Procedures for Managing Medium-Risk Electronic Records

February 2, 2002

1. Purpose and rationale: Long-term records which could pose a legal, fiscal, or administrative risk to an agency if the data could not be accessed or read for the entire length of the retention should be managed by weighing resources vs. business needs. Choice of storage media may contribute to the risk.

2. Scope: The procedures outlined below are intended for the recordkeeping copy which has been moved offline, not for backup tapes. If the recordkeeping copy is still on a hard drive or disc storage, these procedures do not apply.

3. Preferred Storage Media: Magnetic tape is the media of choice for the recordkeeping copy, not because it lasts the longest, but because it shows signs when it starts to age, in the form of read errors. As soon as these signs become apparent, the records can be copied to new tape. The National Media Laboratory has tested different varieties of magnetic tape for durability, and 1/2" tape has be shown to have the fewest number of problems.

Best practice is to make two copies of each record, using different manufacturing lots, so that errors introduced during manufacturing do not cause loss of data on both copies. Choose the highest grade media from known manufacturers.

Compact disks and DVDs may potentially last a long time, but they are also prone to error and, unlike magnetic tape, do not give any warning before they fail. Because of their durability and ease of use, and despite technological obsolescence issues, CDs and DVDs may be used for the recordkeeping copy or as a backup copy for medium-risk electronic records.

4. Procedures: Specifically, verify no more than 6 months prior to use that the magnetic media used to store medium-risk electronic records are free of permanent errors or defects.

4.1 Fully wind/rewind tapes under constant tension prior to use.

4.2 Test a 3 percent statistical sample periodically, not to exceed 10 years, of all volumes, or 10 volumes of each type of magnetic media, whichever is larger, to identify any loss of data and to discover and correct the causes of data loss. Special control media may be stored for this purpose.

4.3 Copy immediately onto new media any medium-risk electronic records stored on media with 10 or more permanent errors per volume. Make a second copy onto new media from a different manufacturing lot.

4.4 Copy all medium-risk electronic records onto new media before the media are 10 years old. Make a second copy onto new media from a different manufacturing lot.

4.5 Prepare external non-erasable labels which provide a unique identifier for each volume, the name of the organizational unit responsible, the record series title, and the record series number.

This page was last updated August 1, 2008.