This guidance considers how to identify information that has long-term value to a voluntary organisation, and the challenge of preserving this information for long-term access in the future. It is designed for people working or volunteering in the voluntary sector in England who have little or no experience in managing records or archives.
Organisations create a vast quantity of digital information every day, in a range of formats. Preserving digital records is a significant challenge for the voluntary sector.
During the normal course of its business even the smallest organisation will create a significant quantity of information.
Information is often an undervalued and overlooked asset and is key for maintaining integrity and openness.
Focused advice on organising, preserving, and assessing essential digital records.
Only a small quantity of the total information an organisation creates will have evidential or historical value.
Once you start to identify digital records for temporary or permanent retention, you should look to actively manage this material.
Systems can enable organisations to preserve digital content for the future and make it easier to access.
Digital record keeping can bring benefits, helping to support stronger digital practices.
These guides explore in more detail some of the technical aspects covered in our digital record keeping for the voluntary sector guidance.
These illustrative scenarios are based on real world challenges and have been designed to assist with managing and preserving digital records.
- Identifying records of future use
- Creating a digital archive
- Identifying records requiring preservation
- Preventing data breaches
- Accessing records in a legacy system
- Improving long-term preservation capability
- Improving records management of local groups
- Improving records management of a large charity
- Website archiving