A Guide to Enhancing Records Management through the Local Records Grant Program ..read more

Man in financial sector working on mobile device and laptop. Image courtesy of Shutterstock. Beyond having to follow basic retention schedules and compliance measures, organizations in highly regulated industries must adhere to more stringent requirements like SEC Rule 17a-4. Failure to comply with these regulations has landed companies into some pretty hot water. An annual report by the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission stated that in 2021 alone, 697 total enforcement actions were filed and the SEC obtained judgements and orders for nearly  $2.4 billion in disgorgement and more th ..read more

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.   NOTE: M-23-07  mandate is now the latest version for the Update to Transition to Electronic Records.  Look out for our article going in depth about this mandate, coming soon. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and  Office of Management and Budget (OMB) set forth the government-wide policy  M-19-21 as a directive to progress how government records are managed. The mandate deadline has since passed, but NARA understands the delays and has since  made an update with mandate M-23-07, updating the deadline to ..read more

Image courtesy of  Anna Shvets  from  Pexels ..read more

Image courtesy of Anete Lusina from Pexels Note: This article was originally published in 2013, but has since been edited and updated. Although case files along with subject files exist in all types of file plans, I find that the topic is not discussed in-depth within records management literature. In this post, I would like to lay out the key characteristics of a case file. Case File Definition There are two types of files in the file plan - subject files and case files. Subject files contain documents relating to an ongoing subject or a business function. Case files, on the other hand, cont ..read more

ARMA International 2022 banner ..read more

'Compliance' is a commonplace term in the records management world. This isn't the first blog post to iterate how critical it is to have a compliant RM program. But  we'd like to make something very clear: proper records management is not about ''reaching compliance.' It's about ensuring compliance by implementing and then sticking to the process. This article breaks this process down into a list to make it easy for your team. We also offer a free, full length RM health checklist below for download. Repeat after me: Reliability ensures compliance. Reliability stems from a well documented ..read more

Image shows AI, personified. Courtesy of Shutterstock images. Forget killer bots plotting our demise. Collabware CEO Graham Sibley explained  that the way Artificial Intelligence (AI) runs is incredibly simple and when properly utilized, can help organizations save money and allow employees to work more productively. Spoiler alert: AI is  programming an algorithm to answer questions with a YES or  NO, which automates and streamlines day-to-day tasks. But more on that below. Check out the video below to watch Graham's full presentation. If you don't  currently have 50 minut ..read more

Double exposure image of cityscape and a suited man searching on tablet. Courtesy of Shutterstock. E-Discovery continues to be a key topic of interest for records managers: it often reveals the frightening consequences of poor records management adoption by organizations. Companies can spend millions of dollars on this process or be sanctioned a huge amount for spoliation if proper measures are not taken. But e-Discovery does not have to be daunting: it is just important to understand what's required and follow through. In today's blog article, we cover: what e-Discovery is, a seven-step bre ..read more

  Standardizing and streamlining the Holds process for the most value for your organization. When we talk about Holds in records management, we are normally talking about things from a legal standpoint. A Legal Hold is standard practice during the e-Discovery process to ensure that records relevant to a legal case are suspended in their disposition policies so they cannot be destroyed, moved, or altered. The purpose is to preserve the integrity and trustworthiness of all potentially relevant information, and of the organization holding this information, in the case of litigation. We will ..read more