RMIT Archives: Corporate Digital Records

1. RMIT Archives: Corporate Digital Records Presentation at Digital Archives Workshop by Sandy Gillam, University Archivist, RMIT Archives, Friday 18th June 2010

2. INTRODUCTION - ABOUT RMIT ARCHIVES • RMIT Archives has been in existence since November 1995 and operates from RMIT’s Bundoora West Campus, Plenty Road, Bundoora • We employ 3 staff, with this number occasionally supplemented by casuals who are employed on various projects • Our collection comprises predominantly paper records, with some 2 shelf kilometres on-site, and a further 2.5 shelf kilometres stored off-site • About 5% of our collection comprises digital media, although this figure will undoubtedly increase in the coming decades • We also hold other media and records in the collection, such as photos, artefacts, microfilm and a small amount of textiles Information Technology Services

3. BORN DIGITAL ARCHIVES HELD AT RMIT ARCHIVES The following “born digital” records are held at RMIT Archives: • HP3000 archive – the “HP3000” was the student database that preceded Peoplesoft. In 2004, I worked with ITS to a) extract permanent records from the system and b) delete time expired records. The resultant archive (for 1982-2001) covers permanent digital records such as student results, student personal details, and graduation information as well as summary course information. • Stargarden – this is RMIT’s HR system that preceded ESS, and covers the 1990s. • Course Guides – these HTML files span 1999-2005 and are held at RMIT Archives on DVD (2006 onwards are presently available on the RMIT website) • Merged Institutes, Student Results – previous electronic student databases for Melbourne Institute of Textiles, Melbourne College of Printing and Graphic Arts, and Phillip Institute of Technology are held on CD • RMIT Images Catalogue – Photos taken by Margund Sallowsky, spanning circa 1993-2005 and held on CDs at RMIT Archives. Digital Archives Talk, 18th June 2010

4. CONVERTED DIGITAL RECORDS HELD AT RMIT ARCHIVES The following categories of records have been digitised or converted from paper formats, mainly for ease of access (i.e are not “born digital”) : • Photos – some 12,000+ photos have been scanned to assist in the identification of photographic images for requests • TAFE Course “Master Files” – 19 boxes of paper records were scanned to assist with queries from past students. These records take in TAFE programs and course structures encompassing 1983-1992. • “News and Events” files – the web team archived html news items spanning 2000-2007 and sent these records on CD to RMIT Archives • Register of Staff – this indexing task has seen staff, council and instructor names recorded for 1887 up to the 1980s • Alumni and Graduation records – various conferral/graduation records have now been indexed. Indexing for 1887-1973 is now complete. 40,000 rows of data have been indexed and generated thus far. Information Technology Services

5. THE LEGISLATIVE CONTEXT There are various legal frameworks and suites of legislation under which RMIT University must operate: • The Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) – is the body from whom RMIT Archives and other Victorian government bodies (or semi-government bodies) receive advice on archiving and records management • VERS (Victorian Electronic Records Strategy) – sits under a suite ofguidance, standards and advice as issued by the PROV under the Public Records Act 1973.This is a world renowned strategy that has been in existence since 2000. Its intention is to provide leadership and direction in the management of digital records, and at its core is the concept of “E-permanence” and “forever digital” • The Evidence Act, 2008 (Victoria) – this act replaced the obsolete and out of date Evidence Act, 1958. Core changes include the abolition of “original as best evidence” rule and the admissibility of computer generated records as evidence in court cases. The changes to the Act have huge implications regarding how paper and digital records will come to be managed at RMIT. Information Technology Services

6. USE OF TRIM AT RMIT UNIVERSITY • TRIM –is RMIT’s electronic document and records management system, and is administered by Jason McGlone, Manager Records & Documents. • TRIM captures, registers and classifies documents, and can apply records retention as well as access, security and version controls • TRIM is used to manage both physical and electronic records, and includes a mixture of born digital and other items scanned and captured into the system • The categories and document types in TRIM include RMIT internal, external/incoming, external/outgoing, agreements / contracts and policies/procedures • TRIM links to RMIT proprietary software such as the Microsoft suite (Word, Excel, Access and Powerpoint) as well as Groupwise plus captures Adobe and image formats such as jpg, tif, gif etc. • Roll-out across the University needs to continue to occur if we are to manage and capture key corporate digital records. Circa 2006, there were only 30-40 TRIM users, but there are now 395 users, with roll-out continuing and large projects planned, such as scanning student files (HR records have been captured since 2008). Increased staffing levels are going to be required as roll-out occurs. Information Technology Services

7. ISSUES AND CHALLENGES • Gaps with Records being Archived and Managed – Jason McGlone and myself tag regarding digital record issues, but between management of TRIM and RMIT Archives there live many enterprise wide and pseudo record-keeping systems which are not presently being managed effectively. • Enterprise Wide Systems – include SAP, ESS, and Peoplesoft. In addition, there are various other databases and digital record systems such as Pebblepad, Blackboard, ResearchMaster etc. etc. No archiving of these systems has occurred to date, yet in essence these systems are now capturing records (having replaced manual and paper systems that formerly existed as the record-keeping systems). • Ownership of Data – many electronic record-keeping systems reside within work units. There are various issues associated with archiving data that resides remotely on servers or in isolation on PCs. • Lack of Input in Systems Development – there is a needfor the Archives and Records Management areas to be consultedfrom the ground up,wheresystems involve records management and archiving considerations. This does not always occur, and myself and Jason are not always informed of the existence of new systems from the planning stage. • Migration and Conversion - of digital formats is critical, otherwise, records will be lost. • Completeness of Records - It’s difficult to fully audit huge electronic records systems and after archiving, gaps and missing records have been found to exist Information Technology Services

8. STRATEGIES AND THE WAY FORWARD • A Records and Document Management Policy was approved by RMIT Council in November 2008. Strategies and structures now need to be put in place so we can move forward with the implementation of objectives. • Collaboration in relation to archiving, vs. records management, vs. Information Management vs. certain aspects of Information Technology needs to be enhanced. Quite often, similar objectives are trying to be achieved and these areas are often inter-related. • Cross organisational links need to be forged so that progress can be made. Archivists, Records Managers and IT professionals need to be able to understand each other and speak the same language. There is a difference, for instance, in how the term “archiving” is understood by IT as opposed to the meaning of that word for an Archivist or Records Manager. • A more strategic Information Management approach needs to be formulated so that roles are clearly defined and future directions are both articulated and prioritised • Greater consultation between ITS, schools and service units needs to occur from the ground up, rather than retrospective, ad hoc or reactive archiving of digital records occurring Information Technology Services

9. REFERENCES AND FURTHER INFORMATION • RMIT Archives Webpage : http://www.rmit.edu.au/archives • Public Record Office Victoria Webpage :http://www.prov.vic.gov.au • VERS webpage :http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/vers/vers/default.asp • PROV Evidence Act 2008 Project: http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/records/standards/EA_project.asp Information Technology Services