Managing Documents

Three things have come together in the last six weeks that have reminded me of the importance of document management:

• I ran a mini-financial audit for a non-profit to prepare for a more formal audit.
• I prepared my personal income taxes.
• I reviewed database usage to assessing which subscriptions to renew.

Each is in a different knowledge domain. Each has multiple dimensions that need to be considered. Each requires deciding when to keep records. 

The first two cases are relatively easy. Financial rules are fairly well defined by accounting principles and various laws and regulations. It is easy to sit down with an accountant, bookkeeper, or lawyer and review the record keeping requirements. In the case of the audit, I was looking for a list of defined records that were need to back specific transactions. The organization has guidelines for the types of receipts and other documents that need to be kept and how to handle exceptions. The organization has guidelines for how long records need to be kept. Similarly, with taxes there are regulations for how long you need to keep records based on how long the IRS or state taxing authority can audit for supporting documents - I am certain the organizational guidelines are governed by these regulations. The database subscriptions are a bit more tricky. There are no clear regulations. Instead there is an organizational need to support organizational goals. In this case, the goals are teaching and research. 

I'm trying to put together questions, I can use to decide when to keep and when to discard documents in a collection. This is my tentative list, and I would think in any organization could create a similar list with the help of financial, IT, and legal departments.

1. Will the documents be used? Are the documents being used?
2. How much does it cost to create and retain documents?
3. Is a document or collection available from somewhere else? What will it cost me to get it?
4. What does it cost to discard or discontinue a document?
5. How long should a document be kept? How long will it have value?

Keep in mind cost in my list is not necessarily just a financial cost, you might also need to consider good-will, convenience, or risk as costs. Is there a better way to think about and manage information?