Under the Public Records Act 2005, public offices and local authorities must create full and accurate records of their activities in accordance with normal, prudent business practice, and ensure that those records are captured into systems which will maintain them in an accessible form for as long as they are required. These systems include recordkeeping metadata.

This standard establishes principles and minimum requirements for creating and
managing recordkeeping metadata in electronic environments, in accordance with the Public Records Act 2005. It was developed by Archives New Zealand to ensure that full and accurate records of New Zealand state sector and local government business activity are adequately documented so that they can be managed effectively and continue to be useable over time.

Records consist of information in any format accompanied by metadata which:

• identifies and describes the record, including its contents, context, structural components, conditions of use and security, and relationships with other records, with people and with business being transacted
• identifies past and future events which document recordkeeping actions affecting the record’s management and therefore authenticity and integrity.

Records in all formats require metadata to ensure they provide a full and accurate
account of an organisation’s business activities. While paper records also require
metadata for their management, this standard specifically relates to recordkeeping
metadata in electronic environments.

1.1 Purpose

The purpose of this standard is to support and improve government recordkeeping.
Records cannot be considered authentic and reliable evidence of business without
recordkeeping metadata. This standard is designed to:

•  establish a framework for recordkeeping metadata applicable to anyoperational electronic environment in public offices and local authorities,including:
  • records systems/applications which manage records
  • business systems/applications which create and/or create and manage records
  • archival (long-term preservation) systems/applications which preserve and manage records over time
     
• establish principles for creating, maintaining and managing recordkeeping
  metadata
• establish a set of recordkeeping metadata elements suitable for use
  in any electronic system/application that creates or manages records.
   

1.2 Scope

While metadata applies to all records, regardless of format, this standard is specifically intended for electronic records or records in another format managed by an electronic system.

It applies to all electronic software applications that create or manage records,
including dedicated records systems, and business systems/applications that create
records.

This standard does not apply to records created in legacy business systems/applications operational before the standard was issued in 2008. However, if such systems are fundamentally redeveloped or have significant functionality added after issue of this standard, then the application of the standard is mandatory.

For a definition of a legacy business system/application please see section 5 Glossary of Key Terms.

The standard is accompanied by Technical Specifications, which contain a high-level recordkeeping metadata schema and outline options for implementation. For further information see section 3.1 Relationship with Technical Specifications.

This standard is intended for use by:

•  chief executives, other administrative heads and managers of organisations, as a benchmark for accountability within the organisation
•  records, knowledge and information management professionals
•  information technology professionals
•  all other people in organisations who have responsibility for systems designed to create, receive, manage, store or transmit electronic records.

1.3 Relationship with other Standards and Requirements

While this standard applies specifically to the creation and management of
recordkeeping metadata it overlaps with other recordkeeping processes and
requirements.

1.3.1 Archives New Zealand Standards

Requirements for other related processes as defined by the Public Records Act 2005 are outlined in other publications issued by Archives New Zealand. Of particular relevance to this standard are:

•  the Create and Maintain Recordkeeping Standard, which specifies minimum requirements for the making of full and accurate records by public offices and local authorities. The requirements are designed to ensure that records are available for access and maintenance over time, and provide a basis for an assessment of recordkeeping systems, policies and procedures for this purpose
•  the Electronic Recordkeeping Systems Standard, which sets out functional specifications for electronic recordkeeping systems for use within the New Zealand public sector
•  the Digitisation Standard, which establishes a framework for maintaining public records and local government protected records in electronic format only, where the original paper, or other non-electronic source record, has been copied.

Reference has been made to these standards in developing the Electronic
Recordkeeping Metadata Standard, so that it is consistent with the requirements
outlined in these standards.

Other relevant standards and guidance issued by Archives New Zealand can be found in the Continuum Recordkeeping Kit. All standards will be reviewed and revised over time. An up-to-date list and copies of all Continuum publications can be found on Archives New Zealand’s Continuum website at: http://continuum.archives.govt.nz/ .

1.3.2 Metadata Standards

This standard is issued in the context of other relevant standards, including
international standards, which have been endorsed for use in the New Zealand public sector:

•  ISO 23081-1: 2006 Information and documentation — Records managementprocesses — Metadata for records — Part 1: Principles
•  AS/NZS ISO 23081-2: 2007 Information and documentation — Records
  management processes — Metadata for records — Part 2: Conceptual and
  implementation issues.
  

Individual organisations will also need to adhere to metadata standards written for their specific communities or mandated for specific purposes. Examples include:

•  AS/NZS ISO 19115: 2005 Geographic information – Metadata, of particular relevance to organisations managing records with spatial components such as land, mapping and natural resources organisations
•  CEN EN13606-1 Electronic Healthcare Record Communications, or HL7
  Metadata Standards for implementations of electronic medical records in the health care sector 
• NZGLS New Zealand Government Locator Service Standard, for discovery metadata.
   

1.3.3 The Treaty of Waitangi / Te Tiriti o Waitangi

The rights of Māori to their recorded knowledge – which is taonga in the terms of the Treaty of Waitangi – should be respected when this knowledge is incorporated into government records and archives. This standard aims to support the Treaty of Waitangi in respect of Māori cultural practice regarding the identification of records containing traditional or sensitive knowledge and the appropriate management of these records.

 

1.4 Advice and Guidance

This standard sets out to clearly specify the minimum requirements for recordkeeping metadata. Further guidance documents to help implement the standard in specific environments will be available. The first of these is the Guide to Recordkeeping Metadata in Electronic Document/Records Management Systems (EDRMS).

Advice and guidance on implementation is also available from Archives New Zealand:

Government Recordkeeping Programme

Archives New Zealand

PO Box 12050

Wellington 6144

Telephone: 04 499-5595

Email: rkadvice@archives.govt.nz