Notes

Outline

Managing the University Digital Desktop Dr. Helen R. Tibbo Tibbo@ils.unc.edu http://www.ils.unc.edu/digitaldesktop

Thought for the day…. “The end-user manages e-mail.” -ARMA Guideline for Managing E-mail

Digital Landscape In 1999, 93% of information was produced in digital format.

How This All Began… Collaboration between myself and UNC Records Management Program, starting in 1999. Records Management Program but no real work in electronic records. Recognition that UNC employees might be mishandling electronic records.

Original Vision Grant planning team consisted of: Helen Tibbo, Tim Sanford, Tim Pyatt, Frank Holt, Mike Martin, Jeanne Smythe, & Meredith Evans. Application submitted in May 2001. Original work plan called for collecting data at UNC-CH and some of the other 15 UNC campuses.

Addition of Duke University In October 2001, the UNC-CH Records Management Program was dismantled due to the budget crisis. November 2001, NHPRC indicated they would fund grant if UNC-CH maintained a records manager. Frank Holt’s position rescued and moved to the Library, February 1, 2002. Duke University brought in to maintain cost share.

1st Year Funding In March 2002, we were granted funding for the first year. We should hear shortly about the next two years but are very optimistic.

Benefits of Duke Involvement Project has become much more interesting! Duke’s addition has provided: Extensive and diverse expertise Records practice at a private institution to compare with that from the 16-campus UNC System Digital information management behaviors at an institution without any RM program and a highly decentralized structure An institution developing a campus records management program as well as a digital archives initiative.

Primacy of the Individual “Tip” O’Neill: “All politics is local.” Desktop e-mail management and subsequent archiving of material from the university environment presently depends on the individual, his or her specific information management behaviors, and the software being used.

The Situation Most staff, faculty, and administrators, especially the latter two groups, have little or no training in information management. Electronic records are inherently fragile. If they are not “preserved” early in their lives, they will not endure.

Starting Assumption Successful electronic information management guidelines must take into account how people are presently managing their digital information.

Project Goals - 1 Document how faculty, administrators, and staff use and manage files and records from electronic mail and other desktop applications at UNC-CH, Duke University, throughout the 16-campus UNC system, and by extension, across academia.

Project Goals - 2 Based on the analysis of user needs and practices, as well as the North Carolina Public Records Act, develop optimized e-mail and desktop management policies and "best practice" guidelines to serve both public and private higher education in North Carolina and provide an adaptable model of practice for other states.

Project Goals - 3 Develop educational opportunities (workshops, handbook, exercises, web-based courses, etc.) to optimize faculty, administrator, and staff use and management of desktop electronic documents.

Project Goals - 4 Develop user profiles necessary for a strategic consideration of electronic records management systems - this includes more fully identifying and specifying business functions of faculty and administrators heretofore termed "teaching, research, and service," and use these to evaluate the potential appropriateness of ERMSs for the UNC-CH and Duke campuses.

And…Dissemination Disseminate information about the best practices guidelines and instructional units at UNC, Duke, and across the 16-campus UNC system via a statewide conference and to other universities via the records management/ archival literatures and conferences and the project website.

Rationale for Project: The University Environment Universities tend to be loosely tied federations of schools and departments that each cherishes its own autonomy and vision. Faculty generally see themselves as independent contractors, working for the university. Unfortunately, they may take the same approach with documents.

Rationale for Project: Lack of Recordkeeping Systems While institution-wide electronic records management systems (ERMS) can improve desktop management, few universities employ one. But deployment is only part of the battle: David Wallace argues that “there are no magic bullets, only context-sensitive desktop and system level implementations.” To do this, we need to know more about users.

Rationale for Project: Public Institutions E-mail (as well as all other print & electronic records) retention/disposition at the 16 campuses that make up the UNC system is governed by the NC Public Records Law, NC General Statutes, Chapter 132.

Print It Out! To date, the only acceptable means to “archiving” electronic records, and especially e-mail in NC, has been printing out all records or microfilming them.

Reality Check! Folks, it ain’t happening! About 1/3 of employees are printing out e-mail and other electronic files frequently.  Are you??? Rick Barry reports that up to 80% of e-mail creators state that they do not “have a clue” when e-mail messages constituted official records.

Ignorance of the Law… In our pilot survey, only 2 out of 55 respondents said they had a good deal of knowledge of the NC PRL. 21 said they had no knowledge 23 said they were not sure they had heard of the law 8 claimed some knowledge of the NCPRA

Rationale for the Project: Private Institutions Duke University does not function under the NC Records Act. Duke, is however, open to lawsuits and discovery. Different attitudes regarding ownership of information, privacy, and security.

Best Answer? The most likely answer for the development of sound policies and subsequent compliance to state laws,  and the effective and efficient management of electronic mail in general, would appear to be user education based on an understanding of user needs and behaviors within the context of legal, fiscal, scholarly, and administrative requirements.

Next Steps Analyzing survey information. Developing interview scenarios and questions. Collecting data through strategic interviews on campuses to document current records retention, organization, and disposition practices. Analyzing filing schemes. Describing technical computing environments.