Opening old Microsoft Office files from years ago

This is the first time I have hit upon the problem (in a professional business context) of opening an older file in a newer application.

Specifically the file is listed under its properties as "Microsoft Word 5.0/5.1 for Macintosh Document" and I am using Microsoft Word 2003 SP3

It appears that SP3 for Office 2003 and I believe as standard in Office 2007 will not open file types earlier than Office 97 versions by default.

So the message you get when opening such a file under this configuration is

"You are attempting to open a file that was created in an earlier version of Microsoft Office. This file type is blocked from opening in this version by your registry policy setting. "
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/922849

The fix was to correct the registry setting following the advice at MS support here
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938810

And all is well - but clearly there is a business need to have access to files prior to 1997 both for historical, informational, reference purposes let alone the statutory obligations if applicable.

I am tempted now to make a new set files to sit alongside the originals in PDF format for future preservation.

One on One EDRMS training

I have worked in two organisations both using the same EDRM and have seen and delivered various means of training.

I have found that the most preferred method of training by users has been one on one, which allows the user to walk through the session at their own pace. However clearly this is the most resource intensive. Feedback has been very positive and each candidate has passed their post training assessments with little issue.

It has allowed me to customise the session to their particular role and needs, for instance showing references to their work and other points of interest.

I will continue performing training in this manner whilst time and resource allows, I am loathe to sacrifice this method but may consider very small groups (of 3 people) in a quasi-classroom/one on one style session. That way I should be able to still deliver the same customisation and training but to more individuals. It will all depend upon the numbers of new candidates over time.

CD/DVD storage and care

Looking after CDs and other electronic media is a new area for me and something I have started considering in my new role. After a little research here are my ideas and thoughts

• Check the longevity of the media as stipulated by the manufacturer, I found that this can vary. Generally 1 year seems to be the norm.

• Based upon this - have a renewal programme to renew the copies annually or as per the lifetime guarantee of the media

• Duplicate and disperse, keep another copy but somewhere different, preferably not even on the site you work. Which is just a good principle in RM anyway!

• Don't skimp on buying CDs/DVDs - you pay for what you get. Cheap media is likely to fail quicker and I have noticed more instances of bad burns on cheap media than on better quality (and more expensive) media.

• Avoid gluing labels on top of CDs for several reasons - this can unbalance the CD/DVD in the tray and cause read issues. Also the glue can potentially damage the disc over time.

• Find an appropriate storage case/wallet that does not scratch the discs!

• Tell staff how to handle media properly - no mucky fingers or leaving it outside its protective case!

Protecting your rights on the world wide web - buying web addresses

In my previous role I was responsible for the maintenance and registration of web addresses.

Here are my thoughts from what I learned:

Protecting your Rights in the Web Environment

Prevention is better than cure

1. Purchase as many domains as feasible and within budget – prioritise key names and products first

2. Think generic as well – for instance if you sell a particular type of chocolate bar – why not look for chocolatebars, choccybars etc? For example you will find that

• Lloyds TSB own insurance.co.uk
• British Gas own house.co.uk

3. Register common misspellings – and get some more traffic for peoples typos and mispellings? This may be helpful where your name is likely to cause some confusion e.g bconstructive, b-constructive or beconstructive?

4. Take the opportunity to register as many domain extensions as possible e.g. .org .info to name but a few.

5. Register the name of your brand or product as a trademark – as a separate workstream.

6. Purchase new domains as they become available

7. Consolidate domains into one log or inventory within the business. It is good practice for one company to have the responsibility for ensuring all domains for a group are re-registered. Do not lose track of renewals – expired registrations will end up back in the public domain and could be fatal

8. Active monitoring

9. Searches prior to registration

10. All is not lost with a registration that has already been taken – ask yourselves:

• Do you have prior rights in a name? E.g. a trademark or lots of brand equity and capital? Can you demonstrate this – provide examples of collateral or materials?
• Is the registration abusive? i.e. is the name being used to the detriment of your business? Is the content purporting to represent your activities or product?
• If you can answer yes and provide some susbtanial examples of this you may be able insitigate a dispute process with Nominet the UK domain registry (for .uk names)
• Why not first approach the owners and ask whether they might let it go? You might be surprised by the answer!

Archiving Challenges and the Records Lifecycle

A challenge faced at the organisation I work at is what to do with all the legacy files on apprentices which still must kept in paper form. Although parts of the file are scanned for multi-site access, the external funding body who audit these files request that the originals are maintained.

So at what point does the organisation archive these files.

Clearly they should be held locally for as long as they are active and needed for current administrative use.

This was where I found the records lifecycle useful as a basis for decision making and establishing where such files become semi-active and inactive. In this context, the point where an apprentice achieves their qualification is the closure point - this is the time to archive.

The chart above I drew up based upon this concept shows that the amount of use a record gets varies over time. The initial stages of life it gets a lot of "attention" then this drops off, followed by a small spike later on when it is recalled (perhaps for an audit or check later on).

The next challenge, whether to use in-house facilities at another site or to use third party.

Records management related job titles

A while ago I collated some titles of those who work in the records management profession. There is a wide array of titles that can be used for the profession, here is the list of those (including some amusing suggestions)

Archive and Records Manager
Black Hole Gateway Director
Chief Knowledge Facilitator
Data continuum organisationalist
Departmental Records Officer
Director of Records
General Operations Director
Information Connectivity Specialist
Information Contextualisation Coordinator
Information Officer
Information Specialist
Information Strategist
Records Administrator
Records and Archives Officer
Records and Information Coordinator
Records and Information Officer
Records Coordinator
Records Executive
Records Management Consultant
Records Management Coordinator
Records Management Officer
Records Management Professional
Records Management Supervisor
Records Specialist
Senior Records Officer