Case Study onthe U.S. Government Accountability Office’s

Electronic Records Management System (ERMS)

June 15, 2006

THE GILBANE CONFERENCE ON CONTENT MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES FOR GOVERNMENT IN COOPERATION

WITH CMS WATCH

Carol Brock, Director- Information Assets/Knowledge Services U.S. Government Accountability Office

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Background

• GAO pioneered implementation of document management in the Federal government – 15 years ago

• New automated business processes need an ERMS to capture e-records

• Vision for ERMS• Records captured at creation/receipt• Retention embedded into e-processes • All documentation & links stored in DM • Minimal end-user responsibilities• RM staff make critical records decisions• RM tasks invisible to the ERMS users

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System Overview

• ERMS is integrated with the Document Management (DM) System

• System user’s save a document and a profile automatically pops up

• Choose a profile and the user is saving to ERMS• 3 profiles – 3 retentions• Files closed at end of fiscal year or at the occurrence of an

event• After files are closed, users have 30 days to remove non-

record materials prior to files being locked as “records”

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Summary of 3 Bucket Approach

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Simplified Retention and the 3 Bucket Approach

Mission5 year retention

• Testimony, Engagement & Investigation Case Files

• Engagement Management Files

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Summary of 3 Bucket Approach, cont.

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Summary of 3 Bucket Approach, cont.

Policy & Special Collections

Permanent Or Long-term retention

• GAO Reports & Publications

• Legal Decisions• Legislative Histories• Historically Significant

Engagement Files• Agency Directives• Senior Executive Files

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Summary of 3 Bucket Approach, cont.

Administrative7 year

retention

• Budget• Building & Property Management• EEO• Finance• FOIA• Library Services• Human Capital• Information Systems & Technology• Procurement• Safety • Travel• Etc.

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File Plans

• Keep file plans very simple

• Engagements – e-file by engagement job number• Policy & Special Collections – e-file by collection title• Administrative – e-file by operations or project; then fiscal

year.

• Retention captured at the profile level (ERMS)• Users set up as many files and sub-files as they want (DM

level).

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Sample File Plan

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How the System Works

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How the System Works

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Status Report

• Pilot users asked to continue with the system• Pilots continue during implementation if a Unit requests• ERMS is being rolled out to a new unit each week (through

October 2006) • 26 successful pilots (Engagement and Administrative)• 104 users (HQ & Field Offices) • User surveys show no impact on work

• System has been successfully implemented in Knowledge Services and Information Services and Technology Systems (about 350 users)

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ERMS Pilots

Objectives:• Assess user acceptability & identify potential burdens to staff• Identify best practices for conducting GAO business using

electronic DM/RM tools• Measure processes and evaluate perceptions

Status:• Audited completed pilots• Focus on document management software training

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Lessons Learned

• 15 years with DM – good and bad• Users tend to want to automate their paper processes• Users want to complicate their file plans – big buckets take

getting used to• On-site vendor support during pilots helped smooth the

process• Users continue to drive the process as ERMS is refined• Combined electronic initiatives (workpapers, case files,

indexing and referencing, publication and distribution) must be managed in concert

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Next Steps

• Knowledge Management• Portals (Hurricane & Pandemic Flue)• Workflow, Collaboration, E-Signatures

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Questions

For more information, please contact:

Carol Brock, CRM Director of Information Assets, KS/GAO

441 G St., NWWashington, DC 20548

202/512-3435Brockc@gao.gov