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Vol. 24:3 ISSN 0160-8460 December 1996
International City/County Management Association Cites NHPRC Electronic Records Grants
The May 1996, issue of Infotech Report, published by the International City/County Management Association for local governments, contains an article about the NHPRC's electronic records grants program and about the City of Philadelphia's NHPRC-supported electronic records project. The article notes some of the problems associated with preserving electronic records and describes the Commission's support for research on electronic records management and preservation issues. The report also provides information about the Philadelphia Electronic Records Project, which is working to promulgate municipal standards for new electronic records-generating systems in order to enhance the legal value of the city's electronic records.
The Philadelphia project is spearheaded by a task force staffed by personnel from the city's records management division, the mayor's office of information services, and information technology personnel from client city agencies. The task force has identified metadata requirements that will be incorporated into a new, paperless, human resource information system for the city's personnel department. This metadata - which consists of information such as creation date, creator, and use history - will be "bound" to information content stored in electronic systems and will help to establish the legal acceptability of the electronic records. After the personnel system has been implemented and tested, the records commissioner will issue metadata requirements as a city-wide standard for all new, litigation-prone, municipal information technology systems. For more information about the Philadelphia Electronic Records Project, contact electronic records manager Mark Giguere at (215) 686-2284 (voice).
