Guidelines

As a technology, blockchain, or distributed ledgers, have been around for over a decade, but it is only recently that blockchain uses beyond cryptocurrencies have been contemplated.  Now, however, Ohio state and local governments are taking an interest in blockchain and how the technology might be leveraged within the public sector.  Legislators are proposing changes to the law to allow for the use of blockchain, and technology companies are rapidly getting into the game.  In this fast-paced move toward the adoption of blockchain technology, records managers and archivists cannot afford to not be a part of the crucial conversations because they don’t understand the technology.

The OhioERC Blockchain subcommittee is working toward a number of guidelines to demystify blockchain technology.  We are happy to release our first document, Blockchain Basics!  It is intended to be a high-level description of the most common blockchain concepts and terminology.  The guideline does not attempt to argue for or against the use of blockchain, as there are many variables that come into play. 

Stay tuned over the next year as the subcommittee releases additional guides that:

• Provide basic level of understanding of blockchain to records managers
• Outline the advantages, disadvantages, and how those change with public versus private blockchains
• Outline the role records managers and archivists should play in blockchain projects
• Who should be at the table during blockchain projects and what should their role(s) entail
• Use cases for types of records that could benefit from blockchain and types that might be better suited in a different format
• Identify potential legal implications

Sincerely,

Pari Swift, OhioERC Blockchain Subcommittee Chair

Greetings! The Ohio Electronic Records Committee would like to announce major updates to our published guidelines for Managing Email, as well our guidelines for Managing Social Media. The Managing Email guidelines were last updated in 2012 and this represents a major effort to update the language in the guidelines, simplify them, and to make them more user-focused for our records management cohorts in public agencies throughout the state. The primary focus of the update to our Social Media guidelines was to remove outdated terminology and to update the various social media definitions to increase accessibility and relevancy in the current social media environment. We will continue to review and revise our existing guidelines, as well as develop new guidelines as needed. If you have questions or comments on the updated guidelines, or recommendations for existing or emerging topics for the Ohio Electronic Records Committee to investigate, please contact us at: [email protected]