This page was last updated on 9/26/2018
William Raftery
Paul Florenz
Records and document management are at the core of most courts’ business processes. The two elements are directly related; document management focus on how the courts obtain/acquire documents while records management focuses on care and storage after acquisition. With respect to document management, many state courts have implemented electronic court records (ECR) and electronic data management systems (EDMS) in an effort to improve court operations and manage unruly paperwork. With respect to records management, quality retention and use is critical to the fair and efficient adjudication of cases and the enforcement of legal remedies that courts are required to perform.
Links to related online resources are listed below. Non-digitized publications may be borrowed from the NCSC Library; call numbers are provided.
This document provides background on the European Union's new data privacy and security regulations. If EU data privacy standards were applied to U.S. courts, the sensitive nature of court data would warrant the most stringent protections.
NCSC Area of Expertise.
Established by COSCA, NACM and NCSC, the Joint Technology Committee produces publications and webinars to promote technology standards for the courts.
This article examines the interest by federal policymakers to tackle the problem of identity theft by restricting the display of Social Security numbers in public documents. Social Security numbers are replete in court records such as probate files, land records, divorce documents,and other family-related court documents. This article will discuss the problem as well as the state court perspective on this issue and offer examples of what some state court systems are experimenting with to reduce the incidences of identity theft.
Courts are affected by national trends in privacy legislation. Over the past ten years, many courts have reevaluated and modified public access record policies to increase protections on personal information in court records, especially as court records are made available via the Internet. As private-sector data is more heavily regulated, and as state legislatures enact state security breach laws to protect consumer privacy and ward off identity theft, court record access policies may be under continued pressure to conform.
As the trend toward online delivery of information continues, expect the libraries serving courts to digitize rare and scarce materials in their collections into forms that may be delivered to users 24/7 via intranets and the Internet.
Presentation from the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the National Court Technology Conference that showcases the Superior Court of California, Orange County.
Presentation from the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the National Court Technology Conference that identifies the benefits/costs associated with migrating to a paper-on-demand environment.
Trial Court Performance Measures: Number 6. Reliability and Integrity of Case Files.
The cost-effectiveness and operational advantages of accepting and storing electronically filed documents can have an impressive impact on a court's bottom line. While the court community is working diligently to take advantage of the many benefits of converting to electronic documents, there are still many issues to be resolved.
For purposes of a pilot project, all electronically transmitted images of the justice-court record shall be considered the original documents of record in the superior court in Yavapai County.
"Digital imaging of documents will: Provide each court with electronic records of case-related documents, Will be easily transportable to other members of your court, and, Will be readily available to appropriate individuals throughout Ohio’s judicial system." Chief Justice Thomas Moyer.
New technology will allow courts to better serve the public by protecting digital information. Court technical staff needs to begin working with policy makers to test and then implement this new technology and modify both court and legal processes to take advantage of these new capabilities.
Best Practices, Recommendations and Principles for Addressing Electronic Document Production. Guideline No. 1: An organization should have reasonable policies and procedures for managing its information and records.
This article discusses the experience of the King County (Seattle), Washington, Superior Court with electronic court records, revisiting lessons learned and making the case that the time for maintaining paper documents is past.
Get a great scan by understanding scanning resolution, bit depth, file formats and sizes, and scaling options. Use the right scanning resolution to match the intended use for scanning images and text.
The use of RFID has raised privacy concerns in some states, particularly with regard to the potential linking of personal information with RFID tags.
NCSC conducted a review of a feasibility study done for the Iowa Judicial Branch by Digital Data Resources, Inc. in 1999. The subject of the feasibility study was an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS), a new application intended to create a nearly paperless environment for the Iowa courts.
White paper on Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
The original purpose of this report was to assist court managers in viewing and planning records management programs in the context of the overall court environment. It became a classic in its field.
This site contains various resources on planning and implementing a digital imaging project, as well as digital imaging standards from several states. National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators (NAGARA)
This article discusses how the future of court technology has arrived at Division Two of the Arizona Court of Appeals. It is an integrated digital environment that approaches a true paperless court, resulting in greatly increased efficiency and significant cost savings benefiting all court personnel, the Arizona legal community, and ultimately the public.
(2006)
Every day courts strive to find better, faster, cheaper, and more efficient solutions to share information. Different technologies have been tried, but the most promising technology today is eXtensible Markup Language - XML. It has sufficient implementations and standardized functionality to be a truly viable solution for courts and will expand rapidly in the future.
This document describes methods for the care and handling of optical discs and is intended for use by librarians and archivists in government, academia, and industry. It provides guidance on how to maximize the life-time and usefulness of optical discs, specifically CD and DVD media, by minimizing chances of information loss caused by environmental influences or physical handling.
A non-profit professional association and the authority on managing records and information – paper and electronic. ARMA International publishes Information Management (IM) magazine, a journal specifically for professionals who manage records and information on a daily basis. The IM journal is published bi-monthly and features articles on records and information management, as well as marketplace news and analysis. The association also develops and publishes standards and guidelines related to records management.
AIIM is a non-profit organization focused on helping users to understand the challenges associated with managing documents, content, records, and business processes. AIIM was founded in 1943 as the National Microfilm Association and later became the Association for Information and Image Management. The organization offers a number white papers, webinars, publications and free information, as well as training and certification in records management topics. AIIM is also known as the enterprise content management association.
The International Records Management Trust was established in 1989 to develop new strategies for managing records and information. This nonprofit organization is headquartered in London and has a variety of resources available for download from its website.
The National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators (NAGARA) is an association dedicated to the improvement of federal, state, and local government records and information management. This site provides access to a wide variety of records management documents and information developed by government agencies.
Arizona Rule of Judicial Administration Section 4-302 specifies the length of time a court record must be maintained for each case type.
A general guide to the principles and processes of records retentions for organizations.
Resources that court administrators can use to protect the essential courthouse job functions from potential disasters. See section on Preserving Records Libraries.
The first paragraph outlines three reasons for court managers to plan for disasters. "Disasters happen. Destruction of records and loss of vital information often result from these disasters. Court managers, as custodians of important records that bear on the successful and impartial administration of justice, have a responsibility to safeguard these records from such loss or destruction." This article discusses the ways a court manager can prepare for disaster and mitigate the damage to records.
International standards for best practices in records management.