The Digitization of Municipal Records

Records Digitization

Historically, one of the core responsibilities of local governments is to provide great services to their communities. From applying for different licenses or permits, to asking questions about the community, and beyond - municipalities, regional districts, and First Nations make up the front line and first point of contact for a large part of their communities.

With technology advancing rapidly, people’s expectations also evolve. To this effect, we’ve seen local governments working to provide accessible, efficient, and user-friendly services. However, there are many challenges in this journey that arise given the sheer amount of physical, paper-based records: finding the right records, implementing retention policies, and managing a growing number of records - to name a few.

To better understand this problem, Vivacity spoke with 40+ Canadian municipalities. In this process, we uncovered interesting solutions, approaches, and best practices around record digitization. 

Digitization Guidelines

Did you know that there are guidelines available for the digitization of government records in Canada? At a Federal level, there are Digitization Guidelines aiming to help government institutions to digitize records and ensure they are authoritative, legally admissible in place of original source records, and accessible for as long as required. At a provincial level, provinces such as British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba often make available standards and guidelines to help organizations digitize government information - these can provide more province-specific guidance to local governments.

Approaches to digitizing records

From our research, we identified three main approaches to digitizing records: large digitization initiatives, ongoing digitization procedures, and digitization as an alternative assignment.

Large Digitization Initiatives

The most common approach to digitizing records is to budget for and fund a large digitization initiative aimed at digitizing all records in one or more departments or groups in the organization. For example, digitizing all building records and importing them into a digital file management system (e.g., File servers, Tempest, Posse, SharePoint, OneDrive, Laserfiche, and others).

Pros:

• One large project to manage for a set period of time

• Rapidly digitizes a large number of records

• Generally predictable scope and reliable timelines

Cons:

• Usually resource intensive and often expensive

• May not align with strategic budget priorities

• Often, mistakes are made that are not caught until after the project, which can result in the need for a follow-up project to clean and organize the digitized records.

Best practices:

• Start by digitizing and migrating a subset of all records (e.g., all building records for one subdivision, or all records within a specific time frame) - this can help identify gaps early on and avoid the need for a large data cleaning project being needed after digitization is complete.

• Ensure thought is given to retention policies on the digital records generated - failing to do so at the start can make retention challenging to manage as the volume of digital records increases.

Ongoing Digitization Procedures

Another approach many local governments take is to digitize records on an ongoing basis. For example: if you offer a service where the community can request specific records, add a step to that service to digitize these records and move them to a permanent digital storage solution (such as SharePoint, OneDrive, Laserfiche, or other suitable systems). Over time, records will continue to be digitized without requiring large project budgets.

Pros:

• Leverages existing processes and resources

• Does not require additional budget or funding

• Slower pace of digitization means mistakes can be spotted and addressed before they can create major negative impacts

Cons:

• Slower process means managing paper records will continue to be required for several years

• Entails adding a step to existing processes, which are often subject to possible human error

• Tracking digitization progress can be challenging over a long period of time

Best practices:

• Give some thought to how best to organize digitized records - they should be secure, easy to find, and as easy to upload as possible. It’s generally recommended to involve staff on determining this structure, otherwise digitizing records risks making their jobs more difficult.

• Consider implementing retention policies right away on digitized records - retention becomes harder to manage as the volume of digital records grows.

• Ensure staff has access to adequate and timely training on the digital records management platform selected, and on the digitization process itself. Human error is one of the biggest risks with digitization, and frequent training can greatly help mitigate against it.

Digitization as alternative assignment

One of the most creative approaches we came across for the digitization of records is to use this as an alternative assignment to staff who are unable to perform their regular duties for a period of time (in the event of an injury, for example). Typically, the work required to digitize records is quite accessible, and often not very physically demanding. This helps staff continue to be productive while they aren’t able to perform their usual duties, while contributing positively to the digitization journey of the organization.

Pros:

• Faster than ongoing digitization

• Doesn’t require additional project budgets or funding

• Helps allocate staff needing alternative duties effectively

Cons:

• Slower than one large digitization initiative

• Relying on staff needing alternative duties can create less predictable digitization timelines

• Onboarding new staff and providing training is needed at a higher frequency than ongoing digitization

Best practices:

• Ensure staff participating in the program are aware of the value and positive impacts they are creating for the organization, to avoid employees treating the project without the required focus or seriousness needed for effective digitization.

• Ensure comprehensive training can be rapidly provided to staff on the digital records management system selected, as staff with various levels of technical aptitude may be leveraged in the program.

• Consider setting and regularly reviewing retention policies and record structures to avoid the need for a large data cleanup initiative as the volume of digital records increases.

Funding digitization

The digitization of records is such a critical component of effectively delivering local government services that many funding sources are available for this type of project, at both Federal and Provincial levels. Here are a few resources:

Federal

• The Documentary Heritage Communities Program (DHCP) helps fund projects aimed at preserving and promoting Canada’s documentary heritage - including supporting projects that enhance access to digital records. Calls for proposals typically happen every year in the Fall.

Provincial

• The British Columbia History Digitization Program provides financial support for digitization projects that offer online access to unique British Columbia historical materials. Typically, the release of Request for Early Notices of Intent to Apply happens yearly in July.

• The Manitoba Heritage Grants Program is available for projects related to collections management, conservation, exhibitions, and research, which can include digitization records, covering up to 50% of project costs.Deadlines to apply are typically January 31 and June 1 of each year.

Conclusion

The digitization of records is a growing need across municipalities and communities for effective service delivery, records management, and document retention. While there are generally guidelines in place for how government entities should undertake this process, there is no one size fits all solution. Digitization can be achieved through a number of paths, and organizations need to weigh the pros and cons of each approach to find the correct path for them.

What is certain is that the number of records and documents is growing rapidly each year, and municipalities should be considering digitization approaches as early as they can. With a number of funding and support opportunities available, there has never been a better time to start!