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

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Example: Business requirement
Example: Form and content often a business requirement
Example: Business requirement derived from interview
Example: Chain of evidence required
Example: Community expectation
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Identify regulatory, business or community requirements


Business needs, accountability requirements and community expectations all contribute to the requirements for organizational recordkeeping. Some requirements may arise from a combination of these.

Regulatory requirements

What are regulatory requirements?


Decisions, resolutions, regulations, whole-of-UN policy, standards or similar instruments impose regulatory requirements upon the organization.

Determine regulatory requirements


Determining regulatory requirements for recordkeeping involves looking at the regulatory environment and whole of organization policy, and locating where there are requirements for the creation or management of records. 

Performing online searches of sources, using terms such as 'records', 'evidence' 'writing' 'keep' and 'documents', can provide an efficient way of finding the more explicit references to recordkeeping pertaining to your department/section's functions. 

Implicit regulatory requirements will be more difficult to ascertain. While it is a time-consuming exercise, searching manually through formal directives and standards for implicit references to recordkeeping requirements is beneficial to the identification process. It provides a means of acquiring much of the contextual information you need to fully understand your department/section's regulatory environment. 

Of course, this approach can also be supplemented by an examination of corporate policies and procedures, and by interviewing personnel who are familiar with the relevant formal directives and industry standards, such as accountants, senior officers and legal staff.

Business requirements

What is a business requirement?


A business requirement supports the efficient and effective performance of an organization’s day-to-day work and on going activities. These are the records the organization needs to carry out its business.  



^ Example: Business requirement

The United Nations International School creates and maintains records of student enrolments and progress so it can allocate and manage resources for delivering courses and determining student eligibility for graduation and awards. 

Most relevant sources


Recordkeeping requirements that support business needs are likely to be identified through resolutions and administrative instructions or other instruments of authority (business requirements reflected in regulatory sources), or as a routine part of establishing and maintaining its operations. 

 

^ Example: Form and content often a business requirement 

UN offices that manage funds will automatically identify a business requirement to make and keep evidence of the receipt and expenditure of those funds as this is a routine part of conducting financial affairs and they need the records for accountability. This is likely to be in regulatory sources anyway. However, the form and content of evidence will vary depending on an office's functions, corporate culture and external environment. 

 


^ Example: Business requirement derived from interview

You may interview someone in the department/section responsible for managing training course enrolments. In the interview you may discover that they have had a number of complaints about how slow staff are in responding to telephone enquiries about enrolments. 

They may identify the need for keeping a list of participants enrolled as it takes less time in referring to the list than going through individual registration forms. This record is required for business reasons as it makes the process of answering enquiries more efficient. 

Determine business requirements


A useful way to identify business requirements is to consider the chain of evidence an organization or individual needs to substantiate a sequence of decisions or actions, that is, processes. You may have considered this to some extent in Step B.

 

^ Example: Chain of evidence required

Copies of invoices sent provide evidence of income due in return for goods or services rendered.  

 

During Step C, you will also need to closely examine existing policies, guidelines, work procedure manuals and standard operating procedures to identify when records relating to organizational functions and activities are created. You will then need to interview business area experts within the relevant functional areas to determine why these records are created and retained. 

Community expectations

What is a community expectation?


A community expectation for records creation, management and disposal refers to a requirement from the member states, the general public or an external stakeholder group. It indicates what records they expect you to create and maintain. Expectations reflect either an interest in the records themselves as sources for research, or the desire for the UN to account for its administrative affairs.

 

^ Example: Community expectation

It is a well-recognised member state expectation that the UN will create and keep records of all financial expenditure and commitment of expenditure. The member states, as financial contributors, reasonably have this expectation. 

Most relevant sources


Documentary sources that may give expression to the community's interests in records include:
  • minutes of consultative meetings
  • proceedings of advisory board or council meetings (where impressions of community expectations are reported)
  • representations
  • General Assembly debates
  • media monitoring exercises, or
  • the United Nations' website (visitor logs or users questionnaires).

You may also obtain further guidance from staff in the business areas who are aware of community expectations that should be considered in relation to their activities. Consultation with stakeholder representatives should be conducted if sufficient information on their expectations is not available internally, and to foster understanding with the stakeholders.

Determine community expectations


Community expectations expressed by a wide range of external stakeholders can give rise to recordkeeping requirements that may or may not be reflected in business and regulatory requirements. 

There are times where there is concern in the community about the interpretation and/or application of particular resolutions or the administrative actions taken by the UN. Both existing community bodies, or new advocacy or interest groups will express their views and concerns to the United Nations. Individuals and groups from the media can also be part of this process. You may consult and with and form an ongoing relationship with these groups to provide briefings and receive feedback in return. 

Some departments, such as Public Information also have established relationships with researchers, historical groups, or enthusiasts who take a particular interest in the organization’s archives. Community views may affect UN policy informally. Alternatively, the activities of these groups may impact more formally on the process of administration and eventually their views can be transformed into formal accountability requirements.

Nonetheless, it is often difficult to discern what evidence the United Nations should create and keep to satisfy community expectations until it fails to anticipate or recognize an interest in some way and attracts public criticism. Evidence of potential value will include policy documents and general correspondence that reveal UN's changing stance on a particular issue or a community's shifting response over time. The value of such records becomes obvious when the histories of particular organizations, functions or activities are commissioned.