Structured data elements: are they records?

• Author: Hamilton, Kelly

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Records and information management (RIM) professionals manage their organization's records and information, regardless of their format or the media on which they are written.

Most RIM programs have a good handle on how to manage paper records and information. However, managing content in a relational database, or structured data, is more challenging. This content is contained in data fields within tables, and those tables are often joined. If content is removed without regard for the relationships between tables, the context of the transaction that was being documented is lost, and the official record is affected.

A Record Defined

The international RM standard ISO15489-1 Information and Documentation--Records Management--Part I: General gives the following definition for a record: "Information created, received, and maintained as evidence and information by an organization or person, in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business."

Paper Records

In the example below, the folder content is considered a record of a transaction Company XYZ conducted with an outside vendor to order a desk:

The marketing department of Company XYZ created a paper purchase order with the unique identifying number 12345 for a desk.

* The purchase order went to management for approval.

* Management approved the purchase order.

* Vendor received the purchase order and shipped the desk to Company XYZ.

* The shipping receipt referencing purchase order 12345 was received with the desk.

* The accounting department received an invoice referencing purchase order 12345.

* Accounting paid the vendor and kept a copy of the check referencing the purchase order number.

After the transaction was completed, the accounting department kept the paper copies of the purchase order, shipping receipt, vendor invoice, check, and vendor correspondence in the same folder. This constituted the record of the transaction.

Unstructured Data

Had this order been transacted electronically, the various steps above may have resulted in unstructured information, such as that found in word processing documents, e-mail, and image files, to be managed. The electronic folder structure might look like Figure 1. It shows a folder within a drive that contains the electronic equivalent of the information found in the paper folder. This electronic folder content constitutes the record of the transaction.

Structured Data

Databases contain information that can also...