4. > KEY PRINCIPLES

Websites are used by government organisations to fulfill a range of purposes from delivery of basic information (web presence) to online access to critical information, downloading of forms, email interaction and, ultimately, completing transactions online by seamlessly integrating line of business systems.⁶

Implementing recordkeeping strategies for websites is fundamental to each of these purposes since a full and accurate record of official activities conducted via websites enables citizens to confirm or claim their rights and entitlements, and organisations to account for their decisions and actions.

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4.1. > WEB RECORDS SHOULD BE MANAGED WITHIN RECORDKEEPING SYSTEMS

Recordkeeping best practice requires records, including web records, to be captured and managed within recordkeeping systems.⁷ Recordkeeping systems link records to business activities, retain records of past actions, and fix the content and structure of records.⁸

In practice web records can be captured and managed within recordkeeping systems either by capturing web records into existing corporate recordkeeping systems, or by integrating recordkeeping functionality into websites during their development or re-design. Integration costs can be minimised by implementing the recordkeeping strategies in this guide when website technologies are being refreshed.

Archives New Zealand's Continuum Resource Kit further articulates the characteristics of best practice recordkeeping systems.⁹ The Public Records Act Standard S5: Electronic Recordkeeping Systems Standard sets out the guidelines and functional specifications for electronic recordkeeping systems used by public offices and local authorities. In particular, the use of recordkeeping metadata to describe the creation, management, and use of web records over time is central to the recordkeeping strategies outlined in this guide.

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4.2. > RECORDKEEPING IS A CONTINGENT ACTIVITY

Public offices and local authorities should carefully consider their regulatory, business, and technological environments in determining the recordkeeping strategy for their websites. They should weigh up the risks of not implementing a recordkeeping strategy for all information on their websites against the implementation costs. Archives New Zealand's General Disposal Authorities can assist with this analysis by showing you which common types of records are authorised for disposal when no longer of administrative use.¹⁰ Further advice can be found in the International Standard on Records Management.¹¹

In undertaking this risk analysis, organisations should note that this guide is issued as best practice advice and that compliance with the guide is not mandatory. For example, an organisation may choose to implement its own variation on one of the recordkeeping strategies outlined in the guide.

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4.3. > WEB RECORDS SHOULD BE MANAGED OVER TIME

In general, the on-going management of electronic records revolves around the issues of media and file format obsolescence, and the continued linkage of recordkeeping metadata with individual records.

The viability of techniques for refreshing and migrating media formats, and for mitigating file format obsolescence (such as migration to an open-source file format or planned migrations through proprietary file formats) remain unproven over long periods of time. This is especially true for websites where the look-and-feel and specific functionality may be compromised as a result of file format migration.

Archives New Zealand is working to identify appropriate strategies and techniques for managing electronic records over time. In lieu of specific advice from Archives New Zealand, organisations should develop and implement their own strategies for refreshing and migrating media formats, migrating file formats, and managing recordkeeping metadata. As a general principle, however, you should, in addition to regulatory, business, and technological factors, take into account the following criteria when evaluating the long-term accessibility of file formats:¹²

Figure 1. Criteria for evaluating long-term accessibility of file formats.

Open standards	The file format should be documented, available to all, and free of charge to implement and use.13
Ubiquity	The file format should be supported by a wide range of software applications.
Stability	The file format should have remained relatively unchanged over time or be backwards compatible to earlier versions.
Metadata support	The file format should encapsulate metadata that enables the files to be managed and preserved over time.
Feature set	The file format should be 'fit for purpose'. The features specified by the format should be sufficient to support the range of functionality required for the business process, but equally it should not contain features that are unnecessary and thus make the format difficult to preserve over time.
Interoperability	The file format should be accessible by a wide range of software applications on a range of operating systems and hardware platforms.
Viability	The file format should have a built-in error-detection capability so any corruption of the file arising from its transmission over a network can be detected.

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6. State Services Commission. 2003. New Zealand E-Government Strategy – June 2003 – Update, p17.
7. International Standards Organisation. 2001. Information and documentation – Records management – Part 1: General. 15489-1:2001(E), s3.17.
8. Bearman, D. 1996. Item Level Control and Electronic Recordkeeping. Archives and Museum Informatics 10, No. 3: 195-245, p211.
9. Archives New Zealand. 2000. Continuum Resource Kit.
10. Archives New Zealand. 2005. General Disposal Authorities.
11. International Standards Organisation. 2001. Information and documentation – Records management – Part 2: Guidelines. 15489-2:2001(E), s4.2.4.2. Determining documents to be captured into a records system.
12. National Archives of the United Kingdom. 2003. Digital Preservation Guidance Note 1: Selecting file formats for long-term preservation.
13. Linuxlab. 2003. Open Standards.