Managing digital images as records
Choose an image management system that meets your organisation’s needs for storing and retrieving digital images and their metadata. Consider factors like project size, existing systems, and required functionality.
A trusted, reliable framework for digitisation
When digital images replace original paper records, they must work as reliable proof of your organisation's activities. This is especially important in digitising current business processes, where records are more up-to-date than those in back-scanning projects. Digitisation must create full and accurate images that are:
- authentic: created through routine, approved digitisation and registration processes
- complete: accurate, clear copies of the originals, with no major changes or missing content
- accessible: available and easy to read for everyone who has a right to see them, for as long as needed
To make sure digital images work as evidence, your organisation needs a reliable framework for digitisation by:
- having clear plans in place
- using the right equipment and space for the job
- setting up processes that meet agreed standards, documented in policies and shared with staff
- deciding on technical details and metadata requirements
- checking quality regularly to make sure the images meet standards
- training and supporting staff to do their tasks well
- keeping the project monitored and reviewed
Digitisation projects should fit into your organisation's existing records management program. This ensures both the paper records and digital images are managed properly for as long as they are needed.
Digitisation projects can also be a chance to improve workflows and processes. By including digitisation in these processes, your organisation can work more efficiently and consistently.
Suitable storage of digital images
Digital images must be stored, backed up, and managed properly to remain useful for as long as needed. Poor storage can make the images less valuable to your organisation over time.
When digital images replace original paper records as evidence of business, it is especially important to store master copies securely and in a way that ensures their long-term preservation.
When planning a digitisation program, you should estimate storage needs to ensure your ICT systems can support the digital images. Update these requirements as needed.
Key considerations
- Digital storage costs are decreasing, but the size and volume of images will affect your ICT resources.
- Understand storage needs within your organisation’s ICT infrastructure and systems architecture.
- Engage relevant ICT staff as key stakeholders in digitisation projects.
Questions to address
- Do you have enough storage for the expected volume of digital images?
- Storage needs depend on factors like digitisation volume, document types, and resolution.
- Can storage accommodate projected needs for at least three years, with cost-effective scalability?
- Does your bandwidth support access to digital images based on organisational needs?
Example calculations
Small agency:
- Average file size: 20MB
- Files digitised daily: 100
- Workdays per year: 260
- Annual storage need: 520GB (1.56TB over 3 years).
Larger organisation:
- Annual storage need: 10–15TB, potentially doubling each year.
Accurate projections ensure your storage systems are scalable, reliable, and meet long-term organisational goals.
Digital images should be stored in a secure and organised digital recordkeeping system. This ensures the images are accessible, reliable, and aligned with organisational requirements.
Protections offered by recordkeeping systems
| The digital image should be | That is |
|---|---|
| Secure | Protected from tampering, unauthorised access, or alteration. Digital images must remain reliable reproductions of the original records. Unauthorised access attempts should be detectable, and both images and metadata must be backed up and safeguarded against disasters. |
| Accessible | Available to authorised users who can access and view both images and their metadata. |
| In context with related records | Connected to other related records (paper or digital) documenting the same business processes. Metadata and classifications linked to the business process should also apply. |
| Able to be managed long term | Stored securely, accessible, and usable for as long as required by current retention and disposal authorities. |
If images are linked to business systems, these systems should include recordkeeping functionality or integrate with recordkeeping systems to maintain these protections and associated metadata.
Back-up and recovery
- Include digital images and metadata in your organisation's backup regime.
- Document backup procedures and securely store copies to ensure the authenticity of recovered records.
- Verify all recovered records after using backup copies for restoration.
Response times
Consider user requirements when choosing storage methods. Delayed access (for example, 15-minute wait times) will not meet user needs.
Storage of digital images on removable media
Avoid using removable media (for example, compact discs) for storing State records due to risks such as:
- physical damage
- theft or loss
- neglect during migration projects
- lack of inclusion in regular backup cycles.
Storage of derivative images
If creating derivative images (for example, lower-quality copies), establish rules for their storage:
- Capture sensitive derivatives into recordkeeping systems, especially when access must be controlled.
- Prevent staff from saving multiple copies on local or shared drives.
Proper storage practices ensure digital images remain reliable and accessible for business needs.
Organisations undertaking back-capture digitisation projects may choose to store digital images in an image management system instead of an electronic document and records management system (EDRMS). Image management systems are designed for storing and retrieving digital images and their metadata.
Your decision to use an image management system will depend on:
- the size of your project
- your organisation's current hardware and software environment
- any existing investments in systems like image management or collection management
- the specific functions the system needs to perform.
It is a good idea to consult with State Records NSW staff to ensure the chosen system meets your organisation’s needs.
Your organisation will need to ensure that audit trails can demonstrate who had access to digital images, whether staff followed procedures or whether there has been unauthorised access to images. Routine tests of system performance may need to be implemented and operational records of the system kept for as long as required.
Authorised and managed disposal of digital images
Digital images managed as records must follow authorised disposal processes and be kept for the same retention period as the original paper records.
For example:
If paper records were authorised for destruction 10 years after the last action and digitised 3 years after their last use, the digital images must be retained for another 7 years, totalling 10 years after the last action.
Key considerations for disposing of digital images:
- retain metadata in line with the General retention and disposal authority: administrative records
- document disposal actions in line with the Standard on records management
- destroy derivative images at the same time unless used in new business processes.
Strategies for the long-term management of digital images
Digital images may need to be kept for extended periods, but they face risks like media degradation and technological obsolescence. With an average lifespan of 5 to 7 years, it is vital to establish management regimes to ensure their preservation and accessibility over time. These regimes should align with broader organisational strategies for managing digital records.
Key strategies include:
- capturing digital images in standard file formats and with high technical specifications
- adding high-quality metadata to maintain their meaning over time
- adopting migration strategies to transfer images and metadata to new software, hardware, or media while preserving authenticity and integrity.
Example of a migration strategy
An organisation decommissioned a system storing digital images but retained the images and metadata in a new system to comply with their 10-year retention period.
Authorised decisions on non-migration
Deciding not to migrate digital images is a form of disposal and must be authorised under the State Records Act 1998.
Long-term commitment
Long-term management also requires ongoing investment in:
- staffing
- quality control
- hardware, storage, and software upgrades.
Checklist
| Managing digital images as records | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| Has the organisation identified the official records to be used in the transaction of business? | ||
| If the digital images replace the original paper records as the official records can they be retained for as long as the originals are required under current retention and disposal authorities? | ||
| Does the organisation have a trusted and reliable framework for digitisation? | ||
| Are digital images stored in ways that will protect their security and accessibility, links with related records and longevity? | ||
| Have projected storage requirements been defined so that the ICT infrastructure and system architecture can support their storage? | ||
| Is the disposal of digital images and their metadata authorised and managed appropriately? | ||
| Are digital images part of the organisation's framework for the long term management of digital records? |