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By Maureen Pennock, University of Bath
The widespread adoption of e-mail as the preferred means of professional communications has dramatically impacted the way that people work. This can be problematic for many organisations as the traditional record-keeping infrastructure is often inadequate for ensuring that messages in individual e-mail accounts are properly managed. Relying on backup tapes or simply purging messages from accounts after a specified period of time is not an appropriate solution to curating e-mails. Rather, organisational, cultural and technical solutions must be implemented to ensure messages are adequately maintained and remain accessible as required.
Effective e-mail curation requires active management over the entire life-cycle of the messages. In the short-term, successful e-mail curation:
Over the longer-term, e-mail curation:
The business of HE/FE institutions is increasingly transacted by e-mail. "Consequently e-mail correspondence is now being routinely used to transact and record decisions that were previously available in paper form only; e-mails are frequently the only record of these transactions. In this context e-mail and their attachments are records of value and need to be managed within the University's records management system like any other record."
— Michael Norris, Loughborough University, JISC Institutional Records and e-mails project final report, November 2003.
e-Science developments and discoveries are increasingly documented in e-mail communications. However, "With limits of hard-drive space on mail servers, institutional users are routinely faced with the requirement to cleanse mailboxes. The pen may be mightier than the sword, but a single mouse-click can destroy products of inestimable value."
— Errol C. Friedberg, Herbert K Hagler, Kevin J. Land, (Department of Pathology, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Centre, Dallas), in Nature Vol 423, June 2003.
Best practice for e-mail curation and preservation has yet to achieve any real consensus. However, most agree that organisational and cultural activities must take place alongside technical developments, as all three areas impact the overall success of any e-mail curation approach. As curation and preservation activities will occur at various stages over the record life-cycle, a wide range of people will have specific roles and responsibilities for the long-term management of e-mails. It is vital that each individual understands their role and how they fit into the overall curation process. This will require that:
Ongoing and effective communication and co-ordination of effort between stakeholders are crucial for the success of any e-mail curation activity.
Date Published: 31 March 2006 | Last Modified: 14 June 2006 | Submit Feedback | web-editor@dcc.ac.uk
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