Mary McIntosh BC Ministry of Health mary.mcintosh@moh.hnet.bc

1. The Development of ARCS/ORCS for Integrated Record Keeping in the Government of British Columbia, Canada Mary McIntosh BC Ministry of Health mary.mcintosh@moh.hnet.bc.ca

2. ARCS/ORCS as a Case Study • Overview of British Columbia’s legal and management framework for record-keeping • Features of ARCS/ORCS • Integrating electronic records into the framework • Challenges Third Global Forum, Naples, Italy

3. Overview: British Columbia • Population ~4 million • Area 945,000 square kilometers Third Global Forum, Naples, Italy

4. Overview: Ministry of Health • $8 billion (~35% of provincial budget) • 3,282 staff in 15 headquarters offices and 150 sub-offices • Administers 45 acts in 20 programs • Provides public health, vital statistics, ambulance, health insurance to all citizens • Funds and monitors the health system Third Global Forum, Naples, Italy

5. Overview: Electronic Service Delivery • InfoSmart • 24/7 electronic service delivery to meet public expectations & level distances • streamline services - sharing information rather than duplicating it • leverage common IT infrastructure • improve G2G and G2C communication • Where does records management fit??? Third Global Forum, Naples, Italy

6. Overview: Records Management • Document Disposal Act (1936) • no destruction without authority • Treasury Board Policy • establishes accountability for RM • Central Agency • establishes standards for government • Ministries • staff, resources, internal policies Third Global Forum, Naples, Italy

7. ARCS/ORCS • Administrative /Operational Records Classification System • ...a combined records classification and scheduling system that facilitates the efficient and systematic organization, retrieval, storage, destruction or permanent retention of the government’s records... Third Global Forum, Naples, Italy

8. Why ARCS and ORCS • ARCS is developed and maintained centrally • ARCS covers records relating to administrative functions common to all government agencies • ORCS are developed by ministries and relate to Ministry-specific records Third Global Forum, Naples, Italy

9. Features of ARCS/ORCS • Combined classification and disposition schedule • Includes records in all media • Office of Primary Responsibility designation • Archival appraisal Third Global Forum, Naples, Italy

11. Development of ORCS • Based on an evaluation of all records and activities of an agency • Performed by Ministry staff or by contractors • Reviewed by central agency for adherence to standards and for archival appraisal • Takes years to complete Third Global Forum, Naples, Italy

12. Development of ORCS • Classification • based on programs • hierarchical • for the purpose of disposition scheduling • medium doesn’t matter • Retention scheduling • based on users’ needs, legal requirements and risk management Third Global Forum, Naples, Italy

13. Integration of Electronic Records • As information technology becomes more sophisticated, the need for information management becomes more apparent Third Global Forum, Naples, Italy

14. Electronic Records in ARCS/ORCS • Databases • when to get rid of records • Email • classification the key to finding anything • Word processing, spreadsheets, etc. • mapping network drives according to classification scheme Third Global Forum, Naples, Italy

15. Electronic Records in ARCS/ORCS • InfoSmart projects • ARCS On-line • Database versions of ARCS/ORCS • Corporate EDMS/ERMS requirements being defined Third Global Forum, Naples, Italy

16. Challenges • Building RM into the systems development life-cycle • Forced classification or the Educated user? • Ability of RM to respond quickly to changing needs Third Global Forum, Naples, Italy

17. Conclusions • ARCS and ORCS more than ever is putting the “management” into records management Third Global Forum, Naples, Italy