Abstract
The previous chapter focused on identifying the principal methods for creating and retrieving electronic records as records. This chapter focuses on identifying the principal methods for ensuring that such records are created reliable and maintained authentic. The methods draw, implicitly, on the notion of a trusted recordkeeping system, the salient features of which are outlined in the introduction.1 Because most contemporary records systems are hybrid systems, containing both electronic and non-electronic components, the methods take into account the need to integrate the management of electronic and non-electronic records.
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Notes
See above, pp. 2–3.
The connection between the integrity of the record and the integrity of the system is made explicitly by the Uniform Law Conference of Canada (ULCC) in its Uniform Electronic Evidence Act. See Uniform Law Conference of Canada, “Uniform Electronic Evidence Act Consultation Paper,” March 1997, para. 3, <http://www.law.ualberta.ca/alri/ulc/> (March 1997), para. 24–26, 27. The Uniform Electronic Evidence Act was adopted by the ULCC in 1998. A slightly revised version of this Act has been incorporated into the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, R.S.C. 2000, C. 5, p. 3.
Access privileges should not be confused with access rules, which are understood to be the rules governing access to records established in freedom of information and privacy laws and are not specifically accounted for in the model since they constitute part of the control exercised by the juridical system on the management of the archival fonds
Modification of a record means a change to its content, content articulation or content configuration. In the case of electronic forms, the filling in of the form constitutes the making of a record not a modification of it. Once all the required fields have been filled in, the form may be treated as an entity that should not be modified. It remains understood that, once a field has been filled in, it should not be modifiable.
The handling office/officer is the office or officer that is formally competent for carrying out the action to which the record relates or for the matter to which the record pertains.
An annotation added in the course of handling or managing the record is not considered a modification.
See above, pp. 29–30.
See above, pp. 30–31.
The descriptive elements of a classification scheme identified in this section are based on standards for classifying and operational records developed in specific Canadian jurisdictions. These standards include the Administrative Records Classification System (ARCS) and the Operational Records Classification System (ORCS) developed for agencies of the government of British Columbia; as well as the Standard for Administrative Records (STAR) and the Standard for Operational Records (STOR) developed for agencies of the government of Nova Scotia. Although developed for public agencies, the standards are equally applicable to private organizations. Both ARCS and STARS are available online. See British Columbia, Administrative Records Classification System (ARCS), located at <http://www.bcarchives.aov.bc.ca/arcs/index.htm>; and Nova Scotia, Standard for Administrative Records, located at <http://www.nsarm.ednet.ns.ca/rm/star5/index.htm.>
STAR refers to the largest grouping of records MAIN GROUPS, while ARCS and ORCS refer to it as SECTIONS.
Penal Cassation, sect. V, 6 October 1987, cited in Maria Guercio, “Principi, metodi e strumenti per la formazione, conservazione e utilizzo dei documenti archivistici in ambiente digitale,” Archivi per la storia XII, 1–2(1999):49.
See above, pp. 31–32.
A simple copy is a mere transcription of the content of the original. An imitative copy reproduces, either completely or partially, the content and form of the original record. A copy in the form of an original is identical to the original although generated subsequently. An authentic copy is a copy certified by authorized officials so as to render it legally admissible as evidence.
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© 2002 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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MacNeil, H. (2002). Methods for Creating and Maintaining Reliable and Authentic Electronic Records. In: Preservation of the Integrity of Electronic Records. The Archivist’s Library, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9892-7_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9892-7_5
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