Information Lifecycle
Management (sometimes abbreviated ILM) is the practice of
applying certain policies to the effective management of
information throughout its useful life. This practice has been
used by Records and Information Management (RIM) Professionals
for over three decades and had its basis in the management of
information in paper or other physical forms (microfilm,
negatives, photographs, audio or video recordings and other
assets).
ILM includes every phase of a
"record" from its beginning to its end. And while it is
generally applied to information that rises to the classic
definition of a record (Records management ), it applies to any
and all informational assets. During its existence, information
can become a record by being identified as documenting a
business transaction or as satisfying a business need. In this
sense ILM has been part of the overall approach of ECM
Enterprise content management .
Information Lifecycle
Management comprises the policies, processes, practices, and
tools used to align the business value of information with the
most appropriate and cost effective IT infrastructure from the
time information is conceived through its final disposition.
Information is aligned with business processes through
management policies and service levels associated with
applications, metadata, information, and data.
For
the purposes of business records,
there are five phases identified as being part of the lifecycle
Continuum:
-
Creation
and Receipt
-
Distribution
-
Use
-
Maintenance
-
Disposition
Creation and
Receipt deals with records from
their point of origination. This could include their creation by
a member of an organization at varying levels or receipt of
information from an external source. It includes correspondence,
forms, reports, drawings, computer input/output, or other
sources.
Distribution
is the process of managing the information once it has been
created or received. This includes both internal and external
distribution, as information that leaves an organization becomes
a record of a transaction with others.
Use
takes place after information is distributed internally, and can
generate business decisions, document further actions, or serve
other purposes.
Maintenance
is the management of information. This can include processes
such as filing, retrieval and transfers. While the connotation
of 'filing' presumes the placing of information in a prescribed
container and leaving it there, there is much more involved.
Filing is actually the process of arranging information in a
predetermined sequence and creating a system to manage it for
its useful existence within an organization. Failure to
establish a sound method for filing information makes its
retrieval and use nearly impossible. Transferring information
refers to the process of responding to requests, retrieval from
files and providing access to users authorized by the
organization to have access to the information. While removed
from the files, the information is tracked by the use of various
processes to ensure it is returned and/or available to others
who may need access to it.
Disposition is
the practice of handling information that is less frequently
accessed or has met its assigned retention periods. Less
frequently accessed records may be considered for relocation to
an 'inactive records facility' until they have met their
assigned retention period. Retention periods are based on the
creation of an organization-specific retention schedule, based
on research of the regulatory, statutory and legal requirements
for management of information for the industry in which the
organization operates. Additional items to consider when
establishing a retention period are any business needs that may
exceed those requirements and consideration of the potential
historic, intrinsic or enduring value of the information. If the
information has met all of these needs and is no longer
considered to be valuable, it should be disposed of by means
appropriate for the content. This may include ensuring that
others cannot obtain access to outdated or obsolete information
as well as measures for protection privacy and confidentiality.
Life-span
of Activity vs. Non-Active Indefinite Storage
- Long-term records are
those that are identified to have a continuing value to an
organization. Based on the period assigned in the retention
schedule, these may be held for periods of 25 years or
longer, or may even be assigned a retention period of
"indefinite" or "permanent". The term "permanent" is used
much less frequently outside of the Federal Government, as
it is impossible to establish a requirement for such a
retention period. There is a need to ensure records of a
continuing value are managed using methods that ensure they
remain persistently accessible for length of the time they
are retained.
- While this is relatively
easy to accomplishing with paper or microfilm based records
by providing appropriate environmental conditions and
adequate protection from potential hazards, it is less
simple for electronic format records.
- There are unique concerns
related to ensuring the format they are generated/captured
in remains viable and the media they are stored on remains
accessible. Media is subject to both degradation and
obsolescence over its lifespan, and therefore, policies and
procedures must be established for the periodic conversion
and migration of information stored electronically to ensure
it remains accessible for its required retention periods.
The
practice of records management involves:
-
Creating, approving, and enforcing records policies,
including a classification system and a records
retention policy
Developing a records
storage plan , which includes the short and long-term
housing of physical records and digital information
Identifying existing and
newly created records, classifying them, and then
storing them according to standard operating procedures
Coordinating access and
circulation of records within and even outside of an
organization
Executing a retention
policy to archive and destroy records according to
operational needs, operating procedures, statutes, and
regulations .
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