Records Management

A widely accepted definition of records management is:

"The field of management responsible for the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use and disposition of records, including the processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and information about business activities and transactions in the form of records"

As records management is concenred with information that is described in legislation there are a number of items of specifdic jargon that are used in activities. The main terms are listed below:

File Plan

A method for classifying records

Retention Policy

A way of determining how long to keep a record

Storage

A plan for where to store the record

Access and circulation

Continue to allow the record to be accessed and in some cases moved for review

Lifecycle

The active and inactive portions of a records life

Discovery

The ability to locate a class of records and make them accessible

Disposition

The process of deleting the record

Holds

The ability to interrupt the disposition of a record

Oracle ECM provides the lifetime control of electronic Records from their creation to their disposal and destruction. In addition, a module is available that can be integrated with ECM for controlling the usage of paper Records and due to the amount of specific regulation for organisations complying with USA regulations there is a particular combination of prodcts to provide Sarbanes Oxley complaince.