In the last chapter, we designed the overall structure of the File Plan. An important part of the File Plan is the disposition schedule, which includes information about how long records will be retained. In this chapter, we will look in detail at the meaning of the disposition schedule and we will see how to configure it within Alfresco. Specifically, we will describe:
- The disposition schedule as the descriptor for the final stage of a record's lifecycle
- Example disposition schedules
- The process for creating a disposition within Alfresco
- How to import and export the File Plan
At the end of this chapter, in a "How does it work?" section, we look in detail at developer internals of the Share web pages used to configure the disposition schedule for a record Category within the Records Management site. We will see how it is built from the YUI library using the Spring-Surf web framework. We will also see how Share communicates with the Alfresco repository using data web scripts.
In the previous chapter, we discussed how to design the File Plan and we looked at the steps needed to build the structure for the File Plan within Alfresco. One part of creating the File Plan that we haven't discussed yet in great detail is the assignment of the disposition schedule to the elements of the File Plan. The disposition schedule will be the main topic of this chapter.
The Disposition Schedule forms the instructions and steps that describe what happens at the end of the life of a record. In short, the disposition describes the steps needed to remove or dispose of a record from the Records Management system. The possible steps for the disposition include retention, transfer, and ultimately destruction.
Regulations or company policy often requires that a record be retained for a certain period of time. At some point, the record may need to be moved or transferred to another location for permanent or long-term archival. When the record no longer needs to be retained or is no longer needed, it may be destroyed.
Disposition focuses only on the tail end of the life of a record. The early steps in the lifecycle of a record aren't considered at all in the instructions of the disposition. For example, the disposition doesn't include the time when the record was first created, when it was still just a document outside of the Records Management system.
At some point in time, when a document is recognized as having business significance, the document will be brought into the Records Management system and filed into a Folder of the File Plan.
After being moved into the File Plan, the document first becomes an undeclared record, and usually, shortly after filing, is then declared as a record. But, prior to declaration, it is necessary to complete all mandatory metadata fields on the document.
Records declared and located in the File Plan are automatically associated with a disposition schedule. The disposition is inherited from the record Category in which the record is located.
Once the document is in the File Plan and is declared as a record, it is available as a reference. While the content of the record is not changeable, the metadata of a record can be changed, and any change to the metadata will be tracked in the audit log for the record. The only option for replacing the content of a record is to first obsolete it and to then file a new record.
The next diagram shows the full lifecycle of a document. The record lifecycle that we discussed in Chapter 1 refers only to the disposition schedule applied once the document is declared as a record. Prior to becoming a record, as a document, frequent changes and versioning are common, and once declared as a record, during the record retention period, it is no longer changed, but used as a reference:
Cutoff is a term that simply refers to the point in time when the disposition instructions of a record go into effect. In Alfresco, cutoff typically occurs as the first step in the disposition schedule. The process of cutoff is the event that starts the clock on the record's retention period.
Cutoff can occur at either the Folder level or at the record level. The disposition schedule can be correspondingly configured to support either type of behavior. When cutoff occurs at the Folder level, all records that have been filed in that Folder will also be cut off. But when cutoff occurs at the record level, the containing Folder itself will not get cut off, just the records that are within it.
File Plans are often set up such that during a fixed time period, like a month, a quarter, or a year, records are filed into the Folder corresponding to that period. At the end of the filing period, the Folder and the records that have been filed in it will all be cut off. After the cutoff of the Folder, a new Folder is then typically opened corresponding to the next filing period.
The retention period is the length of time before the final disposition that a record is required to be kept. As we just saw, within the disposition, the retention period is kicked off the moment a record is cut off.
Destruction is one of the most frequent end-of-life actions taken on records. In the case of destruction, electronic records must be erased by the records management program so that the data is totally overwritten and it is not possible for it to be reconstructed.
Paper records are typically destroyed by shredding, pulping, or burning. Often the destruction of paper records is outsourced to companies that specialize in record destruction.
Note
In the DoD 5015.2 standard, the Department of Defense stipulates that records designated to be destroyed must be destroyed in a "manner such that the records cannot be physically reconstructed". In a specification separate from DoD-5015.2, the methods for the destruction of classified materials are described. DoD-5220.22-M, the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual, specifies that:
"Classified material may be destroyed by burning, shredding, pulping, melting, mutilation, chemical decomposition, or pulverizing (for example, hammer mills, choppers, and hybridized disintegration equipment)."
Transfer refers to the physical moving of records from one location to another. Typically, it also implies to the transferring of control or custody of the management of the records. Particularly in the world of paper records, usually in order to reclaim local storage space, transfer is an inevitable step for records that are to be permanently archived and preserved, but which are no longer needed for performing daily operations.
For electronic records, where the storage space required to archive the records may be minimal, the transfer of records for archival and preservation may mean moving them from one storage system to another while still keeping them under the management of the same agency or authority. Typically though, archival is performed by a different agency or organization from the one that originally created the record, one that specializes in the long-term storage of records.
Examples of record transfer scenarios include the following:
- Transfer from the originating organization to a long-term archival
- Transfer from the creating organization to a successor organization
- Transfer from the archive back to the originating organization
- Transfer between archives
- Transfer between two systems in an organization
- Transfer of records between business units or business partners that both require access to the same records, but when both parties do not have access to the same records system
Of these scenarios, the first, the transfer of records from the originating organization to an archive, is perhaps the most common.
Any transfer of record data between two organizations or two systems requires that both parties in the transfer agree on the transfer format prior to the transfer being made. Often, the relationship between the two parties requires that, over time, many data transfers will need to be made. In that case, as a matter of efficiency, it is useful to define a specification for the standard transfer format for the data being transferred. A specification promotes reuse and can speed the flow of data between the two parties.
Depending on the organizations involved in the transfer, the transfer process may involve a number of steps. For example, often it is necessary to get signoff, or even multiple signoffs, before the record can be transferred. The transfer format may also require that metadata be reformatted or that file data be converted to a different electronic file formats.
Once electronic records have been successfully transferred from the records system and the receipt of the new system is received and confirmed, the records can then be destroyed in the original system.
Accession is a special kind of transfer that refers to the legal and physical transfer of records to another body. It is usually used specifically relative to federal agencies that transfer their permanent records to the National Archives (NARA) or that transfer their temporary records to the Federal Records Center (FRC).
The disposition schedule is created and associated with Category containers. In Alfresco, the disposition is configured from the details page for the Category.
Disposition instructions defined on the Category will be inherited at either the Folder or record level. When the disposition is created, we specify which type of inheritance we want, at either the Folder or the record level. A disposition instruction applied at the Folder level will affect the Folder and all of the records in the Folder. A disposition instruction applied at the record level will be applied to each record individually:
Let's now consider an example of a disposition schedule. The example that we will use is fairly simple, having only two steps, but not all that uncommon to a disposition that would be used in practice. In this example, the first step of the disposition is a trigger to cutoff the Folder at the end of the quarter. All during the quarter, e-mails, paper records, and electronic records are filed and declared within the Folder. Then, at the end of the quarter, the Folder is cutoff.
The process of cutting off the Folder causes all records in the Folder to also be cut off. Cutoff signals the start of a retention period that is applied to the Folder and to all of the records in it. In this example, the retention period lasts for a quarter of a year. At the end of the second quarter, the retention period is complete and the Folder is then available for destruction:
After the destruction of the Folder, a stub of the Folder, and a stub for each of the records in the Folder still remain. The Folder and record stubs maintain a complete set of metadata and an audit log for all the actions that have occurred on the Folder and records:
Note
Record destruction removes only the content part of the record, that is, the file data. The metadata for the record is not removed. Alfresco stores file content on disk. After the content is destroyed, the associated file stored in the repository can no longer be found, even when searching on the local drive.
In the diagram below, we see the disposition as applied to a single Folder of a Category. In this example, there are additional Folders not shown that parallel the one we look at. These other Folders would activate one in each subsequent quarter.
For example, a parallel Folder called "Q2 records" would have active filings all through the second quarter, be cutoff at the start of the third quarter, and then be subject to destruction at the start of the third quarter. When the disposition is applied at the Folder level in this way, we see that there is a kind of rolling Folder structure, with a new Folder being opened each time one of the Folders is cutoff.
The diagrams shown here use notation similar to that used within Alfresco. The red circle with a white bar represents a Folder or record that has been cut off. The blue circle with the white lower case "i" represents a Folder or record that has been destroyed and remains as a stub within the plan. The "i" indicates that the stub remains for information only.
Now consider an example where the disposition schedule is applied at the record level. In this case, we look at how purchase orders are handled in the Finance department. The File Plan is structured so that there is a record Series called "Finance", under which there is a record Category that is called "Purchase Orders".
Within the Category, Folders organized by the names of the companies to whom the purchase orders are sent. In this example, we see the Folder corresponding to the company "STM Technology".
Similar to the previous example, a record related to a purchase order sent to STM Technology is filed into the Folder. The new record is cut off at the end of the quarter, but unlike the previous example, the containing Folder is not affected by the cutoff:
Cutoff of the record starts the clock moving on the retention period. After five years, the document is then destroyed, which results in the content of the record being removed. The record is available as a stub, still containing a complete set of metadata and audit history:
Unlike the previous example where all records within the Folder were at the same point in the disposition schedule, records in the Folder for this example may be at different stages of the disposition. There may be some records that are not yet cutoff, some which are at different points of fulfilling the retention schedule, and some where only the stub of the destroyed record remains:
