Data Management Professionals are stakeholders in decisions about document classification and retention. They must support consistency between the base structured data and specific unstructured data. Managing the lifecycle of documents and records includes:
- Inventory: Identification of existing and newly created documents / records.
- Policy: Creation, approval, and enforcement of documents / records policies, including a document / records retention policy.
- Classification of documents / records.
- Storage: Short-and long-term storage of physical and electronic documents / records.
- Retrieval and Circulation: Allowing access to and circulation of documents / records in accordance with policies, security and control standards, and legal requirements.
- Preservation and Disposal: Archiving and destroying documents / records according to organizational needs, statutes, and regulations.
Document Management includes records management. Managing records has special requirements. Records management includes the full lifecycle: from record creation or receipt through processing, distribution, organization, and retrieval, to disposition. Records can be physical (e.g., documents, memos, contracts, reports or microfiche); electronic (e.g., email content, attachments, and instant messaging); content on a website; documents on all types of media and hardware; and data captured in databases of all kinds. Hybrid records, such as aperture cards (paper record with a microfiche window imbedded with details or supporting material), combine formats. A Vital Record is type a record required to resume an organization’s operations the event of a disaster.
