# PRINCIPLES OF RECORDS MANAGEMENT

Policy: Organizations need to define and document a policy to create and manage authentic, reliable and usable records that are capable of supporting business functions and activities. Record management policies and procedures should ensure that record creators identified and authorized. In addition, steps need to put in place to protect records against unauthorized addition, deletion, alteration, use and concealment. To ensure the authenticity of records, an organization should implement and document policies and procedures that control the creation, receipt, transmission, maintenance, and disposal of records.

Reliability:
A reliable record is one whose contents can be trusted as a full and accurate representation of transactions,

activities or facts. To ensure reliability, records need to create.

Integrity:
The integrity of a record refers to its being complete and unaltered. Records need to protect against unauthorized changes. In the event a record needs to alter, policies and procedures need to specify the additions or annotations that may make to a record after it created. Only an authorized person should allow handling the records while making alterations. In addition, it is important that any annotation, addition, or deletion should be explicitly indicated and traceable.

Further, to maintain integrity of records, the record system should include controls to enable access monitoring, user verification, authorized destruction.

and security to prevent unauthorized access, destruction, alteration, or removal of records.

Usability:
A usable record is one that can be located, retrieved, presented and interpreted quickly. The record should be capable of connected to the business activity or transaction that produced it.