage email (Best Practice)• Use automated methods where appropriate to

gain efficiency in managing email.


All these emails are part of a routine project:

Option: Move emails to I-Drive to Project File

Copy email to here

I-drive, My Documents

Conversations in Email (tip)

From View tab - Click to show email as conversation.

Helps identify email subject.

Helps with deleting or naming a folder for retention.

Click

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Is the email part of existing and known

schedule?

Email can be part of many diverse records series

defined in General Records Schedules

such as Human Resources,

Financial Aid, Fiscal and Accounting, Administrative

Records, Student Records, etc.

Ask the records officer and also see

General Records Schedules at:

http://www.uwex.uwc.edu/records/schedules/

posted/


Yes

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Is the email part of existing and known

schedule?

e.g. Agreements and Contracts UWS General

Records Schedule

UWADM013 Contracts between a university… private

entities…also include any

correspondence clarifying or setting

terms in the contract itself.

EVT + 6 years then

Delete it!

Duplicates? Delete when no longer

needed.


Yes

Continuing with example Agreement and Contracts

Suggestion: Copy Longer Term Email to Your I-Drive

A pre-existing set of folders you might have already for documents in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. might work for you.

You can save messages one at a time or by selecting multiple messages. See Email Clean-Up for O365 Migration sent via email on 2/24/14

Suggestion: Copy Longer Term Email to Your I-Drive

Multiples email not in a row? Then click first message, hold CTRL key, and while holding select a second email. Copy selected email using right click then paste to your I-Drive, My Documents, and to desired folder.

See Email Clean-Up for O365 Migration sent via email on 2/24/14

1st click

2nd click

What do these UWADM013 Agreements and Contracts include?

Per official description:This series consists of Contracts between a university or smaller unit and other government or private entities retained by the office or department. This series may also include any correspondence clarifying or setting terms in the contract itself.

Retention: EVT + 6 Yrs EVENT= Close of the Contract date or fulfillment/supersession of the terms.Some contracts may be scheduled in other series for shorter or longer retention periods; consult your institution’s records officer.

Copies: Destroy when no longer needed.

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Email In Various Devices?• What if your email records exist in multiple

computer and systems, even devices of your own; is it possible for it to be open to a public records request?

• What if you use alternate non-university email e.g. G-mail or Hotmail, is it possible for it to be open to a public records request?

Answer: Yes See Open Records Requests

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Questions or Comments

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email as records uw colleges and uw - extension dennis larsen, crm records officer february 20, 2014

Documents

email records

email business

email retention

email contentis

email invitation

email non business personal

email routine business

public records