Automatic Saving and Storage of E-mails and other Electronic Records in their Original Format
The federal government can become more environmentally friendly and more efficient by taking the relatively undemanding step of creating a system which automatically saves, catalogues and organizes all electronically created records in electronic format.
Why Is This Idea Important?It is our understanding that even short, simple E-mail between two government employees that constitutes a record for purpose of the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) will be printed out and physically placed in a file. This creates needless paper that, aside from its negative effect on our natural resources, requires extra effort to locate and reproduce. Time spent in the physical search of paper files for a one page E-mail is time that could be spent processing other requests. It doesn’t have to be that way.
There are technology products available that will automatically save every electronic document created on a given computer or network. Each newly created document can be saved according to several criteria which will make the document easier to find by those processing the request. The federal government could purchase such a product or use existing products as a model to build its own system.
This approach would not only be “green” and efficient, but also consistent with existing law. The Electronic Freedom of Information Act amendments of 1996 (“EFOIA”) changed FOIA to require:
"In making any record available to a person under this paragraph, an agency shall provide the record in any form or format requested by the person if the record is readily reproducible by the agency in that form or format. Each agency shall make reasonable efforts to maintain its records in forms or formats that are reproducible for purposes of this section.
"In responding under this paragraph to a request for records, an agency shall make reasonable efforts to search for the records in electronic form or format, except when such efforts would significantly interfere with the operation of the agency's automated information system." (5 U.S.C. 552(a)(3)(A)-(B).)
It is becoming increasingly rare that records are originally created in paper format. Creating a system that instantly saves electronic records and facilitates the search for those records does not hinder the ability of a requester to receive his or her request a preferred format. We assume that even electronic records which have been printed out for filing and storage continue to exist in electronic format. The only change through this system is that paper is not created unless and until a requester asks for a paper copy.
We understand that there will be a cost involved in creating and implementing this type of system but believe that this upfront cost, plus any later maintenance, greatly outweighs the time and resources spent in needlessly creating paper records that are, at best, useless, and at worst another hindrance to an already overburdened processing system. Given the cost, we are not advocating that this system be applied retroactively, but only for those records created after the effective date of the system.
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