Like any government entity, your municipal government generates countless records on a regular basis. These records can be hard to manage, as they can take up a great deal of space and make it difficult for you to handle future records and archives. However, the last thing that you want to do is destroy or ignore your current archives and records. They should be preserved. Here are the reasons why municipal governments should preserve all of their documentation, past, present and future:
History matters
The value of historical records cannot be understated. Understanding how things came to be as they presently are is only one reason that knowing our history is so important to us. It also reveals to us what works, what does not work and what has already been done (to avoid unnecessary redundancy). The more complete our historical records, the better we are able to understand all of these things.
A municipal government's archives and records are critical for a complete picture of Canadian history
History is not only made by larger government bodies. Just like the federal government, our nation's municipal governments are constantly making history that should be recognized and recorded. The benefits and drawbacks of these records can often be used to help present and future government officials do their jobs better, create clear paper trails for every happening and even affect the outcome of court cases.
All of those benefits, however, cannot be realized if a municipal government's archives and records are no longer available to retrieve. The only way to guarantee access to these crucial historical records is to actively preserve them for the long-term.
Properly preserving your records and archives is crucial as well
How your store your government organization's records will significantly affect their usefulness. To put things into perspective, consider the following facts: In April of 2014, Library and Archives Canada had a records backlog of nearly 100,000 boxes of government archival records. They are not sure when they will be able to fully index these records and make them available to the public.
By reducing the amount of paper that you use and preserving your archives and records as digital files, you streamline the ability to make everything available to the public in a timely manner (mostly because you are not adding to a nearly unmanageable mass of boxed archives).
Preserving records and archives as digital files doesn't have to be difficult
Even if you are worried about what to do with your current pile of paper archives, there is no need to worry. You can easily manage them as digital files via a very simple process. Here is what you need to do:
Have your current physical archives professionally converted to digital files
They can be quickly changed into digital files by a professional document conversion company. They will complete the entire process securely and efficiently.
Add a document management solution
The next step is to use high-quality document management software to keep all of your past records properly archived.
Prepare for future record conversion
Finally, you must add a scanning solution that allows you to convert future physical records and archives to digital files as they come in.
Make sure you are taking care of your government organizations' invaluable records and archives
The value that every government organization in Canada's records have cannot be overstated. Make sure that you are using the most effective possible process to store your municipal government's documents for the long-term. This way, everything will be available and easily accessible to those who need it the most.
