OVERVIEW: It is critical to understand both the needs of internal and external user groups in order to create and streamline policies, standards, and workflows. At the Rhode Island Department of State, user groups can range from other divisions, state agencies, elected officials, or constituents, but they all have one thing in common: the need for efficient and effective processes.
We identified how to turn weaknesses into strengths using tools already available to us to improve our internal policies, standards, and workflows. Some key changes include advancing the State Records Center’s data integrity, providing hyper-specific and targeted information to assist state agencies with their own records management programs, incorporating roundtable discussions in quarterly trainings, streamlining processes to identify and transfer historic permanent state agency records to the State Archives, and ensuring immediate digital archival preservation upon state agencies filing final regulations online.
This session will introduce the means to be able to identify the tools that are already available to create consistent processes to improve productivity. By identifying internal weaknesses and addressing them using a cross-sectional study of archival and records management practices and tools, it can lead to opportunities to improve workflows and streamline processes to assist external user groups.
We will talk through our experience, the challenges we faced and how we overcame them, and use interactive methods for members to stay engaged, including starting the session by having members answer questions on posters hanging around the room to initiate discussion, and using ePolls and physical signs for members to hold up to participate throughout the session.
This session will combine multiple high-level topics, including the development of policies, standards, and workflows using tools already available to members, further developing RIM programs with limited resources, and incorporating electronic records preservation and access across multiple units and divisions. Members will be able to brainstorm ideas within the session to bring back to their organizations to improve their own policies, workflows, and RIM programs.
GARA CERTIFICATE CORE COMPETENCY AREA: "Digital Repository Management"
TARGET AUDIENCE: Federal, State/Tribal, Local
FOCUS AREAS: Archives, Records Management, Technology/Tools
PRESENTERS: Ashley Selima, Director of State Archives & Public Records Administration, Rhode Island Department of State | Rachel Strashnick, Administrative Records and Technical Services Specialist, Rhode Island Department of State