1. Introduction
With the advances in computing technology, many records are being created, transmitted
and retrieved in electronic formats. Numerous organization are using Electronic Records
Management, for instance, ISO 15489, to control the creation, receipt, maintenance, use
and disposition of records. However, there are some challenges for managing electronic
records with various component elements. In the following, there will be four sections for
the above discussion. First, based on what I have learned in my course, I will attempt to
illustrate out the readability and usage problems of electronic record management. Second,
cost of hardware and software will be discussed. Third, I will explain the cost of
conversion. Fourth, I will make a description of cost of human resources. In these four
parts, some possible recommendations will be provided so as to help the organization to
get through the problems. At last, I would like to make conclusion.
2. Content
In an enterprise, employee is required to generate numerous records in a year, a month,
even a day. Most of the record should be kept and filed properly. A record can be either a
tangible object or in digital form, such as, letters, email, and application data. Based on the
traditional paper based records management program, the new challenges will be classified
into the following categories:
Problem 1: Readability and Usage
1.1 Hardware and Software Dependent
Record in electronic format is hardware and software dependent. Some records can only be
read and understood if the storage medium can be read by existing equipment and if the
programs used be read by existing equipment and if the programs used to create the
digitized data are still available. Also, readability and usage of electronic record is
dependent upon software used, which is highly prone to obsolescence, for instance,
WordPerfect.
1.2 Example
A classic example is United States census data in 1960. Raw data were stored on magnetic
tapes. By the late1970s, these data were unreadable.
1.3 Solution: Migration
Migration is the process by which data is transferred from one software and hardware
configuration to another. It is used to maintain the accessibility of the data with new
generations of computer technology. However there is the possibility of losing the original
format of the data during this process. This is of concern because the original meaning of
the data could be lost or altered due to the loss of some of the data’s original
characteristics. A form of migration is conversion. In the process of conversion data is
