To make it easier and more efficient to access records in your agency:

• records should have meaningful metadata including descriptive titles, see Describing records using metadata
• records management systems should not be cluttered by records that can be destroyed or transferred, see Keep, destroy or transfer
• procedures should be developed to ensure records are captured into the right systems, see Capturing records
• the media (for physical records such as paper files, photographs and film) as well as the records content should be preserved
• records which should not be available to everybody should be properly secured

Tracking your records

Developing efficient tracking systems for both physical and electronic records is important. A tracking system means that you will be able to:

• know where the record is located, and where it has been previously located (physical)
• know who has the record (physical)
• know how often the record has been accessed and by whom (physical and electronic)
• know what changes have been made to the record and by whom (electronic)

If your agency’s records management systems do not collect this information, the security of your records may be at risk. For more information about what metadata (information about the records), your system need to be collecting, see Describing records using metadata.

The method for tracking your records will depend on their format and the system used to manage them:

• if you have electronic records managed by an electronic system (eg an EDRMS or a business information system), the audit logs in the system should be designed to collect enough metadata to track use and changes
• if you have physical records managed by an electronic records management system or physical records management system (such as a file register or movement cards), you will need to put procedures in place to ensure that movements are properly recorded

A record census or audit gathers data to confirm or update a record tracking system. The frequency of this activity will depend on the importance of the records. If the record is documenting a high-risk business you should have strict procedures about updating metadata. The Protective Security Manual released by the Attorney General's Department has guidelines about tracking classified records. 

While you may decide to collect less metadata for your lower risk records, ideally the locations of records should be tracked to individuals, not just to business sections or business locations. By tracking the location of a record to a single person, you are effectively giving that person responsibility for the record. On receipt of the record, the individual should accept responsibility for:

• care and physical maintenance of the record (for physical records)
• ensuring that the record is not inappropriately accessed (for physical and electronic records)
• ensuring that other people with legitimate business needs can find and use the information on the record (for physical records)
• ensuring the file is returned to the central file registry once it is no longer required (for physical records) 
• ensuring that information on the file is not removed or altered (for physical records).

For physical or electronic records, tracking metadata gives an audit trail showing how the record has been accessed and how often. Over time, this information can assist you to decide where records should be stored. Records that haven’t been accessed for a long period might be moved to secondary storage, while records in high demand perhaps need to be stored on site.

More information

For more information on records security and storage, see Secure, store and preserve.

For more information on keeping and destroying records, see Keep, destroy or transfer.

For more information on transferring records to the Archives, see Transferring records to the National Archives.