Scheduling Electronic Records

During the past decade, the recordkeeping practices in public and private organizations have been revolutionized. New information technologies have transformed the way state agencies create, use, disseminate, and store information. These new technologies offer a vastly enhanced means of collecting information for and about citizens, communicating within state government and between state agencies and the public, and documenting the business of government.

These new technologies have resulted in the creation and maintenance of government records that were traditionally kept in paper form. These records are still government records and as such must be maintained and kept accessible over the entire retention period as required by Kansas law. To provide assurances to the Kansas State Records Board that the records will be maintained, and to help agencies with IT planning, the Records Management Section of the Kansas Historical Society has revised its approach to scheduling electronic records. Using information from an agency ’s Three Year Information Technology Management and Budget Plan and information on how the agency plans on keeping the records accessible for the entire retention period, KSHS staff will create or amend the retention and disposition schedule to incorporate the electronic records. The Kansas Electronic Records Committee will review the schedule while in draft form and suggest any revisions to the schedule before submission to the State Records Board for approval. Agencies should work with Records Management staff as they develop their approach to maintaining access to and preservation of electronic records, and encompassing retention and disposition schedules.

For more information on scheduling electronic records contact Scott Leonard, State Records Manager/Electronic Records Specialist, (785) 272-8681 ext. 288.