INS2603 – OCT/NOV 2018 EXAM PREP
RECORDS
The characteristics of a record
Authenticity: records should be protected against unauthorized additions, deletion,
concealment and use
Reliability: The content of the record should be trustworthy as a full and accurate
representation of the facts contained therein
Integrity: Mechanisms should be on place to endure that records are complete and
unalterable
Usability: Records are usable if they can be located, retrieved, presented and
interpreted
The value of records in an organisation
Records provide a source of public accountability of how elected officials and the
bureaucracy their public trust and the mandates of citizenry
Records provide verifiable evidence of fraud
Records can also serve as evidence of an individual team or organisations accomplishments
and projects and projects that have been managed well.
Records have heritage value
Records are the reflection of an organisation’s activities and the environment in which the
organisation operates. In other words, records are created in the business context of an organisation
and are kept as evidence of business activities.
It is essential for an organisation to know which records should be created, stored and responsibly
disposed of, in order for the organisation to:
Meet operational requirements;
Comply with legal and fiscal requirements;
Mitigate risk;
Respond to operational demands;
Respond to information requests; and
Manage access to information, which should be protected in terms of legislation and privacy to
individuals.
Reliable records enable an organisation to:
Create a corporate memory of the organisation;
Make appropriate business decisions;
lOMoARcPSD|3775427
Achieve greater efficiency, productivity and consistency;
Meet legal, statutory and regulatory requirements;
Protect the organisation’s interests and those of its staff and clients;
Reduce the risks associated with missing, losing or failing to obtain evidence of decisions and
actions;
Document activities and achievements of an organisation;
Ensure business continuity in the light of an event such as a natural or man-made disasters, when
only the records remain.
The continuum model and the record life cycle concept
Records are dynamic in that they have a date of creation, a use/purpose, and a date of disposing or
archiving. All records have a particular life cycle: they are created, used, kept or legal or admin
reasons, and (unless they have a permanent historical value) they are destroyed at the end of their
life cycle.
Life cycle is the life span of a record, from its creation to its disposition
The 5 stages in a the life cycle of a record are
1. Creation
2. Distribution
, 3. Storage, maintenance, use
4. Disposition
5. Archival preservation
Stage 1: Creation
Records are created or received by an organisation in support of its current business. Records
originate internally from dictation, handwritten drafts, and word or data processors and external
from mail, computer printouts, telecommunication systems, telegrams, e-mail messages, etc.
During the creation phase, records could be controlled by
Forms management, standardizing the creation, design, analysis and revision of forms or
templates
Correspondence management, establishment of uniform systems for formatting,
preparing
and processing correspondence
Copying management, determining how many copies may be needed and how they will
be
used and distributed, avoiding unnecessary duplication of multiple copies
Stage 2: Distribution
Information is distributed to the appropriate people/users. Records are distributed internally and
externally. Electronic mail, inter-office filing systems, postal services, special courier or direct access
to computer databases may be used to distribute records
lOMoARcPSD|3775427
Stage 3: Storage, maintenance and use
Maintenance is filing, retrieving and transferring information.
Filing is the action of arranging books, documents or other information bearing media into
predetermined sequences. Filing is just one aspect of records management
Retrieval refers to finding and removing a file, which has been requested, or the information
contained within the file. There are different users who require the information in records for
decision-making, documentation, responding to queries, referencing or supporting legal
requirements
Stage 4: Disposition
When records are no longer referred to frequently, they become inactive and are removed from
active prime office space and, if they have no further value to the creating body or they are not
legally required to be kept, they are destroyed.
If the records still has value, they may be transferred to inactive storage facilities such as a
storeroom, basement, records centre, or an off-sire storage facility.
Appraisal needs to be conducted at this stage to determine which records can be destroyed and
which not.
Stage 5: Archival preservation
Records with permanent value are preserved in archives for ongoing historical reference or research.
Such records have to be accessioned, arranged, described, and made available to users
Active, semi-active and inactive records life cycle
ACTIVE RECORDS: Records that are created or received during the performance of business-
related
activities and are maintained in the office that created or received them. Records are used regularly
to conduct current business activities of an individual or organisation.
SEMI-ACTIVE: records that are still used, but not frequently, in the conduct of current business
activities. In such scenarios, records may be kept in a separate storage area, such as a records centre
or even an off-site storage facility, awaiting their ultimate disposal. Semi-current records are also
known as semi-active records
INACTIVE RECORDS: records that are no longer used for the conduct of current business-related
activities and have thus died. At this stage the records have reached their disposal phase, which
means that they either need to be destroyed or transferred permanently to an archival storage
facility. Non-current records are also known as inactive records.
RECORDS
The characteristics of a record
Authenticity: records should be protected against unauthorized additions, deletion,
concealment and use
Reliability: The content of the record should be trustworthy as a full and accurate
representation of the facts contained therein
Integrity: Mechanisms should be on place to endure that records are complete and
unalterable
Usability: Records are usable if they can be located, retrieved, presented and
interpreted
The value of records in an organisation
Records provide a source of public accountability of how elected officials and the
bureaucracy their public trust and the mandates of citizenry
Records provide verifiable evidence of fraud
Records can also serve as evidence of an individual team or organisations accomplishments
and projects and projects that have been managed well.
Records have heritage value
Records are the reflection of an organisation’s activities and the environment in which the
organisation operates. In other words, records are created in the business context of an organisation
and are kept as evidence of business activities.
It is essential for an organisation to know which records should be created, stored and responsibly
disposed of, in order for the organisation to:
Meet operational requirements;
Comply with legal and fiscal requirements;
Mitigate risk;
Respond to operational demands;
Respond to information requests; and
Manage access to information, which should be protected in terms of legislation and privacy to
individuals.
Reliable records enable an organisation to:
Create a corporate memory of the organisation;
Make appropriate business decisions;
lOMoARcPSD|3775427
Achieve greater efficiency, productivity and consistency;
Meet legal, statutory and regulatory requirements;
Protect the organisation’s interests and those of its staff and clients;
Reduce the risks associated with missing, losing or failing to obtain evidence of decisions and
actions;
Document activities and achievements of an organisation;
Ensure business continuity in the light of an event such as a natural or man-made disasters, when
only the records remain.
The continuum model and the record life cycle concept
Records are dynamic in that they have a date of creation, a use/purpose, and a date of disposing or
archiving. All records have a particular life cycle: they are created, used, kept or legal or admin
reasons, and (unless they have a permanent historical value) they are destroyed at the end of their
life cycle.
Life cycle is the life span of a record, from its creation to its disposition
The 5 stages in a the life cycle of a record are
1. Creation
2. Distribution
, 3. Storage, maintenance, use
4. Disposition
5. Archival preservation
Stage 1: Creation
Records are created or received by an organisation in support of its current business. Records
originate internally from dictation, handwritten drafts, and word or data processors and external
from mail, computer printouts, telecommunication systems, telegrams, e-mail messages, etc.
During the creation phase, records could be controlled by
Forms management, standardizing the creation, design, analysis and revision of forms or
templates
Correspondence management, establishment of uniform systems for formatting,
preparing
and processing correspondence
Copying management, determining how many copies may be needed and how they will
be
used and distributed, avoiding unnecessary duplication of multiple copies
Stage 2: Distribution
Information is distributed to the appropriate people/users. Records are distributed internally and
externally. Electronic mail, inter-office filing systems, postal services, special courier or direct access
to computer databases may be used to distribute records
lOMoARcPSD|3775427
Stage 3: Storage, maintenance and use
Maintenance is filing, retrieving and transferring information.
Filing is the action of arranging books, documents or other information bearing media into
predetermined sequences. Filing is just one aspect of records management
Retrieval refers to finding and removing a file, which has been requested, or the information
contained within the file. There are different users who require the information in records for
decision-making, documentation, responding to queries, referencing or supporting legal
requirements
Stage 4: Disposition
When records are no longer referred to frequently, they become inactive and are removed from
active prime office space and, if they have no further value to the creating body or they are not
legally required to be kept, they are destroyed.
If the records still has value, they may be transferred to inactive storage facilities such as a
storeroom, basement, records centre, or an off-sire storage facility.
Appraisal needs to be conducted at this stage to determine which records can be destroyed and
which not.
Stage 5: Archival preservation
Records with permanent value are preserved in archives for ongoing historical reference or research.
Such records have to be accessioned, arranged, described, and made available to users
Active, semi-active and inactive records life cycle
ACTIVE RECORDS: Records that are created or received during the performance of business-
related
activities and are maintained in the office that created or received them. Records are used regularly
to conduct current business activities of an individual or organisation.
SEMI-ACTIVE: records that are still used, but not frequently, in the conduct of current business
activities. In such scenarios, records may be kept in a separate storage area, such as a records centre
or even an off-site storage facility, awaiting their ultimate disposal. Semi-current records are also
known as semi-active records
INACTIVE RECORDS: records that are no longer used for the conduct of current business-related
activities and have thus died. At this stage the records have reached their disposal phase, which
means that they either need to be destroyed or transferred permanently to an archival storage
facility. Non-current records are also known as inactive records.
