Archives New Zealand accepted the custodianship for the Trusted Computing and Digital Rights Management (TC / DRM) Standards and Guidelines from the State Services Commission at the government recordkeeping forum in Wellington on 5 March. Although they promise advancement for the security and management of information, TC and DRM technologies also present challenges and risks to the protection of the integrity of government-held information. Archives New Zealand will lead a number of activities as part of our custodianship role. These include maintaining a working group of experts from various government agencies, promoting and disseminating the standards, sharing information on current developments, and assessing uptake of TC/DRM technologies and adherence to the standards. For more information on the TC/DRM standards, see: http://www.e.govt.nz/policy/tc-and-drm. The project manager for TC/DRM custodianship at Archives New Zealand is Mick Crouch: mick.crouch@archives.govt.nz.
There’s been a great response to the three new training courses that Archives New Zealand introduced in February this year. Registrations are streaming in and the feedback from participants has been very positive. The training courses are being held regularly through-out the year in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The courses on offer are:
1. Introduction to the Public Records Act (1 day), $380 +GST
2. Disposal and Transfer of Public Records (2 days), $650 +GST
3. Public Records Act and Local Government Records and Archives (2 days), $650 +GST.
Although a number of courses in Wellington are already full, there are still spaces available in Christchurch and Auckland and in all locations from June onwards. To register or find more information, visit: http://www.archives.govt.nz/continuum/training.php or contact rktraining@archives.govt.nz.
A new Beginner’s Guide to Appraisal (G9) was launched on the Continuum website this month. This is a basic guide on how public offices should appraise public records. It has been developed to assist public office staff through the process of evaluating records to assess their ultimate fate: transfer to Archives New Zealand, destruction after a period of time, or transfer to private ownership. The guide is available on our website only (not in print) at: http://www.archives.govt.nz/continuum/documents/publications/g9/.
Archives New Zealand is currently developing an Appraisal Policy. This will be a high level articulation of what appraisal is in New Zealand government context and the need for appraisal. It will also include some principles that underpin a good appraisal and a set of collection objectives outlining Archive New Zealand’s view on what type of records are significant enough to become public archives. More information on this document will be available on the Archives New Zealand website. An exposure draft of the Appraisal Policy will soon be available for your comment. If you have questions, contact Mark Crookston, project manager for the appraisal policy, at: mark.crookston@archives.govt.nz.
The consultation period is complete for the two new Public Records Act 2005 standards: the Recordkeeping Metadata Standard and the Standard on Creation and Maintenance of Full and Accurate Records. Thanks to everyone who gave feedback. Your suggestions will improve the standards and ensure that they are fit for purpose. We received over 80 written submissions on each standard and more than 100 people participated in focus groups and briefings in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch. The advisory groups for the two projects have now met to consider all the comments and advise on the final stages of development. Summaries of consultation for both projects will be available on our website soon. The final standards are expected to be issued by June 2008. More information and contact details for these projects are available online at the links below.
Recordkeeping Metadata Standard: http://www.archives.govt.nz/continuum/currentprojects/metadatastandard.php
Create and Maintain Standard: http://www.archives.govt.nz/continuum/currentprojects/createmaintainstandard.php
We would like to draw your attention to two international standards being developed this year that are equivalents to our Electronic Recordkeeping Systems Standard (S5 – available at: http://www.archives.govt.nz/continuum/documents/publications/s5/0).
Archives New Zealand are partners in a project led by the International Council on Archives (ICA) and Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative (ADRI) that aims to develop globally harmonised statements of requirements for software products used to capture and manage records in office environments. Exposure drafts of three modules of the proposed new standard were released in February 2008: (1) Overview and Statement of Principles; (2) Guidelines and Functional Requirements for Electronic Records Management Systems; and (3) Guidelines and Functional Requirements for Records in Business Systems. These are available at: http://www.adri.gov.au/content.asp?cID=3. The next stage will be a meeting in April 2008 to review comments and decide on the final development stages for the standards. For more information contact Stephen Clarke, Archives New Zealand’s member of the project team: stephen.clarke@archives.govt.nz.
Another international development of high interest was the completion, in March, of the much awaited new edition of the European Union’s Model Requirements for Electronic Records Management specification (known as MoReq2). This standard is expected to have significant influence on the development of electronic records management products internationally. It also specifies optional features that are not central to recordkeeping but necessary for real-life operation, such as, integration with document management, collaborative working, content management and workflow, e-mail.. Testing scripts are available as part of the standard. A scheme to test software applications for MoReq2 compliance is expected to be announced soon. The full MoReq2 specification is now available for download from the MoReq2 website - http://www.moreq2.eu.
Mark your calendar for the next Archives New Zealand’s Government Recordkeeping Forum in Wellington on Wednesday, 4 June 2008, 1.00 – 4.00 pm, at the National Library Auditorium. This forum will focus on recordkeeping strategies when organisations are contracting out functions or undergoing organisational change.
Archives New Zealand is delighted to welcome Carolyn Gallagher to the new role of Access Services and Regional Services Group Manager. Carolyn comes to us from the Correspondence School in Wellington where she was Director Corporate. We also welcome Alison Fleming as our Chief Information Officer. Alison was most recently CIO at the Department of Conservation and previously at the Department of Internal Affairs. We’re also pleased that Tom Norcliffe, previously an Archivist in Archives New Zealand’s Christchurch Regional Office, has come up to Wellington to join the Appraisal team as a senior advisor. Mick Crouch is now back with Archives New Zealand’s Digital Sustainability Programme after a five month stint as a senior advisor with the Government Recordkeeping Programme.
Recordkeeping enquiries: rkadvice@archives.govt.nz
Postal address: PO Box 12-050
Physical address: 10 Mulgrave St, Wellington, New Zealand
Phone: (04) 499 5595