Speaker Presentation
Preservation and Access for Electronic College and University Records
October 12 – 13, 2001

Evidence-Based E-Mail Management at UNC: A Search for Best Practices and User Compliance

Dr. Helen R. Tibbo
Tibbo@ils.unc.edu
http://www.ils.unc.edu/tibbo/HRTibbo.htm

1

Thought for the day….

“The end-user manages e-mail.”
-ARMA Guideline for Managing E-mail

2

Primacy of the Individual

“Tip” O'Neill: “All politics is local.”
Desktop e-mail management and subsequent archiving of material from the university environment presently depends on the individual and his or her specific information management behaviors.

3

The Situation

Most staff, faculty, and administrators, especially the latter two groups, have little or no training in information management.
Electronic records are inherently fragile. If they are not “preserved” early in their lives, they will not endure.

4

University Environment

Universities tend to be loosely tied federations of schools and departments that each cherishes its own autonomy and vision.
Faculty generally see themselves as independent contractors, working for the university.
Unfortunately, they may take the same approach with documents.

5

Lack of Recordkeeping Systems

While institution-wide electronic records management systems (ERMS) can improve desktop management, few universities employ one.
But deployment is only part of the battle: David Wallace argues that “there are no magic bullets, only context-sensitive desktop and system level implementations.”
To do this, we need to know more about users.

6

A Public Institution

E-mail (as well as all other print & electronic records) retention/disposition at the 16 campuses that make up the UNC system is governed by the NC Public Records Law, NC General Statutes, Chapter 132.

7

Print It Out!

To date, the only acceptable means to “archiving” electronic records, and especially e-mail in NC, has been printing out all records or microfilming them.

8

Reality Check!

Folks, it ain’t happening!
About 1/3 of employees are printing out e-mail and other electronic files frequently.
- Are you???
Rick Barry reports that up to 80% of e-mail creators state that they do not “have a clue” when e-mail messages constituted official records.

9

Ignorance of the Law…

In our pilot survey, only 2 out of 55 respondents said they had a good deal of knowledge of the NC PRL.
- 21 said they had no knowledge
- 23 said they were not sure they had heard of the law
- 8 claimed some knowledge of the NCPRA

10

The People

End users, creators, and receivers control the electronic record.
Rules, guidelines, ERMS, and even laws are nice, but they are weak controls on human behavior.
We do not understand how academics handle their electronic records, esp. e-mail.

11

Best Answer?

The most likely answer for the development of sound policies and subsequent compliance to state laws, and the effective and efficient management of electronic mail in general, would appear to be user education based on an understanding of user needs and behaviors within the context of legal, fiscal, scholarly, and administrative requirements.

12

Project Goals

Gather and analyze user and system data to understand how folks are using e-mail and their digital desktops.
Design “practice-based” desktop management guidelines based the above data; a survey of such guidelines from other universities, state and federal governments, and associations; and the realities of state records law.

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More Goals…

Develop teaching modules — both classroom and web-based — to train faculty, administrators, and staff how best to manage their electronic desktops, and especially, the electronic public records they create/receive for their own good and for the good of the university within legal mandates.

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And… Dissemination

Disseminate information about the best practices guidelines and instructional units across the 16-campus UNC system via a statewide conference and to other universities via the records management/archival literatures and conferences.

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End User Challenges

What are their document retention practices (regardless of records schedules); and
What particular challenges do they face with digitally transmitted materials.

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Project Methodology

Assess, through campus and system-wide surveys and follow up interviews and focus groups, how faculty, administrators, and staff use and process electronic documents on their desktops, especially
- what types of applications they use;
- what types of files and public records they create/receive;
- how they organize their desktops;

17

Findings from Pilot Survey

55 useable survey responses from 8 units on campus; 34% response rate.
39 (71%) respondents had worked at UNC 6 or more years; 26 (47%) more than 15 years.
24 females; 31 males.
34 faculty; 12 administrators; 6 staff; 1 NR.
6 assistant professors; 12 associate professors; 15 professors; 7 distinguished professors.

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Choice of Daily E-mail Application

2 - Eudora	18 - Outlook
1 - Hotmail	3 - Outlook Express
1 - Isis	8 - Pine
5 - Mulberry	7 - Siren
1 - Mutt (Unix)	3 - None listed
11 - Netscape	4 - Used 2-3 packages daily

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Importance of E-mail

33 (60%) respondents said e-mail was their most important software application.
20 (36%) placed it second, primarily behind word processing.

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How Long Using E-mail?

35 (64%) said they had been using e-mail before 1992;
14 (26%) started between 1992 and 1995;
4 (7) between 1996 and 1999
1 (2) since 2000
So, 90% have had at least 6 years experience with e-mail.

21

How Many Messages Per Day?

3 (6%): 0-10
11 (20%): 11-20
16 (29%): 21-30
7 (13%): 31-40
8 (15%): 41-50
2 (4%): 51-60
8 (15%): more than 60

22

How Many Messages in the Old In-box…

Average #: 558
tMedian #: 58ext
Least: 0
Most: 5545

23

How Many Messages in the Sent File?

Average #: 893
Median #: 216
Least: 0
Most: 5500

24

How Many Messages in the Delete File?

Average #: 832
Median #: 17
Least: 0
Most: 12,000

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How Much Time Is Devoted to E-mail Management Each Day?

8 (15%): less than 1 hour/day;
28 (51%): 1 – 2 hours/day;
12 (22%): 2 – 3 hours/day;
4 (7%): 4 – 5 hours/day;
1 (2%): 5 – 6 hours/day;
1 (2%): more than 6 hours/day

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Is E-mail a Productivity Tool?

25 (46%): Definitely!
12 (22%): Probably
9 (16%): Not sure
6 (11%): Probably not
2 (7%): Definitely not

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Percentage of Business Correspondence Done Via E-mail

26 (47%): 76 – 100%
15 (27%): 51 – 75%
12 (22%): 26 – 50%
2 (4%): less than 25%

28

When Do Folks Read Their E-mail

50 (91%): First thing in the morning
20 (36%): When signaled
27 (49%): Occasionally during workday
18 (33%): All the time during the workday
17 (31%): End of workday
30 (55%): From home
29 (53%): When away from UNC-CH

29

How Do University Folks Feel about E-mail?

Great! 27 (49%)
Comfortable 25 (46%)
OK 2 (4%)

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How Do They Feel about How They Are Managing Their E-mail?

Very satisfied: 11 (20%)
Somewhat satisfied: 26 (47%)
No opinion: 1 (2%)
Not very satisfied: 13 (24%)
Unsatisfied: 2 (4%)

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Organizing E-mail

47 (85%) organize e-mail messages into folders while 8 (15%) do not. Of the 47…
- 6 (13%) respondents have fewer than 10 folders
- 17 (36) have 11 – 25
- 12 (26%) have 26 – 50
- 12 (26%) have more than 50

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Back-up!

31 (56%) said their e-mail was backed up;
12 didn't know;
6 said that it was not backed up;
6 indicated they did not know if e-mail was backed-up.
- 23 of the 31 who indicated their e-mail was backed-up said their school or department was responsible for this;
- 5 said UNC IT program; and
- 2 said they did all their own back-ups;
- 1 did not know who might be doing this…

33

What do Folks Do With Important Messages?

Print them out and file in a paper filing system and file it in an e-mail folder for electronic retrieval:
- Frequently: 13 (24%)
- Sometimes: 24 (44%)
- Never: 17 (31%)

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Just Print and File Paper…

Frequently: 7 (13%)
Sometimes: 29 (53%)
Never: 17 (31%)

35

Just File Electronically

Frequently: 34 (62%)
Sometimes: 11 (20%)
Never: 6 (11%)

36

Read, Act, Delete Without Filing

Frequently: 20 (36%)
Sometimes: 26 (47%)
Never: 8 (15%)

37

Keep Message in the In-box

Frequently: 23 (42%)
Sometimes: 21 (38%)
Never: 11 (20%)

38

What About Those Pesky Attachments?

Print them out and file in paper system and file as electronic files.
- Frequently: 12 (22%)
- Sometimes: 25 (46%)
- Never: 12 (22%)

39

File Attachments in Paper Filing System

Frequently: 4 (7%)
Sometimes: 28 (51%)
Never: 16 (29%)

40

File Attachments in an Electronic Folder (Word, Excel, etc.)

Frequently: 25 (46%)
Sometimes: 22 (40%)
Never: 4 (7%)

41

Keep Attachments with Original E-mail Message in E-mail Application

Frequently: 14 (26%)
Sometimes: 20 (36%)
Never: 17 (31%)

42

Conclusions

Folks get a lot of e-mail, but the amount varies greatly — different practices may be necessary for different folks.
People exhibit very different behaviors — from constantly cleaning their delete file to having over 12,000 messages in it.
Differing behaviors may relate to differing compliance levels with guidelines and laws.

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Conclusions

Few folks have heard of the NC PRA in any detail; few probably know what constitutes a public record; few are following UNC-CH guidelines for retention.
Lots of folks are filing their messages electronically (perhaps only electronically).
We need to know how folks are filing.

44

Conclusions

We may need instruction/resources available in how to name and organize files.
With so many folks filing messages electronically we need to make sure these files are backed up.
This will have to be an ongoing effort with support from the top administration.

45

Future

Record creators/receivers need to understand the fragile nature of the electronic record.
They also need to understand some of the basic principles of records management & archivy.
Additional they need to realize that they are first line records managers and archivists who will determine if electronic records live or die.
We need to give folks the tools for “ubiquitous archiving.”

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