Archive information systems

Archives Regulations

The Regulations apply to requirements for the management of documentation such as archives, and cover the documentation of public bodies and others when they exercise public authority. Some of the rules only apply to government bodies that are required to deliver archives to the National Archives for long-term preservation.

Information Systems Requirements Section 6, first paragraph, stipulates that information systems containing documentation that is to be managed as archives shall have functions that ensure that the basic archival requirements set out in the Act are safeguarded by public administration. Pursuant to Section 6, second paragraph of the Regulations, the bodies shall ensure that the systems have functions that enable
- necessary metadata regarding the origin of the information and the context in which it forms part to be recorded (letter
a)
- protection of the information to be protected against unauthorized changes (letter b)
- tracking of changes (letter c)
- documentation to be exported in a controlled, systematic and verifiable manner (letter d)
- that documentation which is not to be preserved for posterity may be destructed in a controlled, systematic and verifiable manner (letter e)
- a body to locate and retrieve documentation when it is to provide access (letter f)
- metadata that shall be recorded about documents subject to record-keeping requirements, to be transferred to a journal (letter g)
Conversion of analogue documentation to digital formats
According to section 18, first paragraph, all conversion of analogue archives to digital format must take place without loss of information.
Section 18, second paragraph, contains minimum requirements for resolution and colour depth when the conversion takes place by scanning documentation on paper.
Section 18, third paragraph, only applies to government bodies and other bodies that deposit archives to the National Archives. The rule stipulates that documentation that has been converted from paper to digital format must be legible for machines after the conversion.
Descriptions of government bodies' information systems
Chapter 7 (Sections 27-36) applies to government bodies when they are to deliver digital archives to the National Archives. The rules continue the current requirements for systems and methods. This means that archives must be retrieved from the systems where they are created (extraction), stored in system-independent formats and described.
There is a requirement for the use of certain file formats for extraction (Sections 31 and 32) and the use of certain standards for character sets (Section 33). Technical depictions must be legible for both humans and machines (Section 34).
Requirements for packaging and labels
Chapter 8 (Sections 37-40) applies to government bodies when they are to deliver analogue archives to the National Archives. Section 39 contains requirements for boxes, covers and other packaging and for labels for marking registers, boxes and cartons.