EDRMS Preservation Toolkit

This toolkit provides advice and guidance on the preservation of records held within an Electronic Document and Records Management Systems (EDRMS) or other record keeping system. As there are numerous different technologies in use and ways of working, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to this challenge. This guide is therefore not intended to be prescriptive, but instead provides general information and guidance on the areas that should be considered in order to define an effective approach to this challenge.

This toolkit will:

flag up some of the key challenges that you may face
signpost some of the things you should consider
provide you with the questions that you need to ask within your own organisation
map-out a process for moving forward
provide examples of how others have tackled the challenge

The toolkit is illustrated with case studies, demonstrating real-life applications of the guidance and principles, and signposts other useful sources of information to help inform your work. Please contact us if you have a relevant case study you would be happy to share.

“There is no magic bullet to EDRMS preservation (unfortunately) but there are clearly some generic lessons that can be shared by those organisations who have made progress in this space. As ever, discussing and sharing experiences and learning from case studies is one of the best ways to move the community forward"

Jenny Mitcham, Digital Preservation Coalition

	Introduction An introduction to this toolkit and its intended audience Use this to understand what constitutes a ‘record keeping system’ in the context of this resource
	What is a record? What is a record and why should we preserve them? Use this to understand the features of a record that should be preserved
	Preservation challenges Summary of some of the challenges of preserving records Use this to understand some of the problems and pitfalls you may encounter
	Preservation Process Step by step process for addressing the challenge of preserving the records Use this to understand the steps you will need to work through to move forward
	Which metadata to preserve Which metadata fields should be preserved alongside the records for the long term? Use this to define the metadata fields that should be captured from your record keeping system
	The future of records preservation? What does the future hold for record keeping systems? Use this to understand some of the future challenges and solutions you may encounter
	Further resources and case studies A list of useful references and case studies related to the preservation of records Use this as a reference point for further reading on this topic

Suggested citation of current version	Digital Preservation Coalition (2021). EDRMS Preservation Toolkit [http://doi.org/10.7207/edrmstoolkit21-01]
Last updated	2021
Date of next planned review	2025

The EDRMS Preservation Toolkit was created by the DPC EDRMS Preservation Task Force who came together in 2020-2021 to share their knowledge and experience on this topic. Further information on the task force and how this resource was created can be found here.

The EDRMS Preservation Task Force was established by the DPC as a result of a digital preservation project with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and our thanks go to them for supporting this work.

Introduction

What is a record?

Preservation challenges

Preservation Process

Which metadata to preserve

The future of records preservation?

Further resources and case studies