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Minimum requirements for metadata
This guide sets out the minimum metadata to assign when creating, managing and disposing of information and records. This guide is to help organisations develop a trusted minimum set of metadata to meet the requirements of the Information and records management standard (the Standard).
Minimum requirements for metadata (16/G7, approved April 2023)
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Managing minimum requirements for metadata
Organisations must manage metadata associated with information and records. They must do this to meet minimum compliance requirements 2.3, 3.2 and 3.3 of the Standard.
Minimum compliance | Description |
|---|---|
2.3 Information and records management must be a design component of all systems and service environments where high-risk/high value business is undertaken. | Integrate metadata into the specifications, to ensure that authorised people can identify, access and use the information and records. This applies when designing systems and service environments for a business whose operations are high-risk, high-value, or both. |
3.2 Information and records must be reliable and trustworthy. | Use metadata appropriately to ensure an organisation’s information and records are reliable and trustworthy. |
3.3 Information and records must be identifiable, retrievable, accessible and usable for as long as they are required. | Use metadata appropriately to guarantee that authorised people can identify, access and use the information and records for as long as required. |
Creating and managing information and records
The required metadata listed in the checklist below corresponds to specific elements or combinations of elements in the Australian/New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 5478 Recordkeeping Metadata Property Reference Set (RMPRS).
Minimum data to assign when creating and managing information and records
Unique identifier
Name
Date created
Business activity documented
Creator (person or system)
Name and version of the software application used to create or document a record
Any later actions carried out on the record, such as accessing, modifying or disposing
Identification of the persons or systems carrying out those later actions
Dates those actions were carried out
The organisation may need to assign further metadata to:
Ensure that the record is full and accurate
Establish a complete context
Prove authenticity
For further information, read the best practice guidance in the Implementation guide for the Standard, including the RMPRS.
Disposing of information and records
Disposal describes a range of processes that evaluate whether information and records should remain in the control of the organisation that created them. For public records in Aotearoa New Zealand, disposal actions can include:
transferring control of the information and records to Archives New Zealand
selling, altering, destroying or discharging the information and records.
The metadata described below is the minimum required when disposing of information and records. This metadata must be generated or captured during the disposal process and retained for a minimum period of 10 years (see class 8.1.3 of General disposal authority 6 (PDF 683KB). Organisations must do this to meet the minimum compliance requirements 3.1 and 3.4 of the Standard.
For information on the destruction rather than the disposal of metadata, refer to our guidance on methods of destruction.
Minimum compliance requirement | Description |
|---|---|
3.1 Information and records must be routinely created and managed as part of normal business practice. | The disposal of metadata must be managed systematically. Add to existing metadata if necessary to reflect changes in location or control. Define and implement procedures for altering metadata, for example, during data cleansing processes, and for redacting metadata, for example, as part of information sharing arrangements. |
3.4 Information and records must be protected from unauthorised or unlawful access, alteration, loss, deletion and/or destruction. | Appraise metadata before disposing of it and protect it from unauthorised disposal. Prevent point-of-capture metadata from being over-written. Protect process metadata as appropriate. Preserve metadata during the transfer of records and aggregations between systems and organisations. |
Minimum metadata to assign when disposing of information and records
Unique identifier
Name
Date created
Business activity documented
Creator (person or system)
Date of disposal
Authority governing the disposal
Person or role carrying out the disposal action
Protecting the metadata
To protect the minimum metadata set, organisations can choose to:
keep the metadata with their information and records system(s)
document the metadata in a separate register, or
Add the metadata to existing indexes or finding aids.
Organisations must protect metadata to meet internal reporting requirements and external accountability obligations, as well as to ensure the reliability, authenticity and trustworthiness of the associated information and records.