Record retention in schools – not for the fainthearted
In the busy school day, it’s not surprising that the tasks around document management, and particularly archiving, tends to land on the backburner when more immediate matters need attention. Even the compliance factors in record retention alone require constant curating of a major dataset, no matter the size of your school.
At FUJIFILM Business Innovation Australia we recognise the need for a strong, secure solution to manage records, plans, photos, books, archives and all types of important documents in schools. So, we created EduScan, designed specifically to digitise documents to help schools protect them against disaster and in some cases make them last longer. Digitisation can also save school staff time and energy.
We know the goal is to tick that document retention box and move forward, which is where EduScan can help by managing four tricky areas of digitising documents that can be streamlined and to a large degree, automated.
Compliance
The types and durations of record retention for schools are regulated by both state and federal authorities. While retention periods vary between states, some records must be kept permanently and there are varying years and decades of durations for the multitude of records that must be retained. Additionally, there are ‘freezes’ on the disposal of some types of records for various reasons – a recent example is on records relating to child abuse issues following on from a Royal Commission recommendation.
Digitising these records is also regulated to impose a minimum standard that ensures the digitisation will stand the test of time. There are multiple state authorities that specify image technical specifications, output formats and management standards that apply to different types of records. These can be any analogue documents, audio and visual material, photographs and so on.
EduScan is a service to scan, index and digitise school records and other important documents; from historic school registers, yearbooks and building plans to other wide format documents and even obsolete formats such as microfiche and film. We offer three options for capturing your school’s important documents aimed at giving you the ability to retrieve, add or dispose of digital documents in seconds, not hours or days. Investigate how we can help by talking with one of our EduScan experts.
Organisation and Storage
Digitisation is not just a good idea for retention requirements. It can help with a school’s efficiency, by allowing staff to easily share, update and access digitised student documents, all the way from the student’s enrolment.
Even a small school will quickly realise that cataloguing, storing, preserving and accessing bulky documents takes significant forethought, storage and space. At the bare minimum you’ll keep full records of:
- student lifecycles
- staff employment lifecycles
- governance
- administration including all financial records
- funding such as grant applications and acquittals
- asset management
- community activity including events and graduations
- school culture activities
EduScan comes to the rescue to help free up precious space that can be used for students and staff. Imagine another general use room, extension to your library or tutorial room.
Disaster Recovery
Over the last few years we’ve all learned some hard lessons about sudden loss of data. Not just from increasing cybersecurity concerns, but also damage from natural events like fires, floods, vermin infestation and mould growth. The risk of permanent loss to unique historical data, student records and cultural development records is rated as extreme, so rather than investing in expensive flood and fire-proofing facilities, consider the potential benefits of implementing a digitisation strategy.
While the initial effort to preserve decades of hard copy school records can seem insurmountable, EduScan removes the pain.
FUJIFILM Business Innovation Australia has an expert team who can manage the project completely, assist you on site or support you as you ‘DIY it’. We also support staff training once the records management system is ‘live’ and staff can begin to use it as a daily resource.
Digital authentication
Australian schools are hyper-vigilant with the physical security of their students – and rightly so. However, a growing area of concern for schools is the security of digital access to school information, particularly with the growth in online and collaborative learning environments. It all makes for a porous perimeter that can endanger privacy and security of data.
Using EduScan to digitise and manage school records enables schools to control who has access to digistised sensitive files and more importantly allows the right people to access these files quicker.
Contact our education specialists or call us on 13 14 12 to learn more about the EduScan services for record retention.