Defining Electronic Records free essay sample

However, Club (1991 ) admits that It was relatively easy to provide a definition of a record a generation ago. With advances in technology, the definition of the term deeds to be reviewed. This is supported by Spunky (1995) with the widespread use of information management technology, it has become more difficult to determine exactly what record is. Thus, In order to satisfies current situation which referring to technology advancement. Ore comprehensive definition has been made by The Australian Archives Act 1983 in which they define records as physical object a document (including any written or printed material) or object (including sound recording, coded storage device, magnetic tape or disc, microcosm, photograph, film, map or orphic work) that is, or has been, kept by reason of any information or matter that is contains or can be obtained from it or by reason of Its connection with any event, person, circumstance or thing.Ashes (1996) explains further that traditionally and practically records have been viewed as physical objects such as paper files, tapes, disks etc. We will write a custom essay sample on Defining Electronic Records or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Such description presents a major problem with electronic records since in the electronic systems: records are neither purely documents nor objects. They are dependent on the medium on which they were originally or currently held. Individual records and their component part are not necessarily physically located In a logical sequence. A more specific definition about electronic record is then given by International Records Management Trust (IRMA) (1999) in which they regards electronic record as a digital record that can be manipulated, transmitted or processed by a computer. IRMA further explain that electronic record is written on magnetic or optical medium (including magnetic tapes, cassettes, CD-Rooms, hard disks and diskettes), recorded In binary code, accessed using computer software and hardware, easily manipulated that is, updated, deleted and so on).On the other hand, Duff (1194) define records in an electronic environment are transitory, unstructured and insubstantial, as their form and content can change with Safety (1992) states that electronic records are records that contain machine readable information generated by computer systems, communications equipment, special-purpose instrumentation, video recorders, audio recorders, and other devices. Shepherd (1994) defines electronic records as any recorde d information created, received and maintained in electronic format by an organization or individual in the ours of its activities.National Archives Records Administration (NARY) perceives electronic records as information recorded in a form which only a computer can process. Based on the above definition pertaining to electronic record, I could say that electronic records posses the same purpose as conventional record in which they serve as corporate memory of an organization, raw material for decision making purposes and also serve as evidence for defensibility since both contains useful information.However in terms of accessibility and retrieval, electronic records require electronic tedium/machines to access and encode the information consist in particular electronic record. Meanwhile, for conventional record, the accessibility and retrieval of the record is much easier since they physically exist in hardcopy form. Still in the issue of accessibility and retrieval, particular concerns exist about the ability to access and read electronic record over time, since the rapid past of change in technology can make the software to create the record obsolete, leaving the record unreadable.Other than that, it is more difficult to ensure the content, context and structure of an electronic records preserve and protected as conventional records since they do not have physical existence. However, electronic record, on the positive sides offers significant advantages over conventional manual method. In particular, they can manipulate large amount of information and generate a wide range of information product. Besides that, conventional record limits access to specific time and place and one person per time. Meanwhile electronic record can be shared widely, access an d use by several people at same time from different places. This indirectly will encourage better information haring environment. In terms of flexibility, as we can see conventional record were created and stored at one place while electronic can be stored remotely or on compact disc or tapes in which allows people to share their information resources more dynamically. Daily activities without being hindered by a lack of information since they can access to same record at the same time and without having to wait for physical record to be filed and stored. Bibliography Club, C. (1991). Records management: the theory. In: Surgeons (deed. ).