Records management for public agencies

The order these go in

Records projects fail when they are run backwards. The sequence that works is always the same, and every step removes work from the one after it:

1. Inventory — find out what exists, across every system and the basement.
2. Retention — dispose of what you are not required to keep. Free.
3. Triage — decide what gets scanned, and in what order.
4. Capture — scan it properly, with a specification and quality control.
5. Verify — check the text layer is real before anyone relies on it.
6. Review — find personal information before publication, not after.
7. Publish and remediate — whatever is left, made accessible.

Agencies that start at step seven pay to remediate documents they were legally free to destroy. The guides below follow the sequence.