Different methods of record keeping (Essay Sample)

Executive summary The main aim of this report is to precisely give a detailed outline of the different methods of record keeping in Calcutt industries and the main challenges face in record keeping. The report also analyzes the various records keeping methods used and the probable recommendations to better record keeping methods. The report also differentiates the available methods of information management through record keeping. The physical and electronic data record storage forms are the common ones and I am going to individually analyze them, their disadvantages and advantages. The report is also aiming at evaluating the record keeping methods, the problems associated with record keeping and the probable solutions that will improve record keeping in Calcutt industries. Considering that the report is based on the management of information for present and future use, we certainly analyze the bad habits in information management by Calcutt industries and the probable remedies to the said problems. The report also draws conclusions and recommendations on the best record management strategies for industries taking into consideration all factors including the cost of setting up a good record keeping system. As discussed in the report, it is the duty of the management to ensue that the record keeping system in their organization is intact and up to date to prevent the issues of information which can have legal disadvantages or at times financial losses in case the misplaced records were of financial nature. Calcutt industries use both physical and electronic record keeping and the problem arises when it comes to the actual retrieval of the records. In physical record keeping, there is an inappropriate arrangement of the records with the active being mixed with the inactive records (Brake Blair 1997),. This has challenged the retrieval of documents and In turn cost the industries huge expenses in retrieving them. Electronic record keeping methods on the other hand is through three sites which also give a disparity in information and record management. Considering that calcutt industries is a under one management, information should also be managed electronically in one site and that’s what the report aims at explaining the necessary procedures, precautions and recommendations’ in electronic record keeping. Introduction Record keeping in an organization can include both physical and electronic record management systems (ERMS). Information management has become a vital aspect in the modern industries as the government regulations also require industries to provide good, efficient and valid employees record for present and future references. It is the duty of the management to ensure that good record keeping measures are put into place with many organizations devoting a full time job to the record keeping department. The duty of the record keeping department is to ensure that the records are safe and in good order so that they can be easily accessible when needed by the management or any other agency (Consortium 2005). In traditional record management, records consisted of paper work and in active records were taken to dumping warehouses where they were stored and forgotten but were also reliable when some referencing was needed by the management of the industries. With time, paper record keeping proved to be expensive in matters of time and monetary expenses involved with the whole procedures. The management of many industries resolved in to the new forms of electronic recording which included e-mails, portals and other web applications. Information is not stored anyhow and that is why there is classification of records on the nature of their importance. Confidential records are separately stored from the normal records. Confidential records include the financial records of a company, the management decisions from top management meetings and the vision of the company. These records are stored and accessible only by the top management as a way of avoiding leakage of confidential information which can have adverse effects on the organization in the competition market as some of the leaked strategies might be applied by their competitors before them. As serious as the issue of safe record keeping is important, the management of any industry should ensure that information management standards are enforced and put in place to avoid any future chances of information loss or the misplacement of information records in time of need. Body In the modern and changing world, record keeping and management has become a vital issue in many industries and this has led to its evolution. Both physical and electronic record management systems have evolved with time with general guidelines developed over time to specify the safest and easiest record keeping strategies. With the onset of technology, many industries are switching from physical record management to electronic record management. This has seen the improvement of the department of record keeping and has also minimized the costs companies and industries incurred with physical record keeping. Calcutt industries are one of the companies stuck with physical record keeping and inappropriate electronic record management systems. Their physical records are not easy to be retrieved and this has led to delays in referring to old records with loss of some records in the whole scenario. Poor physical record keeping has often been associated with the loss of information and this has generally cost the industry time and money in the retrieval process. Physical records are easily arranged or classified in a good order to ensure easy future referencing by the necessary parties. This is also equally important in providing a systematic record system for easier retrieval purposes by the staff. There are many ethical practices that an industry can put into work in order to attain a good record keeping systems and they include; preserving the necessary information for a specific duration of time, taking care of all the legal requirements in due time and at an effective expense, enhance information is adequately provided in time it is needed and the integration of technology in record keeping to minimize costs and procedures involved with physical record keeping. Many industries have also come up with necessary policies and procedures to ensure that effective record keeping is maintained. While some companies have fully integrated electronic record keeping management systems, some have continued using physical record keeping with examples of storing crucial and secret financial data or management policies. Appraisal and disposal of records Appraisal means the initiative of an industry to identify the various business functions which need records to be created for. It generally involves the process of identifying the activities needing record keeping with examples of management meetings and records of employees in an industry. The appraisal process includes both traditional and the electronic record keeping systems. The process of appraisal has been as a result of the initiative of many industries to keep record of the various activities within it and to also account for past events. In some cases, appraisal is validated by the state laws where specific functions are required to have effective records for future reference by the state. In many states, records of the company assets and the flow of authority are equally important as other necessary records. An industry must have factual records of the employees under its payroll, the directors, managers and the sole owners of the industry. This is to ensure that in case of an emergency like court cases, the appropriate management is consulted or notified. In calcutt industry, these active records have been mixed with the inactive records hence retrieval has proved to be a great challenge in case of need for referencing. Disposal on the other hand is the various strategies an industry uses in the retaining, destructing and the transfer of the valid official documents as a strategy of attaining manageable resources. Disposal by destruction of the records takes effect after the retention duration has expired and the records are no longer needed by the management. There has been a development of disposal schedules in many industries in order to effectively handle records and keep them up to date. In the disposal process, sentencing is validly done and it includes putting in place the strategies developed in appraisal. Sentencing in other words is the implementation of the appraisal process. Calcutt industries should effectively take into consideration appraisal and disposal of records to ensure that their information systems are up to date and effectively valid. Storage alternatives for industrial records Industrial records exist in many different forms and the common include; handwritten documents, typewritten documents, audio and the video recordings and the computer based storage systems including the database, email and all other computer based records. In handwritten documents and the type written ones, industries normally take part in information management through keeping the paper records in files. The files are classified or arranged in a chronological order such that they can be easily retrieved in time of need. The classification might be in reference to alphabetical order or the time of creation (Handel man 2004). This will ensure that retrieval processes are fast and efficient. Audio, video and computer based records are electronically managed and specific measured must be taken to ensure that information is still valid. Calcutt industries for example should have a common online storage facility where all the emails are accessible from one site and database. With the introduction of cloud storage, the industry can also resolve in storing its audio, video and files online to create a better platform that can be accessible from anywhere on the internet. Physical computer based storage components include; flash disks, compact disks, floppy disks, magnetic tape, hard drive and optical disks (Hillel Bedeck 2007). All these physical storage components are computer based and so the should be updated with the change of their soft wares to prevent information loss. Calcutt industry should implement valid record storage techniques discussed above to ensure that cases of record loss are minimized in their daily operations. Vital and archival records management Vital records are the important records to a company and should be treated with utmost care. They range from physical records to electronic records. Many vital records are crucial and hence their loss will result in huge losses that might have a negative impact on the image of an industry and the financial welfare of the industry. Vital and archival records make almost 4% of the total organizational records. The most common vital and archival industry records include contracts. The loss of a contract record will terminate the contract and force the industry to start from scratch. This will have adverse effects on the industry due to the time already wasted. The management of industries should consider that not all documents are vital and most of them are vital for a specific period of time (Luepker E 2003).. This will henceforth enable the management to calculate the necessary expenses required to protect the records. The management should also take time to differentiate among vital, important and useful records. This will ensure that the management understands the required degree of care each category needs and in turn fulfill the management of those records. In protecting vital hard copy records, management for industries such as calcutt should consider scanning the documents and saving them electronically and create a back up in case the original documents get lost. The management should also consider taking care of environmental conditions such as water which will destroy documents. They can take precaution by storing them in boxes, duplication and storing them in different locations or storing them in a remote facility away from the working environment. All these are the necessary measures in protecting vital hard copy records. In electronic record management of vital records, creating back up storage for the records is equally important and can be achieved through the use of memory storage like flash disks. It is also important for the industry to take advantage of the cloud storage functions where documents can be stored online for future use, including audio and video (Marlon L 2005). Calcutt industries should take these initiatives to maintain safe keeping of vital and archival records in their systems. The lack of taking precautions during the storage of these records might have adverse effects on the future of the industry’s performance in contractual agreements and also legal implications where there is a lack of valid documents of operation needed by the state. Electronic record management system (ERMS) ERMS stands for electronic record management systems. These are systems through with electronic data storage is enabled. In electronic storage, many rules are developed to ensure that effective storage procedures are followed. In a case where folders are saved in a computer, files are named according to their level of importance with vital records being named vital for easier location. Some folders have accessibility options where an individual employee can not view the contents due to them being password restricted. Accessibility option is enabled to protect important documents from being tampered with and being manipulated. Electronically stored records are also categorized, grouped and named in the order of the contents, creation time and disposal period. This will hugely differentiate between the active documents and the less active ones. Considering that emails are part of electronic record management systems, they also have rules in which the records should be arranged in order to create easier retrieval of the valid and vital documents. Email management is a procedural activity and should be taken care of before the accumulation of un-arranged data or metadata. Emails are the basic communication mode for many organizations and this has created general rules pertaining to the use of emails in communicating by employees. The management of calcutt industry should train its employees on how to handle their emails, how to differentiate between emails, how to maintain ethics in email responses, how to separate email subjects for easy retrieval, acceptable circulation methods of emails within the industry and how to manage attachments. Important aspects in the electronic record management systems which the calcutt industry management systems should take into consideration are; time, title, subject, the identifier, date, address, location, digital signature, and the disposal method. With these achieved, the management can now boast of a valid electronic record management system. Conclusion The report covered the major methods of record storage which included the physical and the electronic storage methods. These methods had their own limitations and guidelines on how to be effectively utilized. Information management as discussed is vital and necessary to provide accountability for all the various functions of the industry. Calcutt industry has an invalid record management system which can be greatly improved by the strategies discussed above including the online records storing through the internet cloud storage facility. Training should also be done to the necessary staffs who are involved in record keeping improving the retrieval process. The report has provided many solutions to the problems calcutt industry information management systems are facing and its therefore the duty of the management to take necessary steps in solving the issue in their industry. Recommendations Considering the general situation of record keeping in calcutt industry and the available remedies to the problems incurred, the management of calcutt has a role to play in ensuring information management is at its maximum. The digital storage of documents should be done on one site to prevent confusion issues and provide easy retrieval capabilities. Physical storage of records in files should be done in a manner such that active records do not mix with the old ones. The files should also be arranged according to date or in an alphabetical order to make retrieval efficient. The management of calcutt industries should therefore train he necessary staff who are responsible for record keeping on the best practices to manage industrial records by differentiating between the vital records, important records and the useful ones. It is therefore important for the industry to fully implement the record management system to avoid any future losses of documents of misplacement of vital documents by staff. List of references Brake Blair (1997), “Introduction to Behavioral Health Outcomes”, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities Consortium (2005), “Protection of Children Scotland Act (POCSA) Volunteer Sector Training Pack and Guide” Handel man, (2004), Professional Psychology: Informed consent Revisited: An updated written question format Hillel Bedeck, (2007) “Basic Standards for Clinical Documentation and Record Keeping’ President of the New York State Society for Clinical Social Work, Inc Luepker E, (2003). Record keeping in psychotherapy and counseling: Protecting confidentiality and the professional relationship. New York: Marlon L. (2005). Record keeping and the school counselor, Professional School Counseling.