Stap isi

Local government, the internet & community engagement online

17 June 2009

A Record of Records by activitystory (Flickr)

Keeping accountable

In April I made like a fool and said “web 2.0 recordkeeping – it’s not that hard, is it?!”

Now with the heat on, a whole lot of edge cases are appearing. Time to look to the experts for some simple answers! Of course they’re smart enough to avoid that trap…

State Records say they’re building NSW’s first digital archiving solution. I think that means they’re on our side. Their excellent blog Future Proof makes all the relevant resources handy and encourages participation in this daunting project.

Recordkeeping might be the most difficult aspect of local government engagement with the open web. Councils must honour the State Records Act 1998. And it’s not as simple as just registering everything into your document management system.

As an amateur, it seems to me that the legislation probably needs to be looked at again in the light of a white Google search page. But social media cheerleaders (myself included) should also move beyond a simplistic shout for #gov2.0. Transparency and accountability are predicated on good recordkeeping, right?

It’s a fascinating technical challenge.

For a more informed view of the debate, I recommend Records Management in a Web 2.0 World by Steve Dale and the accompanying podcast.

PS I wonder how State Records are archiving their blog?

— b3rn   ,    Jun 17, 10:36 PM   #

Comments

You’re right – its not a simple issue. However, balance is needed, otherwise it becomes a case of the tail wagging the dog. Take the case of www.openaustralia.org – transparency and accountability only happens if people have easy access to records.

— James Dellow    Jun 18, 09:46 AM    #

For sure – there are new, distributed approaches to maintaining information. And access should now be simpler and smarter for both humans and machines.

But what about privacy (when citizens interact with government and provide personal information) and maintaining data integrity after the fact? These are crucial aspects of the State Records Act that are in the public’s interest. We shouldn’t presume a benign government.

Have a listen to the podcast if you haven’t – unlike me, they know what they’re talking about!

— b3rn    Jun 18, 10:17 AM    #


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