Towards establishing a framework for managing trusted records in the electronic environment

The purpose of this paper is to attempt to establish a framework for managing trusted records in the electronic environment.

The study collates the criteria required to manage trusted electronic records through the available literature and best practice and tests these on experts through an opinion survey. The study was done via email inviting 40 selected experts (18 participated), known in the fields of records and archives management all over the world, to respond to a structured framework of managing electronic records.

The findings indicate that the experts are unanimously agreed that the five main contexts, namely governance, recordkeeping, archival, technological, skills and competency, serve as an audit list providing the trusted environment for managing records in the electronic environment.

The collation of the criteria for trusted electronic records management, based on available literature and best practice in the field, may not be exhaustive as new literature on the latest information and knowledge, debates and practices continues to emerge throughout the records and archives community.

The study's findings are significant in confirming that the criteria collated are highly recommended and crucial in ensuring the reliability, authenticity, integrity and long term accessibility of electronic records.

The study establishes the elements in building trusted management of electronic records. This framework provides a basis for good records management practices to ensure that electronic records are to be managed in an efficient and consistent manner. This is vital for the long‐term preservation of those records with continuing value or as the evidence of transactions and the accountability that the records held for their current use.