3. Creating Records Libraries
Record libraries serve as
the storage locations for files in the Records Center. Each library can
hold one type of file or many different types depending on how you want
to group files for browsing and navigation. Files will be automatically
routed into the records libraries based on the locations you configure
in the Content Organizer list. In SharePoint 2010, you can create
folders within records libraries, and they can be used as destination
locations in the Content Organizer rules. Folders can be created
automatically based on property values associated with the documents
being routed, allowing the routing not to be based solely on content
type as it was in SharePoint Server 2007.
When using the records library
template to create a library in the Records Center, major versioning is
automatically turned on for you. You can customize this after the
library is created to remove the major versioning, or you can choose to
enable major and minor versioning.
4. Defining Required Metadata
While planning what records
libraries you need to create, consider what types of metadata you will
want to track for the documents that are stored in each library. If
there are columns of data already associated with the document in the
source site, you will want to create the same columns on the destination
records library in the Records Center. Otherwise, the metadata will be
copied into the library but it will not be accessible through the
website pages. You can also create additional columns in the records
library to track metadata that is required by your file plan but was not
present on the original document. For example, you may want to assign a
tracking number to the file that is generated by an external document
tracking system. The user would then be prompted for this number when
she sends the document to the repository.
When a document is submitted to the Records Center, the Content
Organizer rules are queried to determine which document library the
file should be routed to, based on content type, document properties,
and priority settings of the rules that are applicable to that document.
That library is then queried to retrieve a list of columns that
constitute the metadata that will be associated with the file. Existing
document metadata that matches columns in the document library is
automatically promoted and stored in the library columns. If there are
metadata columns that are not already populated with data, then the user
is presented with the Missing Properties page to provide the missing
values. If the user fails to provide any required values or cancels the
Missing Properties page, then the file is still copied to the Records
Center, but it is placed in the Drop Off Library.
5. Applying Information Management Policies
Each of the records
libraries will have information management policies applied to them to
enforce the file plan distributed earlier. By default, each policy
feature can have four configurable options. You can either apply one policy for the entire
records library or, if you configure the records library to allow
multiple content types, then you can apply a separate policy to each
content type.
6. Creating Content Organizer Rules
At this point, you want to
create the Content Organizer rules based on either content types or
metadata to control where the document will reside in the Records
Center. If you are specifying more than one property to determine where
to route the document, all property values must be met to ensure proper
routing. If you are using content types, you can define what library you
want to receive the document. Regardless of what rules are used to
route the document, all the records library information management
policies are applied to the document after it is placed in the records
library.
7. Creating a Farm Level Send To Option
The Send
To function can be defined at two locations in the graphical user
interface (GUI)—you can use either the advanced properties of a document
library or the farm level configuration in SharePoint 2010 Central
Administration.
The advantage of configuring
Send To locations in Central Administration is that after you create
them there, they are available to users in every site in a Web
application in the farm, thus making it easy to deploy the central
Records Center Send To location, regardless of where you use the Send To
definitions. Another advantage of defining the Send To location in
Central Administration is that you can now configure multiple Send To
locations, which is useful in a company that has multiple Records
Centers.
To configure the farm level Send
To locations, go to SharePoint 2010 Central Administration, General
Application Settings, External Service Connections, and select Configure
Send To Connections to display the Configure Send To Connections page
shown in Figure 5.
On the Configure Send To
Connections page, choose the Web application where the Send To
connection will reside and choose whether you want to allow sites within
the Web application to be able to send items outside of the site.
When creating the connection,
you must specify the URL of the Records Center with the addition of
Officialfile.asmx. For example, if a Records Center is created in the RC
subsite for the Web application called http://App01/RC, you would specify the following URL: http://App01/RC/_vti_bin/officialfile.asmx.
You also need to specify a
user-friendly name in the name field; this is what users will see when
they select the document in the library. Naming conventions are very
important when creating multiple Send To locations that are available to users throughout the farm and when using the locally configured Send To locations.
You can also choose if you want
to allow the manual use of Send To for the Records Center. You would
leave this checked unless your approach for official files is to have
the process automated by a workflow.
Finally, you choose what to do with the item being sent to the Records Center using one of the following three options:
Copy
Move
Move And Leave A Link
After completing these options,
click OK to create the Send To connection. You can visit this screen at
any point to update or remove any configured Send To connections.
8. Placing a Hold on Records
One of the most important
aspects of a records management system is how easily it allows records
managers to identify and mark documents that are required for an
investigation, audit, or in response to litigation that involves the
organization. For example, a financial audit might require a company to
produce all documents pertaining to the financial state of the
organization for the past five fiscal years. If the policy applying to
those documents had set them to expire and be deleted after five years,
then it is possible that some of the required documents would be purged
while the audit is occurring. This would hamper the audit and possibly
result in fines and penalties for the organization.
The Records Center site contains a Holds
option that is used to place policy locks on sets of documents in the
Records Center, preventing them from expiring or being deleted while on
hold. When an item is placed on hold, all automated expiration policies
are suspended for that item and users are prevented from deleting the
item. Creating a hold involves creating a new item in the Holds list,
which can be completed by performing a search using the Search And Add
To Hold page shown in Figure 6.
Alternatively, you can also
locate the record in the Records Center, hover over the title of the
document until you see an arrow, and then click Compliance Details to
present the Compliance Details page shown in Figure 7.
Click the Add/Remove From Hold link and specify the name of the hold.
Conversely, you can use these same steps to remove the hold; instead of
adding it to a hold, you can choose to remove it from a hold that was
previously applied.
To view items that are on hold,
you can access the Hold Reports under Holds And eDiscovery in the Site
Settings section of the Records Center. This is also another place that
you can place items on hold; simply click Holds and then add an item to
the Holds list.
