Section 3 (3) of the State Records Act 2000 allows for the reproduction of a record in another form.
Records are often reproduced by the digitisation of a physical record to incorporate into an organisation’s Electronic Document and Records Management System (EDRMS).
- Digitisation is the process of converting an analogue format to a digital format, e.g. a paper record to a PDF, a film negative to a digital image or converting an audio cassette to an MP3.
After the reproduction is made the organisation will have two versions of the same record, the original, and the reproduction or copy.
Original or source records
If the intent is to ‘replace’ the original record with the reproduction and destroy the original, then the reproduced record must meet the requirements outlined in the SRO’s Digitisation Specification. It must have the same evidential value as the original record to meet the organisation’s business requirements.
In this instance, the original record is referred to as the ‘source record’, i.e. it is the source from which the reproduction has been made.
The reproduction becomes the official business record and must be retained in accordance with the organisation’s relevant Retention and Disposal Authority. The ‘source record’ may be destroyed in accordance with the General Disposal Authority for Source Records.
Access copy
If your organisation intends to keep the original record for business purposes and has created a ‘digital copy’ simply to make it more accessible to staff within the organisation, then the digital copy becomes an ‘access copy’ and the original is kept and filed as the business record. The digital copy may be scanned to a level that meets the organisation’s needs and does not have to meet the requirements outlined in the SRO’s Digitisation Specification.
The filed hard copy business record is maintained in accordance with the General Disposal Authority or the organisation’s Retention and Disposal Authority and the reproduction or ‘access copy’ may be disposed of when reference ceases.
Remember: if you are making reproductions simply for access purposes and the access copy is modified, then this becomes a new record.
