Archives New Zealand’s new Standard for Storage of Records and Archives (S2) was officially launched by Judith Tizard, Minister responsible for Archives New Zealand, on 19 September 2007. The Storage Standard is the first mandatory standard for public offices and local authorities issued under the Public Records Act 2005. It outlines minimum storage requirements for physical records and archives. These requirements will be assessed in audits of public offices starting from 2010. Print copies of the standard are on their way to chief executives of all public offices and local authorities, as well as to all Continuum kit holders. You can access the Storage Standard on our website.
Full committee drafts have been prepared for two new Public Records Act 2005 standards: the Recordkeeping Metadata Standard and the Standard on Creation and Maintenance of Full and Accurate Records. Both exposure drafts have been considered by advisory groups and have been issued for public comment. For the metadata standard, we are working closely with the National Archives of Australia. More information and contact details for these projects are available online at the links below.
Recordkeeping Metadata Standard
Storage of records was also the subject of our government recordkeeping forums in Wellington and Auckland in September. Speakers from Archives New Zealand (Patrick Power), Ministry of Justice (Graham Chapman), Recall Total Information Management (Russell McArtney), New Zealand Police (Heather Cameron) and Auckland City Council (Sarah Padey) talked about the new standard and plans for its implementation in their respective organisations. Many of the presentations are available online.
All current disposal authorities are now available through Archives New Zealand’s online documentation system Archway. The new reference tool for recordkeepers across government was launched at the government recordkeeping forum in September. In the past, many organisations found it difficult to identify the Archives New Zealand authorities in place for disposal of their records. The disposal authorities now can be searched by agency, authority number, keyword or date online.
A new Continuum fact sheet has been published to help organisations achieve a good outcome when contracting appraisal or implementation work to an external provider. Fact Sheet F17, Tips for Using External Providers for Appraisal Projects, is available on the Continuum website.
The 2007 Government Recordkeeping Survey had an excellent response rate of 99.5% or 197 of the 198 organisations which were sent the survey. The results showed an apparent reduction in unauthorised disposal of records, and a rise in the number of organisations assessing their compliance with the Public Records Act 2005. They also highlighted some continued problem areas. The survey results, as well as recommendations for improvements, are in the Chief Archivist's Annual Report on the State of Government Recordkeeping 2007, which was tabled in Parliament in October together with Archives New Zealand’s Annual Report 2007. Summaries of results will be sent to all the organisations that responded to the survey in the next month. If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Alice Patterson at alice.patterson@archives.govt.nz or phone 04 894 6035.
Claire Atkinson has joined us as an Archivist in the Appraisal team. Claire previously worked in the records team at the Ministry of Social Development.
Recordkeeping enquiries: rkadvice@archives.govt.nz
Postal address: PO Box 12-050
Physical address: 10 Mulgrave St, Wellington, New Zealand
Phone: (04) 499 5595
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