Corporate Records of Long Duration on Network Drives, Intranets and EDRMS

Records on internal corporate network drives, intranets or document management services where access is limited to a distinct group of users, and in which the lifecycle of the record or the business processes they support is greater than the technology on which they are created or retained.

Group: Sensitive Data

Trend in 2021:

Consensus Decision

Added to List: 2017

Previous classification: Endangered

Trend in 2022:

Imminence of Action

Action is recommended within three years, detailed assessment within one year.

Significance of Loss

The loss of tools, data or services within this group would impact on many people and sectors.

Effort to Preserve

It would require a major effort to preserve materials in this group, with the development of new preservation tools or techniques.

Examples

Born digital records of small and medium sized enterprises; fasting-changing internal manuals, advice or policies shared on intranets or EDRMS; records of long-lived products and services; Historic guidelines and manuals which evidence 'best practice'; Documentation supporting long-lived contractual relations; Online terms and conditions; Corporate Slack channels; Google Drives; EDRMS; Email.

‘Critically Endangered’ in the Presence of Aggravating Conditions

Lack of systematic preservation function; lack of preservation path or plan for data; dependence on proprietary products or formats; poor management of data protection; political or commercial interference; lack of offline equivalent; over-abundance through poor disposal or version control; lack of capacity; lack of commitment; loss or lack of documentation; sector specific software or data types; encryption

‘Vulnerable’ in the Presence of Good Practice

Preservation infrastructure and pathways; replication; appraisal and selection including de-duplication;

2021 Jury Review

This entry was added in 2017 to draw attention to the pressing need for digital preservation in business, especially in small to medium enterprises. The 2020 Jury noted how the Covid Pandemic has caused profound dislocation across the economy and placed many companies and agencies at financial risk. The likelihood of liquidation, mergers or acquisitions means that these records are trending towards greater risk.
The 2021 Jury agreed with the trend towards greater, adding that increased risk is not necessarily because there are no assigned parent archives to take on these materials; rather, it is because they too often sit in these spaces for some time before being transferred to the archives. They are often not well managed or maintained by their creating agencies, putting them at risk of accidental deletion or corruption. There remain increased risks without business continuity and trust.

Additional Comments

Corporate records should form part of organizational records management schemes, and so responsibilities should be clear; however, this may be much more challenging for smaller organizations without dedicated roles or with complex data types.

The work and outputs of the EDRMS Preservation Taskforce over the last year, for example the EDRMS Preservation Toolkit, may be helpful for guidance and examples in this context https://www.dpconline.org/digipres/implement-digipres/edrms-preservation-toolkit.