Where to keep information
Where to keep information
This guide helps you decide where to keep records, documents and files. This could be in G Suite or other systems and applications. For example:
This guide is in beta. This means that we are still working to improve it, so your feedback will help us make sure that they are easy to understand and useful. Please let us know your suggestions.
A record can be any document that provides evidence of how we make decisions or how we do our jobs. So that the evidence is reliable, records have to be:
You need to be able to find them, and see what has happened to them over time.
Documents and files hold information. Some become records, for example when you finish a formal draft, or use a document to capture a decision. Others are temporary copies or notes. So you can keep these as long as they are useful to you and then dispose of them.
It is important to know the difference because we manage them in different ways. You still need to look after these, so that you save them in the right location when necessary. Dispose of them securely, especially if they contain sensitive or personal information.
We keep some records for legal reasons. For example, a tenancy agreement or an employment contract. We keep other records to help us do our jobs. For example, a document that tells colleagues how to do something or which explains why we made a decision.
Sometimes we keep records for more than one reason. For example, if we need to prove in court that we wrote a procedure we would need it for a legal reason and also to do our job.
Do not assume that a record is no longer needed after you have finished with it. Because records matter, we keep them in specific systems and manage them carefully. Read the Hackney Records Management Policy for more information.
Different teams keep their records in different places. If your team has a process for saving information, keep doing that. This is so we can all:
You should always follow your current process if:
If not, think about storing information in G Suite. Read Shared Drives and My Drive for more information on choosing the best place. You can create a file in G Suite, and then export it to another system.
Always speak to your manager and colleagues before changing where you save information. Contact the Information Management Team for advice on where to save information.
eDOCS is used across the Council to hold documents and other files. This is changing.
For more information, read The systems we use to manage information.
Let us know - your feedback will help us improve it.