Make a Record

Contents

What is a Record?
Why are Records Important?
How do I keep Full and Accurate Records?
Keep a Record
 
Records created by a public office are called 'public records', those created by a local authority are called 'local authority records'. They are both covered by the Public Records Act 2005.
 
These records have special significance because they support governments' accountability and provide information about New Zealand's governments, society and citizens. Over time, they provide a corporate memory for the organisations that created and used them, and a collective memory for the New Zealand government as a whole.
 
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What is a Record?

In the course of a working day, people create, receive, or use records, data, and information of all types. The International Records Management Standard (ISO 15489) defines records as "information created, received, and maintained as evidence and information by an organisation or person, in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business". Broadly speaking, a record is any documentation or evidence of activity. They may be the means by which a transaction occurs, such as a contract or letter seeking or receiving information, or they may be created to reflect a transaction, such as minutes taken at a meeting or an electronic payment of an invoice. The information that contributed to a transaction or its outcome can also constitute part of the record.
 
The Public Records Act defines a record as: "information, whether in its original form or otherwise, including ... a document, a signature, a seal, text, images, sound, speech or data compiled, recorded, or stored... in written form on any material, or on film, negative, tape or any other medium so as to be capable of being reproduced, or by means of any recording device, or process, computer, or other electronic device or process." In summary records:

• Provide documentation, or evidence, of activities;
• Include both original sources of information and copies of information; and
• Come in a variety of media / formats such as paper, electronic (analogue or digital), and can be documents, letters, emails, digital images, sound recordings, or web pages.

 
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Why are Records Important?

• Accountability: Records document decisions made and actions taken in the course of an organisation's business, and therefore allow the public and the government to hold organisations accountable for their actions.
• Evidence: Records provide the evidence that transactions happened or that decision-making followed a certain process. This means they need to have context, for example they need to include who created the record, for whom, when, for what purpose, etc, and they need to have any changes clearly documented.
• Smooth running business: Records provide organisations with information about past decisions, actions and events. This helps build organisational knowledge and manage risk. In addition, records contribute to good customer service, by documenting previous interactions, and they provide a rich source of information about potential business improvement opportunities.
   

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How do I Keep Full and Accurate Records?

Full and accurate records must be:

• Comprehensive: they must document all the activities your organisation undertakes
• Accurate: they must correctly reflect what was communicated, decided or done
• Complete: they must contain not only content, but also the structure and context needed to understand the record (e.g. date, author, links to other records)
• Created, captured and managed within a records management system: they must be part of a corporate filing system that can accommodate paper and electronic records. Staff members should not keep organisational records, for any longer than necessary, in personal folders or files, such as personal email folders.
   

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Keep a Record

The following chart is designed for staff in public offices to help determine whether or not a specific item needs to be kept as a public or local authority record:

 
Issued January 2003/Revised June 2006  
 
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