This involves understanding how long any records in the line of business system need to be retained for and their potential value. If they exist, you will be able to find this information in your organisation’s retention and disposal schedules.
Retention
- Do any legislative requirements apply to these records?
- What retention periods apply to the records? In particular, do any records require medium-term (e.g. 10-25 years) or long-term preservation? (e.g. 25+ years)
- How easily can retention periods be applied to the records in the system? For example, how easy it is to know when the records have reached their retention period. Can the system flag the records to be reviewed?
- Do any records have archival value and require permanent preservation?
Value and use of the records
- What potential users (both internal and external) will need to access the records in the future? What will they need to access and how?
- What are the consequences to citizens if the records are not preserved? In particular, will it cause them harm or negatively impact their human rights?
- What other records might exist (in the system and outside the system) that have value to users and citizens?
- Does the system and its records support a core function or high-risk area of the organisation?
Value and use of the system
- Does the system or application itself have value? As the Software Sustainability Institute outlines in ‘Digital preservation and curation – the danger of overlooking software‘, “software can be a valuable historical resource. If the software was the first example of its type, or it was a fundamental part of a historically significant event, then the software has inherent heritage value and should be preserved.”
- Does the system itself have a significant level of evidential value? For example, does it form part of a government inquiry or investigation?