Government agencies create records as required by law or to document official business transactions. A record system is created to provide a record of business transactions within the proper documentary context. Therefore, your automated system becomes a record system when either a part or all of it is used to support your agency s recordkeeping requirements. The best way to ensure your records will be intact, authoritative and available when you need them is to plan ahead. If so, review your enabling legislation and other legal mandates and analyse business functions to be supported by the system.
Good planning is the backbone of good design.
With proper planning your record system will include the rules and procedures needed to meet your legal obligations as well as the practical requirements of program functions. Not all records are good candidates for microfilming. A good rule of thumb is that if the records have to be retained for more that ten years, it may be cost justifiable to microfilm. In many cases, it s cheaper to store paper records than to microfilm. You also should seriously consider microfilming particularly important or vital records for protection against potential disasters such as fire and water damage.