Future Proof – Protecting our digital future

Following our posts on text messages and messaging services, we would like to remind NSW public offices that messages or information posted on social media channels/sites/platforms are State records. The State Records Act 1998 (the Act) defines a record as ‘any document or other source of information compiled, recorded or stored in written form or […]

The presentations and podcasts from the Records Managers Forum held 29th November are now available on Future Proof.  The Forum promotes communication between NSW public sector records managers and provides an opportunity to exchange news and discuss issues of current concern. The Records Managers Forum’s theme was digital excellence and transforming NSW government and included […]

Much has been made of privacy concerns around the 2016 Australian census. Unfairly or not, much of the early discourse[1] was centred on the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ intention to retain name and address information for four years. Many commentators have shared their views on whether they trust the government on how they will use […]

FAQs:  Council Amalgamations – managing records and information through transition and administrative change This FAQ provides some advice around recent questions State Records has received in relation to Council amalgamations. What information do you need to consider? Information is an asset needed for the business of local government to continue; this is critical at any time […]

The following is an insight from the Digital Archives team here at State Records with a fascinating look back at our recent digital history. On 30 June 1992, First State Computing transferred the database that had been used in the recently ended Royal Commission into the Former Chelmsford Private Hospital and Mental Health Services in […]

We’re often asked how State Records NSW does digital preservation. Really the defining feature of our approach is its flexibility: we apply a project management-based methodology (the Digital Archives Migration Methodology) to all transfers of digital State archives. This means that we assess, define and document appropriate preservation strategies for each individual transfer (using project […]

A common problem for many organisations is the accumulation of digital records and information in systems which become obsolete. These systems either rely on legacy technology, or are related to non-current business processes. However many of these systems contain high value information, and their poor management can become a significant risk for organisations. Decommissioning is a process by which a […]

Recently State Records staff from the Government Recordkeeping, Digital Archives and Archives Control and Management sections attended a workshop on arranging and describing archives run by the Australian Society of Archivists. The course was focused around the new challenges posed by digital environments, both in the creation of records digitally and in the way in […]

Last week we had our regular digital implementers group meeting. This session’s topic was digital disposal. In advance of the meeting, we conducted a mini-survey of the group to get a sense of their progress and capacity was in this area. The results of this were interesting because, while it was a limited sample, there […]

On the 17th of March we had our Records Managers Forum. State Records NSW uses the forum to share information about key initiatives with our public offices. It is also a place for lively discussion with colleagues from across the government sector. As usual, we have published the podcasts so that those who could not make it on the day […]