Manual for the Design and Implementation of Recordkeeping Systems (dirks)

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Содержание

Information and documentation - Records management
Doing your DIRKS project
Example: Scaling down
Example: The Personnel function

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Footnotes

[1] Victoria L Lemieux, ‘Let the Ghosts Speak: An Empirical Exploration of the ‘Nature’ of the Record', Archivaria, Number 51, Spring 2001, p.83.

Step B - Analysis of business activity

Collect information from documentary sources and through interviews; identify and document each business function, activity and transaction and establish a hierarchy of them, that is, a business classification system, and identify and document the flow of business processes and the transactions which comprise them.

ISO 15489.1, ^ Information and documentation - Records management, Clause 8.4

Content and scope of Step B

Sources for Step B

Hierarchical analysis

Sequential analysis

Analysing risk

Documenting Step B

Content and scope of Step B

Overview

Aim of Step B

Summary of Step B

Why should you do Step B?

How is Step B scalable?

Relationship to other steps

Overview

This section is an introduction to Step B: Analysis of business activity. It:

outlines the aim of Step B including what understanding the analysis will give you and what tools can be developed
summarizes the major elements of Step B
explains why it is important to undertake Step B for particular DIRKS projects
indicates how Step B is scalable and when it is necessary to complete, and
shows how Step B relates to the other steps in the DIRKS methodology.

Aim of Step B

The aim of Step B is analyze your business in order to gain a thorough understanding of the business activities and processes that are carried out. It also involves establishing a classification structure known as a business classification scheme. A business classification scheme is a hierarchy of functions, activities and transactions that can be used to support a variety of records management processes.[1]

Summary of Step B

In Step B you should analyze the documentary sources and interviews you have collected in order to identify:

your department/section's goals and the strategies to achieve these goals
the broad functions the organization undertakes to support its goals and strategies
the activities which contribute to the fulfillment of the functions, and
the groups of recurring transactions or processes which make up each of these activities.

Two types of analysis may be used:

hierarchical analysis, a 'top down' approach where you start with the goals and strategies and gradually look deeper into how these are achieved, and/or
sequential analysis, a 'bottom up' approach where you start by examining work processes and the transactions resulting from them, then gradually relate it to more broader levels of classification.

The analysis can be represented in a number of ways. The hierarchical model, known as a 'business classification scheme' is the method preferred by ARMS. This scheme can then be used to make a variety of decisions about the management of records.

Why should you do Step B?

Step B is a foundation step for many DIRKS projects. It helps you to:

gain a greater understanding of your department/section both at a micro level and a macro level and the context in which records are being created (in this way it adds to Step A: Preliminary investigation)
start identifying existing recordkeeping problems and issues, such as inadequate work processes
establish a business framework for recordkeeping tools, such as thesauri and retention and retention and disposal schedules which can also be used to populate metadata fields
establish a business framework to map recordkeeping requirements to, which will assist with the production of retention schedules, metadata strategies, the identification of vital records, gap analysis and system design or redesign.

How is Step B scalable?

Relate to the project scope

The scalability and relevance of Step B depends on the scope of your project and the outcomes you are looking for.

You may decide not to do Step B at all if you:

do not need to conduct such a detailed examination of processes, transactions and records generated, and
do not need to construct a business classification scheme based on functions and activities (used as a basis for recordkeeping tools or to map your recordkeeping requirement to).

See ^ Doing your DIRKS project for how Step B specifically applies to particular projects.

Existing frameworks

Step B can be scaled down for particular projects if existing generic or organizational classification schemes, already exist and are suitable. You may have, for example, a retention schedule or classification scheme in place. If this is the case, you can easily scale down your project to examine a specific function in isolation (perhaps due to identification of a recordkeeping crisis or a recognised problem).

^ Example: Scaling down

Your project may be to do DIRKS to ensure the creation and capture of the necessary records to meet your recordkeeping requirements for a key, high risk function. You may already have a classification scheme that covers the majority of your business and which can provide a suitable classification framework. You can then choose to examine a particular function in detail using sequential analysis. Be careful however, as some schemes may exclude terminology for records not documented in files eg. databases.

^ Example: The Personnel function

One Australian Local Government council decided to undertake a DIRKS project where they needed to analyze the business conducted within their human resources function. Their aim was to improve their current practices and to identify their recordkeeping requirements and determine their levels of compliance.

They chose to use the function of PERSONNEL and related activities from the Keyword for Councils thesaurus as a basis for their business classification scheme. However, they still needed to analyze the way business was being conducted and the records produced (sequential analysis in Step B) and recordkeeping requirements (in Step C) to determine changes to their current practices.

When to look more broadly

If your department/section’s core functions are not covered by a classification scheme of any kind, it is not advisable to try to analyze a core function or system in isolation. You should at least roughly map your core business functions and activities in a business classification scheme and consider issues that may affect them before trying to concentrate on one function or system.

The reason for this is that:

you need a broad perspective of the boundaries of the function or system and how it relates to, and impacts on, other business activities being performed
you may discover when taking a broader view that there are other areas of high risk that may warrant priority in subsequent stages of the design and implementation process. These areas may correlate to particular recordkeeping systems, business activities or business units.
if you analyze one function or system in isolation, without a broader map, you may inadvertently cross boundaries of other functions and may miss risk identification. These omissions may force you to revise your analysis later.

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