Capture
Capture is the process of registering a record in an organisation’s recordkeeping system, linking it to business activities for accessibility, control, and security.
Why is capturing important?
When a record is captured, it:
- can serve as reliable evidence
- is easy for the authorised people to find and use
- is controlled and managed according to organisational rules
- is protected from being changed, accessed without permission, or deleted illegally
- can be disposed of when it's no longer needed, following legal guidelines.
How does capturing happen?
- Sometimes records are saved automatically when they are created, such as when data is entered into a business system or an electronic form is filled out.
- At other times, employees need to actively save the record into the correct system.
Records created or received by public officers should be captured when they:
- approve or authorise actions
- serve as official communication between staff, such as memos about important business matters
- announce or explain a change in policy
- are part of significant projects or tasks being worked on
- offer advice or guidance
- are official communications between your organisation and outsiders, like invoices
- support a project or activity in your department, like research or important drafts.
It's especially important to capture records related to legal matters, such as licenses, permits, contracts, risk assessments, and legal advice. These must be stored correctly to meet legal obligations.
Records do not need to be captured when they:
- temporarily assist in a process, for example, they are duplicates or used for data entry
- have no lasting value to the organisation and are only needed for reference purposes for a very short time
- are personal and not related to work.
For more details on which records can be safely discarded without being added to the recordkeeping system, check the normal administrative practice guidance.
Common capture considerations
Your organisation’s business rules and procedures should outline:
- when to capture emails
- who is responsible for the capture of emails (sender? recipient? emails with multiple recipients?)
- how to title emails for discoverability
Generally, emails should be captured into recordkeeping systems unless they are facilitative or ephemeral, or of a personal nature.
Get more information on managing email guidance.
Capture messages that relate to:
- significant actions
- decisions
- recommendations.
Most devices or platforms will now allow for messages to be exported, however, screenshots provide an alternative method of extraction.
To assess whether you need to extract and save social media records into recordkeeping systems, consider:
- Is your post the primary source of an announcement?
- Do people rely on advice or information you post to social media to inform their actions or decisions?
- Does your post communicate decisions and commit the organisation to an action?
- Does your post seek feedback regarding agency-wide issues on governance, policies and procedures?
- Will you need to prove what you posted?
Most platforms will now allow for records to be exported, however, screenshots provide an alternative method of extraction.
Capture drafts, if they:
- are submitted for comment or approval by others
- contain significant or substantial changes or annotations
- relate to the development of policy and procedures, legislation, legislative proposals and amendments.
Capture working papers that document:
- contain significant decisions and discussions
- document reasons and actions
- have significant information that is not contained in the final version of the record.
Many public offices use collaborative or cloud platforms to communicate, develop joint policies and guidance, and for a range of other processes.
Make sure that the recordkeeping responsibilities of these activities are identified and adhered to.
Capture:
- key drafts
- final documents
- communications.
How to capture records?
Records should be captured at the time of creation or receipt, or as close to as possible, to reduce the risk of them being missed or lost.
Creation and capture usually occurs concurrently within automated business processes or workflows and in business systems, as it is embedded in the system’s design. Electronic forms are often also designed to ensure capture is concurrent with creation.
Other records may need to be manually captured into recordkeeping systems. When capturing records, controls should be applied to ensure records are discoverable in the future.
Follow business rules to determine and apply:
- titling and naming conventions
- folder and file structure
- classification
Systems will usually be configured to prompt a user entry, or in some cases will apply these controls automatically.
Often recordkeeping systems also allow for working documents, such as text files, or spreadsheets to be managed in official systems from their conception. This approach reduces the risk of loss and enables a more collaborative working environment.
What about physical records?
Business rules should govern the capture of physical records.
Where practical paper documents can be scanned and saved into electronic recordkeeping systems through a digitisation process.
In some cases, there may be a requirement to keep the physical record and attach it to a physical file.
Physical and digitised records should also follow titling/naming conventions, structure and classification rules.