Info 755 Assignment 3

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Sarah Kazmierczak
Info 755
Winter Quarter 2012/2013
Michael Miller
Case Study Solution
I certify that:
I certify that my work in this course will be entirely my own work.
I will not quote the words of any other person from a printed source or a website without
indicating what has been quoted and providing an appropriate citation.
I will not submit my work in this course to satisfy the requirements of any other course.
I will not submit work used in another course to satisfy the requirements of this course.
Name/Signature Sarah Kazmierczak_________________________
Date __3/17/13__________________

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Introduction
The Crystal Lake Shelter for Survivors has been around for over fifty years, and during
that time has helped many victims of abuse. No one doubts the wonderful work that this group
has done, and no one doubts the dedication of the two hundred and fifty employees and
volunteers who work for this organization. What has been called into question is the authenticity
and reliability of the records the organization keeps. I thank the management of the organization
for seeking to address the problem and I am honored to help make sure that the Shelter for
Survivors can continue to do its great work without any allegations of false records or bad data.
To begin I would like to review the situation and make sure that everyone id on the same page.
Background
The Crystal Lake Shelter for Survivors was founded in 1960 by Yolanda Simmons, who
had escaped from her abusive husband and succeeded in putting him behind bars. She wanted to
help other victims like herself not only escape from their abuse but be able to put their abuse
behind them and heal and make new lives for themselves as she did. She knew that in many
ways she was lucky in her situation, because many people either couldn’t escape from their
abuse or ended up killed by their abusers. So she used the money she got from her divorce
settlement to start Shelter for Survivors. The organization provides a safe haven for abuse
survivors gives them the resources to find legal help and helps them make new starts for
themselves. The organization also works closely with law enforcement to help bring the abusers
to justice. Because Shelter for Survivors is entirely local based, it is a small organization with at
most two hundred and fifty people, including management, staff, and volunteers. The records of

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the organization include the various case files of each victim, the correspondence with lawyers
and law enforcement and personnel files, just to name a few.
Organization
The organization is organized with a director at the top and several department heads
underneath (this is the management team, to clarify later portions of the report). The
departments are the department of finance, the legal department, the medical department, the
social services department, department of human resources, department of family services,
department of public affairs, department of community and volunteer services, education
department and job services and daycare (Organizational structure, 2013). Each of these
departments has managed only the records that they themselves generate, with the director being
forwarded copies of anything the department heads felt needed to be sent to the director. Several
of these departments work with law enforcement and local hospitals in order to provide the best
care possible for the survivors, while the legal department works with both local lawyers and the
district attorney. The organization has used SharePoint and Microsoft Office Suite for their work
(Miller, 2013), and other software have been geared towards website creation, job hunting,
resume building and some educational programs for the children. Everything was running
smoothly until the mid 1990’s, when the record keeping practices began to fall behind.
Current Situation
For whatever reason, the program hasn’t been able to keep up with the changing times,
which is why it needs to be restructured. Shelter for Survivors is trying to move towards
electronic record keeping, but right now they are converting all of their records created this way
to paper and maintaining all of their paper records, but there is little to no organization in these

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records (Miller, 2013). Each department is managing their records based on the department
head’s personal style, regardless of any set practice and there is no cooperation between the
departments to manage any of the records (Miller, 2013). In fact, whatever retention policy was
created fifteen years ago isn’t being followed at all, and the policy that was created to manage
records then doesn’t accommodate things like e-mail and instant messaging (Miller, 2013).
The policy hasn’t been updated for fifteen years, and given all of the chaos that happens
with the records, I have to wonder if the department heads are even aware that there is a policy
(Miller, 2013). That part is especially curious, considering how sensitive the information that
many of the department heads manage is. With court cases, accurate information about the
victim’s medical history, treatment and evidence of abuse is essential. Records of where
children end up after coming here for safety are not only essential, but can be a matter of life and
death! With the way things stand, it’s a wonder the Shelter for Survivors wasn’t accused of
unreliable records before now! It certainly isn’t ready for electronic records the way things are
now, but fortunately that can be fixed.
What needs to be done
Before any changeover to electronic records is made, the current records program needs
to be fixed. Right now it would be against the interests of the organization to make any move to
electronic records because of the chaos and confusion that is present with the current system.
The old policies that are currently in place need to be updated to reflect the current times and
need to accommodate modern technology and practices. Even before it’s updated though, it
should be enforced, as I understand that the policy not only hasn’t been updated it isn’t being
enforced at all. The changes that need to be made are extensive, so in order to ease the

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organization into them, enforcing the policy that exists will help pave the way for further
changes. To start with, all of the department heads should be made aware of the existing policy.
Once they know how it works, they can instruct their staffs in how it works and begin organizing
their records to follow it. Records that aren’t covered by the existing policy should be noted and
set aside for analysis and storage once the policy has been updated to accommodate them.
This will not be a short or easy process, but it is extremely necessary. The director is
going to have to step up and ensure that every department head is following this policy
regardless of whatever objections they make or what style they were using before. This will
have to be done while the normal business practices happen, since the Shelter can’t shut down
while the reorganizing is happening, which will make this process take longer. To aid this
process, I would recommend that additional volunteers be drafted to help organize all of the
records to fit the existing policy. Department heads or another trusted staff member should deal
with the most sensitive records to ensure that no personal information accidently gets out
(volunteers can sign a confidentiality statement if that will help protect the contents of the
records).
Once all of the records have been straightened out in accordance with the policy, a new
retention schedule needs to be set up. Without one, Shelter for Survivors will just keep drowning
in papers like it is now. A smart plan would be for the moment at least set things up so that
papers are retained for approximately five years, and then either archived or deleted. The
retention schedule should include provisions for keeping a document longer than five years, for
example if the records relate to an open court case, they should be retained for as long as the
court case is ongoing. While I am aware that there was a retention schedule, because of the
buildup of papers and the changes in technology and record keeping practices, a new one should

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be drafted to deal with the paperwork. After all, the original policy had no provisions for
electronic records, and this new one can also apply to the existing electronic records: keep them
for five years and then either archive them or delete them.
After the retention schedule has been revised and redrawn, the next course of action is to
deal with the records generated by applications such as Facebook, twitter, instant messaging and
e-mail. These are part of the existing electronic records, but their nature is the reason why they
need to be addressed first. Free speech is a legal right, but sometimes that free speech can lead
to trouble and legal issues if an employee says something on the internet that can be taken out of
context or talks about privileged information over Facebook. This is especially important given
that this organization deals with legal matters such as custody and court cases. Talking about
privileged information in an open forum like Facebook could result in court cases lost or even
lives lost. On the other hand, these types of poor judgment with communications can’t be swept
under the rug either, otherwise the organization could be in even bigger trouble. An example of
why this is important is the case of Lewy vs. Remington Arms, where a gun discharged by
accident and the company had deleted the customer complaint records under the grounds that
they were following their retention schedule (Stephens, 2007, 2010, pg. 112.).
As David Stephens in Records Management: Making the Transition from Paper to
Electric states, “The objective of a records retention program must never be to exercise file
scrubbing or file cleansing, the purpose of which is to rid the organization of unfavorable
evidence” (Stephens, 2007, 2010, pg. 112). That and other reasons is why it’s important to craft
some kind of retention policy and guidelines for electronic communications. All e-mails should
be retained for at least a year, and then either archived or deleted. If they relate to an ongoing
court case, they should be retained for as long as the court case is in progress. Employees and

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volunteers should be forbidden from discussing cases, residents (survivors staying at the Shelter),
other legal matters and any other sensitive materials (decided by the director) over Facebook,
twitter and other social media sites. An in house instant messaging program can be set up and
monitored, and employees and volunteers should use that to discuss work related matters
amongst each other on the computer. These instant messages should be retained for three years
and then deleted.
Electronic Recordkeeping
The way things stand now, Shelter for Survivors isn’t ready. However, if the changes
listed above are implemented, then I believe that this organization can move forward to
electronic recordkeeping, if the management team really feels that they want to. Both paper
recordkeeping and electronic recordkeeping have their advantages and disadvantages. Paper
records have the advantage of being unable to hack, reassuring to those who like having physical
proof of a document’s existence, and can be stored in one location under lock and key. They do
however take up physical space and can get lost, destroyed or stolen. Electronic records are
stored online and on hard drives, so they don’t take up any physical space, and they can be
shared over a variety of devices and read by a larger number of people. They also are in danger
of being hacked and it’s harder to prove that an electronic record hasn’t been altered in any way.
In many ways it’s harder to manage electronic records than it is paper ones, but there are good
reasons to move forward to electronic records. If Shelter for Survivors really wants to make the
jump to the digital age, then I will do everything I can to help get us there.
There are several reasons why Shelter for Survivors should move towards electronic
recordkeeping. The first reason is that the organizations that the Shelter works with have more

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than likely already made the transition over to electronic records, and they would expect the
records and communications from the Shelter to be electronic as well. Another reason to move
forward is the numerous changes in technology and its impact on the information world. More
and more documents are being produced on computers now instead of being written down by
hand. For example, a doctor treating an abuse victim will more than likely enter their injuries
into a computer as well as write them down, and this computer file will be shared with law
enforcement. The number of documents created and/or stored as PDF’s is increasing just to give
an example, and there have been other advances in technology such as the ability to read and
receive documents on phones and tablets. These advances would make it much easier for the
Shelter to do its work. For example, one of the medical team at the Shelter who was treating a
patient could read their medical file on either their computer or their phone instead of having to
go and find the document buried in the office, saving a lot of time.
Electronic records have been growing since the 1970’s, and their importance to business
and organizations has increased as well (Saffady, 2009, pg. 3-4). There is also a lot of software
that is capable of producing electronic records as well as information processing equipment
(Saffady, 2009, pg. 4). These advances in technology will allow Shelter for Survivors to
function even better and much more efficiently and smoothly. Administrative records are
already being maintained in a single administrative support database, so there is already some
experience in maintaining electronic records (Miller, 2013). Due to the increase in electronic
recordkeeping overall, the victims the Shelter helps, the people who help them and the agencies
and organizations we work with will expect Shelter for Survivors to respond very quickly to
requests for information and if a person’s life is at stake, we will need to respond very quickly
(Stephens, 2007, 2010, pg. 10). In summary, this organization needs to move towards electronic

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records in order to keep up with the times and keep up with the demands of the people it’s
working to help and the demands of law enforcement, hospitals and law offices. There are
however many steps that need to be taken in order to reach that goal.
Steps to Take
To begin with, this will not be a short process. It will take several years to get this
organization transited over to electronic records after decades of paper recordkeeping. I don’t
think that it will take longer than five years though, since this is a small organization. While I
don’t think that paper records should be entirely phased out, I do think that it would be best for
all vital records to be made electronic. The types of records I’m referring to are things like
medical records, abuse reports, background information, and the types of records that this
organization would need to share with other agencies. The management team can and should
also offer input on which kinds of records they want to preserve. One of the first steps that need
to be taken is to train the department heads and other necessary staff member in the technology
needed for electronic records keeping.
Everyone involved in producing and maintaining records is going to need to be computer
literate, which will involve more than knowing how to turn a computer on and type in a word
processor or make a spreadsheet. It will involve learning what metadata is and how to manage it,
as well as perhaps learning a bit of computer programming in order to understand the coding that
goes into creating records and databases. They will also need to be able to use the internet and
know how to do internet searches and even create PDF’s. The database that is currently in place
can serve as a guide to creating a new database to handle the electronic records created and
everyone who accesses it will need to know how to search for what they need. Everyone

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involved will need to know how to create and operate the system, and if no one does, then it may
be necessary to bring in some additional people with the required technical expertise.
The next step needed will be to create a system for these records. It is possible to work
with the existing database, but it would have to be expanded, so perhaps another database needs
to be created to store these records. Since the database was created for administrative support, it
probably isn’t best to work with that database. But it could be used as a template to design
another database to house the vital records. For this part, it might be best to hire someone to
create the system for us if no one has the technical know-how to create and program the new
system. The system that is created will depend on what the records management goals of this
organization are. Given that we are a small organization, the system created might reflect the
size of this organization, especially if the only records that are electronic are the most vital ones.
A new database should be able to serve the needs of the organization quite well. Since there is
already familiarity with using a database to store administrative records, it won’t be as difficult
to get the staff used to using something similar to store their records. This new database should
be located on a secure server though in order to protect the integrity of the documents and needs
to have safeguards in place to prevent hacking. The database should be created specifically to
meet the needs of the organization and the type of records stored in it, which is why the entire
management team should be involved in creating it.
While the system is being developed, the entire department heads and the director (and
myself more than likely) should come together to create a new policy for the records stored in
this system. The new policy needs to clearly state what the main purpose of the recordkeeping
is for the organization, the responsibilities for proper recordkeeping and archiving, the
organizations principal decisions about how the intended recordkeeping and archiving should be

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carried out, a preservation strategy which determines how records with long-term value must be
preserved and resource planning for recordkeeping (ICA, 2005, pg. 39). The new policy will
also need to state what is and isn’t a record and what percentage of those records should be
electronic, as well as to what extent the organization will go to electronic recordkeeping. A
retention schedule needs to be drawn up as well for the electronic records, one that should be
similar to the one recommended for the existing electronic records mentioned earlier in this
report. Alongside the retention schedule, plans for long term storage should be discussed at the
very least, and some kind of long term retention policy will need to be implemented eventually.
The last step that needs to be taken before the transition and implementation process can begin is
to go through the existing paper records and decide which records should be digitized and which
records should remain paper as well as which records should be disposed of altogether. The
program that is developed will also have to comply with the ISO 15489 standard (Stephen, 2007,
2010, pg. 29).
Location of the program
As these steps are being completed, the decision on where the records program should
reside needs to be made. The program will work best as an administrative staff function, where
its administrators can focus on policy planning and training in addition to managing the records
themselves (Stephens, 2007, 2010, pg. 21). I don’t think that any one department should have it
due to the different records that each department produces and how it would strain and distract
them from the jobs they already have. There are two options available here. The first option is
to create a new department to handle all of the records created by the organization. The second
option is to have the director handle all of the recordkeeping. The first option is probably the
best choice due to the fact that the director already has her job to do, and there could be

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allegations of favoritism of one department or the other. So to prevent those problems the better
option would be to create a new department to handle all of the maintenance, storage and
disposition of the records.
A factor to consider though is the cost. If the organization has the resources to either
create a new department or perhaps merge an existing department with another in order to free
up funds, then creating a new department would work. If this isn’t an option or the funds simply
aren’t there, then the director should handle the maintenance, storage and disposal of the records.
Another option attached to this one would be for the director to delegate one of her staff
members as the records manager. For the time being I could manage the program and would be
happy to stay on and direct it if the management team would like me to. Whatever the choice,
the maintenance, storage and disposal of the records should be the records manager’s top
priority. They will need to work closely with the department heads in order to ensure that the
records are handled and stored properly, and so that the department heads understand how the
system works and how to access the records they need.
Three Year Goals
My three year goals will be to get this program up and running, deal with the decades of
paperwork already built up and train the staff so that they know how to utilize and maintain the
new records system. The goals that I have for the program will be to have the ability and
expertise to digitize paper documents, safely store vital documents, allow for easy recall and
access of those documents by the authorized personnel, have provisions of the long term
retention of documents or the disposal of them (perhaps it would be possible to have some kind
of automated system is place to automatically delete documents after a set period of time unless

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otherwise indicated), create provisions for the documents that will still be paper and demonstrate
that the new system will work much better than the old one, which will hopefully put to rest any
doubts over the authenticity and integrity of the records for this organization.
The priority that I would give for the program amongst all of the goals that I listed would
be a two part priority. The biggest priority would be for the system to safely store vital
documents and to have the provisions on place for either archiving or disposing of the documents
after a set amount of time, which I would recommend to be around five years. The reasons for
this priority relate back to the original problem this organization was having. The reason for this
report was because the reliability and authenticity of the records this organization keeps was
being called into question. Therefore, one of the most important goals of the new recordkeeping
system will be to prove that the documents are secure and not tampered with.
Along with that goal, making sure that the system had the right provisions in place to
dispose of records after around five years is also a priority since if the records are properly
disposed of or stored, then no one has to worry about them falling into the wrong hands or being
tampered with. The reason that I recommend a five year retention policy is because the Shelter
isn’t meant to be a permanent residence for the survivors. It is meant to be a safe haven for them
while they file charges against their abusers and a place where they can seek new jobs and new
lives. This process shouldn’t take longer than five years, even if court cases can drag on for a
long time. If there is a reason for them to still be here after five years, their records can be
retained longer, but once a survivor leaves and transitions into their new lives, their records
shouldn’t be needed any longer and can be deleted. The records could also be transferred to law
offices or law enforcement (depending on the type of record) for preservation.

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One year planned accomplishments
For the first year, there are two major accomplishments planned along with a few minor
accomplishments. The first of the accomplishments will be to get the records program up to the
old standards, because as this report stated earlier, before any new changes can be implemented
all of the records need to be organized and either filed away or disposed of via the old system.
There are at least fifteen years of records that have piled up, and the first priority will be to use
the system that should have been implemented to clean them up. Records that are electronic and
therefore not covered by the policy will be set aside until the new system in put into place. At
the same time that this process is happening, the management team will need to work on creating
the new policy, retention plan and records system, which I will be happy to help lend my
expertise to. I would recommend the management team use their existing database as an
example of what a new database for electronic records could look like and how it could function.
The second accomplishment would be to prepare and train the staff for a transition over
to a largely electronic records system. While the staff should stop making a paper copy of every
electronic record like they are now (which is only adding to the mess of papers the organization
is drowning in), there will more than likely still be paper records, and especially if the
management team decides that they only want to digitize some records and not all of them. Or if
the team decides to make a completely electronic system, there will likely still be things written
down, but whether or not a digital copy will be made of those will depend on whether or not they
fall under the definition of a “record” by the new policy. The training will be partially to get the
staff used to making a digital copy instead of a paper one, and to get them to stop making paper
records of everything digital.

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These initiatives go hand in hand by getting the staff used to following a system (even if
it’s one that will be replaced) while at the same time teaching them how to use and follow an
electronic one. Fortunately, the staff is already used to using applications such as Microsoft
Office and SharePoint, so they are used to creating electronic records. This is why I think it’s
possible to both organize the records and train the staff within the first year. The staff simply
needs to get used to not printing out a copy of everything and storing and viewing their records
online. These goals also relate back to the three year goals. The goal of organizing the existing
paper records in accordance with the old policy will prepare the ones left over for digitization
into the new system for either use or long term storage. By training the staff, they will be
prepared for safely storing the records and be able to recall and view them in either the database
or on whatever device they’re using after downloading the record from the new database.
Some minor accomplishments planned would be to create plans for long term storage,
which would either be handled here or perhaps the documents selected for long term storage
could be stored in a location offsite or given to the agencies Shelter for Survivors works with.
Another plan would be to restructure the staff for all of the departments in case there are staff
members would like to be part of the records program as well as deal with staff members who
are hesitant about switching over to a new system. During the first year, I would also like to get
to know each of the department heads so that I know what restrictions they would like placed on
their records, what their style is and what records they feel should be stored in the new database.
With that input, a decision can be made on which records will be stored in the database and
which ones won’t be considered important enough to keep.
Staff Plans

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For the two staff members that I have, one of whom is a certified records manager and a
trainee without any experience with records (Miller, 2013), I have a few plans concerning them.
The records manager will be a valuable asset in creating the new system and crafting a new
policy. He will also be a great help in training the staff in how to adapt to a changing system and
learn how to work in a more electronic environment. Once the system is up and running, he will
help teach everyone how to use it and be there to provide support and knowledge when the staff
has any questions. He can also help make decisions over what should and shouldn’t be a record,
which will make it easier for everyone to know what documents they should upload to the new
database. The trainee, because of her inexperience should learn alongside the staff. She should
also be heavily involved in going through the paper records to organize and purge them before
prepping them for digitization and/or storage. The logic behind that is that because she is
inexperienced, this will be a great way for her to learn how to organize and manage records as
well as giving her experience in handling the records themselves. As she gains experience, she
can start assisting the records manager in his job and perhaps become an assistant records
manager once she has gained enough experience and expertise.
Conclusion
I would like to once again thank the management team of The Crystal Lake Shelter for
Survivors for bringing me into their organization and allowing me to help. It is an honor to help
an organization like this one with its noble goal. The report on the organizations current status
regarding its records program and readiness for electronic recordkeeping may be harsh, but
pretending that the situation isn’t as bad as it is won’t help solve the problem. In this report I
have analyzed the situation and provided my recommendations as to what to do next. To
reiterate, the first thing that needs to be done is to organize all of the paper records that have built

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up over the past fifteen years using the system that was already in place at the time. While that is
being done, a new database can be created to store all of the documents the organization deems
necessary to be retained. This database will need to be located on a secure server in order to
prevent hacking or tampering with the records, and a new records policy, retention schedule and
disposition policy will need to be created. Once these tasks are done, existing records can be
digitized into the database. This process will take a few years, and many of the staff will have to
become more computer literate and learn how to search and retrieve documents from a database,
but one this is done, Shelter for Survivors will be functioning even better than it was before. It
will also be able to work much more effectively with its partners in law enforcement and in the
law offices as well as serve its survivors even better by being able to get information to them at a
much faster rate. This report concludes that if the changes and recommendations listed in this
report adopted and the necessary steps taken, then this organization will be able to transition to
electronic records keeping.
References
Miller, Michael. (2013). Assignment 3. Downloaded March 16th, 2013.
https://learn.dcollege.net/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_28198_1&con
tent_id=_909392_1
Stephens, David O. (2007, 2010). Records Management: Making the Transition from Paper to
Electronic. ARMA International, Overland Park, KS.
International Council of Archives (ICA). (2005). Electronic Records: A Workbook for
Archivists. International Council on Archives, Paris, France. Retrieved March 18th, 2013.
https://learn.dcollege.net/bbcswebdav/pid-909390-dt-content-rid-

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2763875_1/courses/24708.201225/24708.201225_ImportedContent_20121212111103/MI_INFO
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ONLINE_mlm397_ImportedContent_20120323034401/Course%20Materials/General%20Items
%20ICA%20Workbook%20for%20Archivists/ICA%20Study16ENG_5_2.pdf
Saffady, William. (2009). Managing Electronic Records 4th edition. ARMA International,
Lenexa, KS. Retrieved March 18th, 2013.
https://learn.dcollege.net/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapp
s%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_28198_1%26url%3
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Organizational Structure. (2013). Retrieved March 17th, 2013.
http://www.dss.virginia.gov/division/index.cgi

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