Tackling summer digitization projects? OhioERC has you covered

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Summer often brings the opportunity to take on larger, long-term projects that may get sidelined during busier months. For many public entities, this may be the season to focus on digital document imaging. Digital document imaging projects convert paper records into high-quality, searchable digital formats. These projects may free up physical storage space, improve public access to records, enhance disaster recovery planning, streamline retrieval and sharing, and preserve aging or fragile documents. They can range in size from scanning a few file drawers to multi-year, agency-wide digitization efforts.

If you’re planning or considering a document imaging project this summer, OhioERC offers several tools and guidelines to help you, including:

  • Scanning Feasibility Tool – Before investing time and resources into a scanning project, use this interactive worksheet to assess whether digitizing is the best option. The tool evaluates the volume and types of records, staffing and equipment availability, and potential expenses. The tool also provides a list of questions to consider before kicking off a new project.
  • Guidelines for Digital Imaging of Public Records– This comprehensive guidance document walks you through project planning, technical specifications and selection, system implementation and archiving and long-term maintenance considerations.
  • Tips for Document Imaging– This Tip Sheet provides quick tips and best practices for those that elect to embark on a document imaging project.

With the tools provided by OhioERC, you don’t have to start from scratch. Visit the OhioERC Document Imaging resources page for the full list of all of OhioERC’s resources in this area.

Social Media and Live Broadcast Video Records

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Facebook announced an update regarding their Live Video storage policy three weeks ago. Beginning on February 19th, any new live broadcasts can be replayed, downloaded or shared from Facebook Pages or profiles for 30 days. After 30 days, these live broadcasts will automatically be removed from Facebook. Any archived live videos older than 30 days will be removed from Facebook after 90 days. Before the deletion of these videos, Facebook will notify you via email and through the Facebook app informing you that you will have 90 days to download or transfer your live broadcast videos.

To ensure that these live video broadcasts are preserved, you will have the opportunity to download the live broadcast videos to your device, transfer them to your cloud storage, or convert them to a new reel. Facebook provides directions on the various ways to do these procedures. Updating Our Facebook Live Video Storage Policy | Meta

According to this announcement, Meta is making these changes to align with their storage policies with industry standards and to help ensure that Meta is providing the most up-to-date live video experiences for all on Facebook.

This is a concern for several reasons:

1. Social media companies control how long these potential records will be available in a social media platform.

2. Potential government agencies that use Facebook Live video broadcasts (especially during the pandemic) could lose records of the office unless they start downloading the videos now. This could result in more electronic records needing to be stored on government servers, which will increase storage space/cost money to preserve.

If you are an entity that uses Facebook live video broadcasts and has a social media archiving software program, i.e., – ArchiveSocial, research if these live broadcasts are being captured and preserved permanently. If you do not have an archiving social media software program that preserves these records, begin a plan on how your entity will start preserving these records incrementally.

Yes, Email Can Be an Official Record

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As the State of Ohio begins its 136th General Assembly of the Ohio Legislature, the Ohio Electronic Records Committee would like to remind newly elected State Legislators of our Email Management Online Training Series. Training courses include Email As A Record; Email Clean-Up Strategies; Email Filing and Organization; and Microsoft 365 Outlook Email Management.

In these online courses, one will learn several things including, that “email itself is not a record series but should be retained based on the content of the message.” If the email serves as a record that “documents the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the office,” [ORC 149.011(G)] then it needs to be retained. Examples of records in email format can include: correspondence, personnel documentation, or project working papers. Often emails have attached documents with them. This training series helps one determine what is necessary to keep (email, email and attachment, or just the attachment) for different circumstances.

The amount of email one receives can be quite overwhelming. The Email Clean-Up and Email Filing and Organization training courses are both helpful and informative and can guide one through this difficult process in an efficient manner. Lastly, many governmental bodies, organizations, and businesses are now switching to Microsoft 365 Outlook Email. Steps for applying retention rules for Microsoft 365 Outlook emails are demonstrated using desktop and web applications in the training program, Microsoft 365 Outlook Email Management.

Please take some time to review these very informative courses. Good luck as you begin your endeavor in email management.