This is archived web content selected for preservation by The National Archives.
This snapshot was taken on
07/01/2008
.
External links, forms and search boxes may not function within these archived websites.
.
The National Archives - link to home page  
  

Main website navigation:

   
   
Cyber cafe

Cyber cafe

Requirements to sustain electronic information over time

Sustainable records are defined as those electronic records, which require, continued maintenance over an extended period (i.e. decades) until the records can be destroyed or, passed to a specialist archive for permanent archiving.

If records are to be sustained there must be confidence that the maintained records will continue to possess the critical characteristics of authenticity, reliability, integrity and usability required by BS ISO 15489 information and documentation - records management standard.

Requirements for assessing and sustaining the authenticity of electronic records that are preserved over the long term are necessary to support the presumption that the record is, in fact what it purports to be and has not been modified or corrupted in essential respects. The National Archives, in consultation with other government departments, has developed:

  • generic requirements to define what functionality is required to satisfy BS ISO 15489, and
  • a further articulation of what this implies in terms of functional requirements for sustainability

It is to be emphasised that these requirements are not a full specification. They form a baseline, which sets out, - the minimum necessary to maintain credible electronic records, which will continue to possess the attributes of authenticity and integrity over time. For that reason these requirements do not form part of the software testing programme for the functional requirements 2002 revision: final version, although the functional requirements for sustainability are articulated as an extension to Requirements for electronic records management systems [Volume 1, frequently referred to as 'TNA 2002'].

Read more on the 2002 requirements and the evaluation scheme

As a first product of this work the four volumes describing the generic requirements are published below. Both technical and management requirements are addressed.

There are four documents, which should be read together for complete comprehension, as there are important interdependencies:

Please send any comments and queries concerning these requirements to e-records@nationalarchives.gov.ukEmail link

 

This page contains PDF files. See plug-ins and file formats for help in accessing these file types.