Rules and Regulations for the Making and Management of Imaged Public Records

Regulation Authority:

R.I.G.L. §38-3-3(7) & §38-3-6(k)

Purpose and Reason:

The purpose of this regulation is to support state and local government movement toward digital government by defining requirements to ensure the quality and availability of digitized public records until the need to keep them for administrative, legal, business, or other reasons ceases. The final version includes the following modifications in response to comments received: Section 1.0 Definition of Open System/Open System Architecture, and Section 6.1 System Requirements-Open System Architecture revised to elaborate on the functional importance of open system architecture for the management of imaged records. Section 1.0 “Record Copy” defined to eliminate confusion about the various meanings of “copy” in the context of records management. Section 5.2 Records Retention Schedule Requirement revised to permit imaging of records not covered by approved records retention schedules, but with a requirement to develop a draft schedule within twelve months. Related subsequent sections revised in accordance with changes to Section 5.2 revisions. The purpose of the revisions is to better integrate the regulation’s requirements into agency business processes. Section 6.2.3 Image Capture, d. Format/Compression – Master Files, revised to include LZW compression for grayscale images to conform to accepted standards and practices. Appendix A. Notice of Intention to Digitize Public Records, and Appendix B. Certification of Records Preservation Strategy forms revised to streamline the process for completing the forms in order to reduce the burden on agencies.