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The division has begun voluntary registration of agencies and their EROs. It is recommended that state agency heads, county managers, and municipal CEOs designate an Electronic Records Officer (ERO) to perform three basic duties for their governmental unit:
The division recommends that the ERO be an appropriate representative of the agency's administration. The individual need not possess special computer skills or knowledge but should be generally familiar with the agency's computer management structure. The division suggests that this staff member might be the Records Officer, Information Resource Manager, or Business Manager, noting, however, that smaller agencies may have none of these positions and that chief administrators may prefer to assign other personnel. It is requested that agencies complete and forward a copy of the Public Electronic Records Officer Registration form to the division by fax or mail as indicated at the bottom of the form.
Download the ERO Registration form in (PDF), (Postscript), or (Word 6.0) format.
Each agency is urged to develop uniform procedures for indexing databases and for handling user requests for database index information. Indexing information should be centralized to the extent possible in order to facilitate its availability for public inspection. As resources permit, the Division of Archives and History will provide requesting agencies individual assistance in resolving issues and will participate in indexing workshops scheduled by mutual agreement.
If a user wants detailed information about a database, the database owner should agree to supply this information within a reasonable time frame and to provide an estimate of the date or time when the material will be ready for user inspection. It is preferable to generate most table-level documentation on an "as needed" basis. The information should be furnished either free of charge or on a cost-per-page basis; agencies or owners experiencing a high volume of requests may want to implement an internal system of request and tracking forms to support this work.
If a user desires a digital copy of the database or some portion thereof, it is preferable that this user discuss copy details with a technically-knowledgeable staff member. If users raise questions or make requests that the agency finds difficult to address, the agency ERO or other appropriate staff may contact the division for assistance.
An annual inventory is a fundamental electronic records management tool. Each agency is strongly urged to conduct an annual inventory of its database holdings. A simple listing of all databases, each identified by name and owner and annotated with a one-sentence description, including an indication of the presence of any restricted data, should be prepared and centrally located. A suggested Database Inventory Worksheet is provided here.
Most commercial database software products can generate reports listing data fields found in files or tables. The control data files used in creating these reports are called "data dictionaries," "table definitions," "data maps," or similar names. The preformatted reports are usually available through a special menu or command and, when invoked, generate either a screen or printed report noting the name, data type, display/storage length, and other specifications of each field. It is standard practice for database designers to record field descriptions that are displayed in these reports. Thus, generally speaking, if the names of the datafiles or tables comprising the database are available, this requirement can be met using existing database features.
The division strongly recommends that within each source agency copy fees for all public records be standardized to the maximum extent possible. Certainly, unless special circumstances exist, the copy costs charged by each owner can be made reasonably consistent across various databases, and it may be in the best interest of the agency to develop uniform copy schedules governing all owners.
The division highly recommends that state and local agencies purchasing commercial database software ensure that this software is "SQL-compatible." Pronounced "sequel," the acronym stands for "Structured Query Language." SQL was originally developed by IBM and is now used by virtually all major software publishers to provide a common method for accessing their databases. While SQL comes in several dialects, all are generally acceptable.
Governmental units lacking direct Internet capability are strongly urged to consider acquiring access within the next twelve months. Given present trends, it appears that the Internet (or its successor) will become the common carrier for many inter-governmental and inter-agency communications. Internet access is available across the state through a variety of services, and the cost can be less than $500/year. The agency needs only a personal computer, a modem, and a software browser (usually supplied free) to access the Internet via telephone line.