Records/Documents Retention and Purging
- John Kostakos
- Megan Sproul
- Balaji Narayanan
Overview
nVIRO’s record retention functionality provides a flexible and configurable framework for purging records that no longer need to be maintained in the system. Record retention rules can vary in many ways based on:
state / agency
environmental program area
type of record or document
To accommodate needs across various agencies, program areas, and record types, nVIRO provides the ability to configure the retention rules in the system, which allows fine tuning of when specific record types are eligible for purging. Once identified, the records may be approved for purge or exempted from purge for a user defined period of time.
The following diagram shows the process flow:
Records/Documents Retention (and Purging) are configured under Admin > Records Retention in the navigation menu.
Retention Rules List
The Retention Rules list is accessed via the Admin menu. To view the list, navigate to Admin > Records Retention. The Retention Rules List screen displays all available (record) retention rules. The list provides standard filtering and sorting.
Click the Open button to view or edit the retention rule configuration for the selected rule.
Click the View Purge List button to view purge list for the selected retention rule.
Click the View Docs List button to view (purge) documents list for the selected retention rule.
Viewing and Editing Retention Rules
A rule may be viewed or edited by clicking the Open button on any corresponding rule listed. Upon clicking open, the rule details are displayed.
Rule Detail Page
The following table lists the fields available on the Detail page:
Field | Description |
|---|---|
Retention Rule Name | A short name to identify the retention rule. |
Retention Rule Description | A long description to document the details and purpose of the retention rule |
Functional Area | The functional area (i.e., record type) to which this rule applies. A single functional area must be selected for the rule. |
Program Area | The program area to which this rule applies. A single program area must be selected for the rule. |
Retention Period | The retention period defines the quantity of the date interval. For example, if the date interval is years, 2 in the retention period means the retention for the records matching the rule is 2 years. |
Retention Period Date Interval | The interval that corresponds to the retention period. Currently, the Retention Period is limited to Years, but this may be expanded in the future should there arise a need for finer grained retention periods. |
Filters |
|
Retention Types | Allows the rule to apply to only a subset of records. Available retention types are defined by the functional area and program area. For example, program specific permit categories may be selected if the functional area specified is “Permit.” |
Document Categories | Allows the rule to apply specifically to document types. Available document categories are defined by the functional area and program area. For example, a rule may be specified to retain a particular document category for 2 years, even though the related record retention is 5 years. When one or more document categories have been specified, the rule is treated as a “Document Only” retention rule. See “Document Only” Retention Rules below. |
Configure (Add/Edit) Records Retention Rule
New Records Retention Rule may be created by clicking Add New Retention Rule from the Retention Rules List page. A configuration page is displayed that is separated into the base system action Configuration Details, Filters, and Actions.
The Configuration Details allow specification of the name, description, functional area/program area, retention duration, along with unit.
The Filters section allows for limiting the applicable retention records based on retention types and document categories. Both the retention types and document categories are filtered based on the selected functional area/program area combination. If there are no retention types selected, then the configuration rule is defined by the functional area/program area combination along with the retention duration/interval.
Individual rules may be configured as “Record Retention” rules or “Document Retention” rules.
“Record Retention” Retention Rules
To define a Record retention rule:
Enter a name and description.
Specify the functional area record that the rule will apply to.
Select the applicable program areas that the rule will apply to.
Enter the retention period and retention period date interval (e.g., 7 years).
Select the retention types (e.g., forms) if applicable, or leave blank for all retention types.
Leave “Document Categories” blank (see below for “Document Only” retention rules).
Click Save.
“Document Only” Retention Rules
In some situations, there may be documents associated with a record that do not need to be retained for the same duration as the record. For example, for a submission record, it may be important to keep a pdf record of the submission copy of the record. However, other working documents on the submission may not need to be retained for as long a period. In this situation, a “Document Only” retention rule may be defined, specifying the purge of documents belonging to one or more document categories.
By definition, a retention rule that has one or more document categories selected is considered to be a “Document Only' retention rule.
To define a “Document Only” retention rule:
Specify the Name, Description, Functional Area, Program Areas, and Retention Period as described above for a Record retention rule.
Select one or more “Document Categories” under the Filters section.
Click Save.
Rules defined for record retention will always take precedence over document category retention rules. For example, if the record retention rule for a specific permit type is set to 5 years, any document retention rule for the same permit type that has been set to a period greater than 5 years is ignored. This is because the record retention rule for year 5 applies to all aspects of the permit, including the documents.
Identify Purge Candidates
A background process runs nightly to assess the records and/or documents in the system against the defined retention rules. Also, when the Records Retention Administrator saves the retention rule definition, the assessment process runs on demand and repopulates the purge list. Records identified for purging are staged as purgeable records or as purgeable document list (if the retention rule included Document Category selection).
Review Purge Candidates
Purge Candidates List
Records identified for review are displayed on a purge candidate list. There are two types of lists - one for records identified for purge and one for documents identified by a “Document Only” rule.
To view the purge candidate list, the user selects “View Purge List” button from the Retention Rules list for a specific non-documents retention rule.
Export Purge Candidates
Records identified for review may be exported to an Excel spreadsheet (.csv format) for analysis.
To export a list of records:
User selects the Export (CSV) button on the “Records ready to be purged” list page.
Filters don’t currently apply to the export - should they?
Approving Records for Purge
Records and documents identified for purge are reviewed and approved for purge. Approved records are then queued for deletion and are deleted whenever the purge records system process has been scheduled to run, likely over a weekend.
To approve a record for purge:
Select and Open a purge list to view the records ready to be purged.
Click the check box corresponding to one or more records to be exempted.
Click the Approve n Item(s).
Click Approve Deletion.
An “Approved for Deletion” indicator is displayed on the record in the list.
Exempting Records from Purge
Records and documents identified for purge may be exempted from purging for a user specified period.
To exempt a record:
Select and Open a purge list to view the records ready to be purged.
Click the check box corresponding to one or more records to be exempted.
Click the Exempt n Item(s).
Enter the exemption period and the exemption period interval.
Click Exempt from Deletion.
An “Exempt from Deletion” indicator is displayed on the record in the list.
Exempting an Entire Site from Purge
A site may be exempted from Purge by setting the “Exempt From Site Purge” option on the site’s Preferences tab.
When a site has been exempted, this status is displayed in the site detail page sidebar. This option is useful for situations where no records for a site should be purged, for example, to support litigation holds, aka preservation order, FOIA fulfillment, or historic significance.
Deletion of Records Approved for Purge
<THIS IS FUTURE FUNCTIONALITY - IN DEVELOPMENT>
A nightly (or weekly) system process executes deleting all records that have been approved for purge.
When functional area records are purged, all records belonging to those records (including documents, workflows, events, etc.) are permanently deleted.
When documents identified by a ‘document only’ rule are purged, only the document record and document content (file) are permanently deleted.