OVERVIEW: This session will discuss how the Records and Information Management (RIM) staff of the Indiana Archives and Records Administration (IARA) developed and implemented a Critical Records Program (CRP). The CRP provides guidance and support to state and local government units that create and maintain records which are necessary to resume or continue governmental operations, reestablish the legal and financial responsibilities of government in Indiana, or protect and fulfill governmental obligations to the citizens of Indiana.
Since its creation as an agency in 1979, IARA has been tasked by the Indiana Code to develop such a program, but with a tiny staff and varying levels of support, efforts focused primarily on identifying critical records and mandating that they be microfilmed. It wasn’t until 2023, when IARA had built up a dedicated RIM staff of 5 employees who could work as a team, with supportive management who are also experts in the field, that we were able to establish a true program, moving beyond identification of record series and orders on what to do with them into exploration of modern preservation issues, user needs, and new options.
We will give a brief history on IARA and critical records, why IARA created the CRP when it did, how the RIM staff went about collecting information and making decisions in the planning phase, and how we shared the program with the people who need it via webinars, web pages, and publications on managing critical records, format conversion and disposition of originals, vendor qualifications, electronic recordkeeping systems, and technical standards.
Although it has taken IARA 44 years, 2 agency names, and 4 executive directors, the agency has now rolled out a Critical Records Program that empowers government entities to make and defend their own decisions about protecting their essential records, and we’re excited to see how it grows and improves in the years to come. We hope this session will be an opportunity for other State and Local Records officers tasked with similar programs to learn how we navigated building a successful critical records program.
State and County/Local records officers are often tasked with the responsibilities of establishing a critical/essential/vital records program. This session will provide a case study of how Indiana developed their critical records program from a handful of disparate record series to a full set of guidance documents and preservation options for government offices. Our intent is that other state and county/local officials will find our experience useful when revisiting or establishing their own critical records programs.
GARA CERTIFICATE CORE COMPETENCY AREAS: "Records and Information Management Basics" OR "Disaster Preparedness and Business Continuity"
TARGET AUDIENCE: Federal, State/Tribal, Local
FOCUS AREAS: Archives, Records Management, Technology/Tools
PRESENTERS: Anna Lucas, Electronic Records Archivist, Indiana Archives and Records Administration | Amy Robinson, State Records Analyst, Indiana Archives and Records Administration