Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel Office PCO: a case study

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)a case study

• Graeme Thompson,
• PCO Records Adviser
• Archives New Zealand
• Government Recordkeeping Forum
• 7 March 2007

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• OVERVIEW
• Introduction to the PCO
• PCO recordkeeping systems
• Email / ECM interface
• Interface with recordkeeping systems
• Email management
• Current advice
• Future solutions?
• Summary

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• INTRODUCTION TO THE PCO
• Statutory responsibilities
• drafting Bills and regulations that implement
  Government policies
• advising drafters of Local and Members Bills
• access by public to legislation

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• PCO RECORDKEEPING SYSTEMS

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• PCO RECORDKEEPING SYSTEMS
• Documentum v.5.3 - electronic content management
  system (ECM)
• Legislative Docbase
• Administrative file structure developed 1997 by
  SWIM
• Groupwise v.7 - electronic mail application
• Physical files
• Legislative drafting files
• Administrative files
• Print and file mandatory for all documents

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• PCO Recordkeeping Systems (2)
• 1984 dumb terminal electronic messaging and
  rudimentary word-processing system
  based at Parliament
• 1985 - computerisation of drafting
• 1994 - electronic mail
• 1995 - first DMS, Softsolutions
• 1999 Administrative Business Classification
  System
• 2002 Documentum installed as a DMS

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• LEGISLATIVE DRAFTING FILES
• Electronic records
• drafting documents
• file notes
• email
• agencies sponsoring legislation
• other drafters for advice/review
• Pre-publication unit for draft copies for
  Parliament

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• Legislative Drafting Files (2)
• Electronic legislative draft filing
• Hierarchical based on primacy of document type
• Will be replaced by Public Access to Legislation
  (PAL)

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• Legislative Drafting Files (3)
• Drafting docbase in Documentum
• arranged by document type, not by legislative
  drafting job
• multiple-drafter file content scattered
• does not mirror physical drafting file structure
• cannot be duplicated in Groupwise as shared
  folders

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• ADMINISTRATIVE FILES
• Business Classification Scheme
• High-level cabinets mostly functional based
• uncontrolled growth

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• ADMINISTRATIVE FILES
• Business Classification Scheme
• Canadian block numeric
• mnemonic prefixes
• Electronic and paper systems mirror each other

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• MANAGING EMAIL IN DOCUMENTUM

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• MANAGING EMAIL IN DOCUMENTUM
• Two stage import process of email into
  Documentum
• conversion retains metadata, but alters format
• now converted into text document to ensure
  accessibility by any format.
• document-level access restriction to prevent
  alteration of email already saved
• Documentum does not have same search functions
  for email as Groupwise

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• INITIAL ADVICE
• July 2004 June 2005
• The Public Records Bill is coming! The Public
  Records Bill is coming!
• Contact with groups, individuals.
• July 2005
• Public Records Act 2005

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• CURRENT EMAIL ADVICE

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• CURRENT EMAIL ADVICE
• Developed when Records team had fewer resources
• organisational, not recordkeeping, priorities
• partial solutions and quick-fixes handed to
  end-user

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• Current Email Advice (2)
• Do not print, file, and delete significant emails
• You may delete non-significant records when no
  longer needed
• Use Groupwise to store email
• has search functionality that Documentum does not
• joint access folders possible for business units
• email is in place for bulk transfer later

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• Current Email Advice (3)
• Use In box and Sent box as To-do lists
• add finished email to appropriate subfolder
• Email strings
• add last email in string to appropriate
  subfolder and delete any previous email with
  duplicate content
• Print and file email into physical file
• Delete non-significant email when no longer
  administratively required

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• LEGISLATIVE DRAFTING EMAIL MANAGEMENT
• Drafters create folders in Groupwise Cabinet,
  labelled
• Current Draft Legislation
• Completed Legislation
• Subfolders then created in Completed Legislation
  folder, labelled
• Enacted Bills
• Made Regulations
• Not Proceeded With

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• Legislative Drafting Email Management (2)
• Personal folder
• Current Draft Legislation
• PCO 1234 The Email Re-organisation Bill 2007
• PCO 1235 Email Re-organisation Regulation 2007
• PCO 1236 Sub-Folder Hierarchy Bill 2007
• Completed Legislation
• Enacted Bills
• Made Regulations
• Not Proceeded With

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• Legislative Drafting Email Management (4)
• Current Draft Legislation
• PCO 1237 Email Re-organisation Amendment Bill
  2007
• Completed Legislation
• Enacted Bills
• PCO 1234 The Email Re-organisation Bill 2007
• Made Regulations
• PCO 1235 Email Re-organisation Regulation 2007
• Not Proceeded With
• PCO 1236 Sub-Folder Hierarchy Bill 2007

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• ADMINISTRATIVE EMAIL MANAGEMENT
• Create Documentum folder in Groupwise Cabinet
• Replicate administrative files that you use based
  
• Use In-box and Sent-box as To-do lists
• place last email from string into appropriate
  sub-folder
• delete non-significant email when no longer
  administratively required

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• Administrative Email Management (2)
• File sub-series in titles to aid access
• folder access shared with PCO Records
  Administrator
• automated notification of new email.

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• PROBLEMS
• Lack of control over naming of folders and
  sub-folders
• Bulk transfer of email into Documentum
• untried and only semi-automated
• If the drafter is amending legislation drafted by
  others, it is easier to review email in the
  physical file than look for it in Documentum

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• Problems (2)
• Joint Access to Groupwise folders
• possible for PCO-wide joint access to folders,
  but
• legislative drafting emails have confidentiality
  issues
• all who share folder get a notification for every
  email posted

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• FUTURE PCO EMAIL SYSTEM
• REQUIREMENTS

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• FUTURE EMAIL MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENTS
• User-friendly interface
• click and drag transfer into Documentum files
• automated duplication deletion
• single instance storage can reduce overall
  storage up to 80
• Documentum interface
• plug and play
• Reliability no more print and file

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• Future Email Management Requirements (2)
• Compliance with
• Public Records Act 2005
• Electronic Recordkeeping Systems Standard
• best practice recordkeeping principles
• Record integrity
• Automated restrictions to prevent alteration
• preference for preservation of email format

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• EMAIL MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS?

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• EMAIL ARCHIVING TOOL
• Options
• build or buy something like Datamail email
  archiving tool
• automated capture based on email title and
  content
• email application search functionality

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• PROBLEMS
• Indiscriminate records capture
• false search results/too many search results
• no match to physical files, in PCO environment,
  is crucial
• different contexts may use same terminology
• Is a storage system, NOT a records management
  system

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
  (EDRMS)
• User-friendly interface
• document creator determines document significance
• click and drag transfer of email
• icons to differentiate between document types

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• EDRMS (2)
• Integrity of record
• accessible to all users across an office
• access restrictions to individual folders or
  files can protect confidentiality
• registered emails can be copied but not altered
• attachments stay linked to parent emails

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• EDRMS (3)
• Recordkeeping functionality
• compliance with ERKSS
• automated retention and disposal
• integration with current systems
• integration of physical and electronic files

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• EDRMS (4)
• Access
• automated assignment of access restrictions to
  email at
• folder level
• document level
• end-user level
• editable document titles in EDRMS aid end-user
  searches

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• SUMMARY
• The PCO has to integrate all its recordkeeping
  systems
• access to all email by all staff
• integration of physical and electronic files
• save staff time and resources
• improve office efficiency
• best-practice recordkeeping
• compliance with legislation and standards

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• Summary (2)
• Create end user awareness of issue
• Even mistakes are better than doing nothing
• Justify the extra resources

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• Summary (3)

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Managing Email at the Parliamentary Counsel
Office (PCO)

• Summary (3)

Stop flirting with email solutions! Take the
plunge! Go out on that first date! Take wine!