As a person who recently earned a job as a Government Information Analyst with the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC), I had no idea how complex records management would be. As a former educator and law student, I created tons of records while underestimating the amount of time and skill that managing those…
On Friday, August 16, over twenty local government entities in Texas were targeted by a coordinated ransomware attack. This incident is the most recent in a year marked by cyberattacks on state and local governments across the country. Several state and federal agencies are investigating and actively working with the impacted Texas entities to help…
One of the most useful tools in managing electronic records is de-duplication software. Is it right for your government? In short, de-duplication software can be used to analyze electronic records to determine if there are duplicates in a drive or folder. There are countless versions of this class of software available online. Some will charge,…
All these questions loom large in the pursuit of creating, growing, and maintaining a records management program. The common denominator is people. Short of those individuals who either report to you or who you work with directly, you are surrounded by potential “problem children”— those unwilling to release their records for archiving or disposal— and…
Author: Michael Shea The history of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission began in the 1830s when Texas was still a Republic. In 1909, the Texas Library and Historical Commission was created to direct the State Library, aid and encourage public libraries, and collect materials related to Texas history. In 1947, the Texas Legislature…
As more organizations move from paper to electronic records, records management professionals face more complex challenges in managing these records. In their effort to maintain seamless records management processes within their organization, records managers expressed interest in products that specifically automate key records processes and controls. Records management professionals must ensure that the introduction of…
Creating policies for social media records is vital to successfully managing those records and notifying the public of the areas that impact their use of agency social media tools.We’ve previously discussed the benefits and challenges of using social media, identification and retention of social media, and we outlined some methods of capturing these records. So…
Once you tackle determining whether social media content are records, the job is not quite done; capturing social media records is an extremely important aspect to successfully managing the records. Social media capture helps guarantee your government body has access to the records for review, use and, ultimately, destruction at the end of its retention…