The National Archives has statutory responsibility for records of Departments and oversees the ongoing implementation of the National Archives Act 1986 with regard to the preservation or disposal of such records and their transfer to the National Archives. In July 2003 an archivist with specific responsibility for electronic records was appointed to the National Archives. This archivist will develop strategies for the long-term preservation of electronic records and advise Departments on best practice with regard to the electronic records and draft guidelines in this regard.
The Department of Foreign Affairs policy continues to be that the paper record is the official record of the Department and officers are instructed to print down all electronic records and to place the hard copy on the appropriate manual file. However, the Department's strategy statement for 2003 to 2005 identifies the need to develop and implement an improved strategy for the effective management, storage, retrieval and transmission of information in order to meet the business needs of the Department. The Department's ICT strategy also identifies a similar priority. It is expected that work on this will begin, in conjunction with the National Archives, after the Presidency of the European Union finishes.
The Freedom of Information Acts 1997 and 2003 provide, inter alia, for the right to access official records held by Departments. The definition of records includes records held or stored manually or electronically. Although the Department's policy is that all records should be placed on manual files, there is always the possibility that, due to time-lags, manual files may not contain the most current papers. In this regard, the Department's freedom of information manual instructs decision-makers to extract relevant electronic records.
In order to facilitate searches under the Freedom of Information Acts and ensure a properly maintained network, advice from the Department's ICT unit indicates that, in line with best practice, electronic records such as e-mails, draft memoranda, letters, etc. should be stored in dedicated folders rather than in general directories or in-boxes. By storing the information in such folders, searches for and retrieval of records can be carried out in the most effective and timely manner. In order to facilitate such searches, our e-mail and other software packages contain search facilities that enable searches to be carried out on a key word basis.
