Keeping Web Records

Keeping records of your website WE Believe in Community conference Local Government Web Network 20-21 August 2009

About State Records
1,553,894 website visits
55,948 reading room visitors
25,554 original archives used
42 community access points to State archives collection across NSW
395 kilometres of noncurrent records stored at Western Sydney
59.8 kilometres of standard format archives in custody
239,876 record items discoverable
State Records Annual Report 2007-8

Future Proof
Digital records strategy for New South Wales government
Aims:
improving digital recordkeeping across government
implementing a digital archiving facility for New South Wales government
Products, services:
Published guidance, standards, updates and training
Ad hoc advice to public offices including Councils

What is a digital record?
Digital information captured at a specific point in time that is kept as evidence of business activity.
Why?, Twin Peaks, 2009, http://www.flickr.com/photos/twinpeaks/3341130550/in/photostream/

Some digital records are State records
That is, digital records that are “..made and kept, or received and kept, by any person in the course of the exercise of official functions in a public office, or for any purpose of a public office, or for the use of a public office.”
State Records Act 1998, s.3 (1)

Council websites
Many official functions of a Council are performed via the Council website
Much of the information on the website will satisfy the criteria for being State records
Digital State records must be managed in conformance with the requirements of the Standard on digital recordkeeping

Standard on digital recordkeeping
A set of 9 minimum requirements for making and keeping digital records, to ensure Councils have available, authentic, meaningful evidence of their past business:
minimum requirements for defining which records are saved into digital recordkeeping systems & what these systems’ minimum functionalities must be
minimum requirements for recordkeeping metadata, and
minimum requirements for recordkeeping metadata management.

Government 2.0 – depends on recordkeeping!
Government 2.0 Issues Paper cites the OECD Principles for public sector information, including:
5. Integrity . Maximising the integrity and availability of information through the use of best practices in information management. Developing and implementing appropriate safeguards to protect information from unauthorised modification or from intentional or unintentional denial of authorised access to information.
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/0/27/40826024.pdf or http:// tinyurl.com/kpgova .

Ok so how do we do it?

1. Share responsibility Sharing, Ryancr, 2006, http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanr/142455033/

2. Tackle high risk business first
‘ Man on wire’, 2009 http://witneyman.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/man-on-wire.jpg ,

3. Assess website records type/s

4.Identify the recordkeeping requirements
Is there a business / regulatory / societal requirement for a record to be kept?
How often does this information change? Are all changes required as records?
What is the risk in not keeping this record? Or keeping some changes but not all?
Is the information already captured as a record elsewhere?
Is it necessary to (also) capture the web version as a record? the date when the page was published / taken down, by whom? the page exactly as it looked or just its content?
How long does the record need to be kept?

5. Devise an appropriate recordkeeping strategy
Consider the recordkeeping requirement, including:
The type of record needing to be kept
The rate of change of the information
Static / dynamic / transactional?
The retention period
Risk
And determine:
How (technically) to capture the record
How often to keep a record
Who is responsible
Where to keep the record

Options for keeping web records
Retain in WCMS – use ‘roll back capabilities’ - short term value, needs to be kept exactly as viewed
Copy / export documents or pages to an EDRMS – necessary when records are longer term value
RSS feed to records manager – for frequently updated pages
Web harvesting – good for ‘snapshots’ – but may miss dynamic content and some pages eg. Heritrix, HTTrack
Capture transactions at the web server – to save requests and responses including on the fly content. For high risk business. eg Vignette, PageVault

Example 1: Council meeting papers and minutes
Long term retention (Required as State archives)
Possibly already captured in Council recordkeeping system
Council may need to demonstrate date published to meet s.12 requirements
Options
Make a record of uploading of documents, point to records already kept in recordkeeping system
Also save web published versions to recordkeeping system

Example 2: News updates
Mixture of high and low risk information
Important to keep a record of when item was published in some cases
Selective capture not easy
Mixture of short and long term retention periods
Options:
RSS feed to records manager
Automated capture of each version of the news page as published

Example 3: Website transactions
Online surveys, forms – where low risk the record may best be made in back end systems (eg change of address). Keep a record of the form and all changes.
More complex transactions eg interactive maps – if high risk there may be value in capture of interactions (sessions), but will be high cost
Compromise is to ensure records are kept of the capability and contents and dates in use

..and finally
Don’t forget to ‘Future Proof’ your web records!

Obsolescence
Obsolescence can affect hardware, software and even the arrangement of the data in a stored file.
Obsolescence can occur at an alarmingly fast rate.
MAGLEV Train and Rickshaw, Shanghai, Soctech, 2005, http://www.flickr.com/photos/soctech/43279549/

File formats may be superseded MacDraw, FHKE, 2007, http://www.flickr.com/photos/fhke/370326408/

Storage medium may be superseded
Magnetic tape
Gallery of Obsolete Formats 1, jen-the-librarian, 2007 http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennieb/921595498/

The device needed to read the medium may no longer be produced Sony Betamax, Nesster, 2009, http://www.flickr.com/photos/nesster/3714783252/

Software used to create, manage or access digital content may be superseded Windows 1.0: the MS-DOS executive, Renan Birck, 2007, http://www.flickr.com/photos/renanbirck/354258596/

Computers themselves are being superseded Old computers, eurlief, 2006, http://www.flickr.com/photos/eurleif/255241547/

Vendors merge, emerge and fade
GONE

Things can fall apart Broken computer. Miss Rogue, 2007, http://www.flickr.com/photos/missrogue/347361369/

Tips for long term accessibility of your web records
Use open formats
Keep records in recordkeeping systems
Comply with Standard on digital recordkeeping to ensure adequate metadata
Migrate with care
Avoid removable media

For more information
www.records.nsw.gov.au
http://futureproof.records.nsw.gov.au
Cassie Findlay
Ph: (02) 8247 8629
[email_address]

Keeping Web Records

by Reem Abdelaty

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