Analysis: Straightening Out the Paper Trail

The ever-changing nature of conducting business in a networked digital world has put a whole new twist on the government's paper trail. Now federal agencies must think in broader and more collaborative ways about their records management challenges.

In November 2011, President Obama issued a memorandum on reforming records management, requiring agencies to conduct self-assessments of their policies and practices. Those reports, due March 27, will provide grist for a directive to be issued 120 days later by the Office of Management and Budget and the National Archives and Records Administration on improving records management in six areas, including accountability, compliance, public access and transitioning to electronic record-keeping.

Agencies face several hurdles in developing their reports. The timeline is tight. If an agency has not inventoried its records already and assessed program effectiveness, devising an improvement plan will be difficult. Moreover, the assessment requires input from the agency records officer, chief information officer and general counsel, three individuals who will bring different perspectives and agendas to the discussion.

The National Archives considers records management to be the backbone of transparency and closely linked to the president's 2009 memorandum on open government. But improving records management will require very different solutions. The transparency directive required few additional resources and had little impact on the federal workforce. The records management initiative will affect how employees carry out their duties on a daily basis and will require greater resources. Substantially improving records management will necessitate changes in policies, processes and budgets, and will entail a multiyear commitment on the part of agency leaders.

A recent Archives report found that in 2010, 95 percent of agencies were "at high-to-moderate risk of compromising the integrity, authenticity and reliability of their records." Only a few agencies said they implemented electronic record-keeping, and many maintain files -- including email -- in hard copy. Agencies and the National Archives must address the role employees, technology, policy and records managers play in file management. Each poses significant challenges.

First, transitioning to electronic records will affect how every worker does his or her job. On the most basic level it will mean they will file records electronically. They must determine which records should be filed and what the appropriate category is, and then they must apply metadata such as file codes. Studies show that workers generally do not like to do this and do not do it well. And agencies have found their employees have a difficult time making these decisions for email, let alone blogs, wikis and Tweets.

Technology can mitigate the burden on employees but will require substantial investment. Applications that meet federal standards for electronic record-keeping do exist, and a few agencies have begun implementing them. But many technologies in use, including backup and email archiving systems and baseline SharePoint, do not meet National Archives standards. In other cases, agencies have purchased content management systems with record-keeping capabilities but have not deployed them due to cost, complexity or employee resistance.

Even when appropriate technology is available, few agencies have policies that enable employees or systems to determine what should be filed as a record and the appropriate filing category. Updating those policies will be possible only if the Archives simplifies its guidance, starting with its definition of a record in accordance with the 1950 Federal Records Act. The definition is open to a variety of interpretations, yet the Archives has shied away from updating it. Compounding the problem, records management regulations still have a strong paper bias, even after extensive revision in 2009.

In 2010, agencies reported 3,174 employees were managing the records of 4.6 million federal workers. Archives officials believe the number of full-time equivalents is actually lower. The number of managers with the expertise, experience and influence to participate meaningfully in transforming agencies' records management programs is even smaller.

From a records manager's perspective, an immediate benefit of President Obama's memorandum is it raises the profile of records management in federal agencies and aligns it with administration priorities such as the Open Government initiative. By requiring top-level engagement, it focuses attention on records and the resources necessary for improvement. To be successful, agencies must think in more collaborative ways about their records management challenges, most of which are rooted in the changing nature of how government conducts business in a networked, digital world. Likewise, the memorandum pressures the Archives to think creatively about managing federal records and how it can facilitate that transition.

Accomplishing the president's goals for records management will take time. Leaders of federal programs who have made the transformation speak in terms of a five- to 10-year process. Investments in technology, processes for creating and managing electronic records, and staff training and development are critical. The November memorandum is a necessary step toward improving records management, but it is only the first of many.

Mike Miller is director of the Records and Information Management Practice at ARRAY Information Technology, and is a professor at the University of Maryland and Drexel University.