Email Management Workshop

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Email ManagementWorkshop

• A product of the
• Managing the Digital University Desktop Project
• http//www.ils.unc.edu/digitaldesktop/

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Are email messages records?

• At UNC, all email messages are considered public
  records, except personal email
• (NCGS 132-1 All documentary material, regardless
  of format, made or received in connection with
  university business)
• At Duke, all email messages are considered
  university records, except personal email

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When is an email a record?

• Messages with continuing value
• approve or authorize actions or expenditures
• are formal communications between staff, such as
  correspondence or memoranda relating to official
  business
• signify a policy change or development
• create a precedent, such as messages issuing
  instructions or advice
• relate to the substantive business of the work
  unit or University
• involve negotiations on behalf of the University
• have value for other people or the work unit as a
  whole.

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What to do with emails that are records

• Do they have continuing value? Retain in paper or
  electronic format until no longer
  administratively useful, then either destroy or
  transfer to University Archives according to
  records schedule.
• Would they pose a risk to the University if they
  could not be accessed? Do not delete unless
  retained in acceptable paper format.
• For records management info, at UNC-CH call
  962-6402 or email recman_at_unc.edu. At Duke call
  684-6181.

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• Print?
• Send to Archives according to your offices
  records retention schedules. Keep along with
  other records in a specific records series.
• Electronic?
• Maintain in a format in which you can potentially
  transfer to the Archives when appropriate
  University policies have been established. Native
  file formats accessible only as long as email
  application supported. Open format increases
  chances of access in the future.

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• When in doubt, print it out!

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What about emails that are not records?

• Delete and purge messages with short-term
• value, such as
• News bulletins, circulars, meeting notices,
  copies of documents, drafts
• Those created solely as part of preparation for
  other records
• Personal messages and announcements not work
  related
• Junk mail

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Dealing with Spam

• Delete spam or junk mail as quickly as possible
• University has spam filters
• Contact information technology staff in your
  department for information on how to set spam
  filters

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Tips for thwarting viruses

• Dont open an email attachment from someone you
  dont know.
• If you are unsure of an attachment, call your
  Systems staff they can try to determine if its
  legitimate.
• Banks, credit card companies, and financial
  businesses will NEVER ask for personal
  information in an email. Dont be fooled by
  official-looking email.
• Dont be fooled by official-looking messages from
  University departments, particularly ITS
  Messaging Services, which threaten to suspend
  your account(s).
• Dont click on that unsubscribe link in a spam
  email message it only tells the spammer youre
  still there.

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• Email is managed by
• its content, not its format.

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Handout Keep or delete?

• Subject Can you meet me for lunch?
• Subject Memo re new travel policy
• Subject Curriculum Committee meeting minutes
• Subject New policy on vacation leave
• Subject Listserv messages 7/10/05
• Subject Instructions for filling out travel form
• Subject Pick up some bread for supper?
• Subject Sorry I missed class this week
• Subject Information for annual report
• Subject Negotiations with a records storage
  company

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Why do you need to keep certain emails?

• Document day-to-day office operations
• Preserve the history of your department
• Document business decisions and discussions
• Provide access during official actions or
  litigation

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Why do you need to delete certain emails?

• Ensure privacy and security by maintaining in one
  place
• If committee records, primary keeper is committee
  chair
• Certain emails can increase risk for the
  University if kept longer than required
• Help conserve University resources by using less
  server space

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What email should you keep?

• Does it have continuing or permanent value? If
  yes, keep and maintain according to records
  retention schedule. If no, delete and purge once
  its value ends.
• Who else received this message?
• Only primary keeper is responsible for
  maintaining record copy.
• Is it a work in progress (draft)?
• In most cases, final version is sufficient for
  long-term retention.

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What email should you delete?

• Personal messages - Minimal and retained only as
  long as necessary
• Messages with short-term value - Delete and purge
  once their purpose has concluded. Includes
  messages re scheduling of meetings, day to day
  office communications, drafts, class emails that
  may be important for the semester, but
  unnecessary once the semester ends
• Messages distributed to a number of staff for
  information only Includes news bulletins,
  listserv messages, informational emails

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What to do with attachments?

• If email and attachment have continuing value
• Save the email and attachment together in
  original format within the context of your email
  software on the email server
• Save the attachment in another location (hard
  drive or network space)
• Print the email and attachment and save them in
  paper format

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Where should you store email?

• University email server (Advantages accessed
  from multiple locations through webmail, more
  secure, backed up regularly. Disadvantages may
  run out of allotted space)
• Local machine (Advantages avoid filling up
  allotted server space. Disadvantages may not be
  backed up regularly, not available through
  webmail)
• Disks or cds (Advantages good for inactive or
  infrequently accessed messages. Disadvantages
  messages more difficult to locate, media may
  degrade or become obsolete)

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A word about formats

• Print Can be sent to Archives according to
  records retention schedule. Print out important
  emails and keep along with other records in a
  specific records series.
• Electronic Must be maintained in a format in
  which you can potentially transfer to Archives
  when appropriate University policies have been
  established. If saved in native file formats,
  accessible only as long as email application
  supported. If saved in open format, such as ASCII
  text, better chance for access/preservation in
  future, but lose original formatting.

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A word about printing

• Print version must include
• Addresses not names of distribution lists of
  specific recipients (the To)
• Including addresses in cc and bcc fields
• Addresses of the sender (the From)
• The subject line
• The body of the email message
• All attachments
• The date and time the message was sent and/or
  received
• For directions on how to turn on full header
  info, consult your
• IT staff.

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• Questions?

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How should you organize your email?

• 1) No filing strategy Creating no folders,
  keeping all emails in inbox
• Advantages
• Requires little effort, email owner can locate
  certain messages by using search engine or
  remembering when specific email received.
  Threading feature can also be used, if available.
• Disadvantages
• Over time, more difficult to recall when certain
  emails received, more difficult to retrieve
  w/out subject folders. May be difficult for your
  successor, colleagues, or an archivist to make
  sense of emails in the future. May keep more
  emails than you need to.

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Organizing email (cont.)

• Filing system Simple filing scheme based on
  topical areas. Can incorporate your offices
  records retention and disposition schedule.
• Advantages
• Provides complete view of all emails on a
  particular topic, provides context for a set of
  messages, allows for quick retrieval, allows
  others to make sense of your emails, reduces
  clutter in inbox
• Disadvantages
• Takes time and discipline to maintain

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Organizing email (cont.)

• 3) Combination of filing system and usage of
  inbox
• Delete emails you dont need to keep on a daily
  basis
• File emails you know you want to keep and dont
  have to follow up on
• Emails left in your inbox should be emails you
  need to act upon or on which you need resolution

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Email Folder Structures

• Geographic area or location Example Travel
  Reports - England
• Numbers or symbols Example NSF-001
• Dates Example March 2004
• Subjects Example Budgets, Courses/Elem Chinese
• Sender Example John Smith
• Records series Example Annual Reports

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Handout Filing Practice
Folder Names Email Subjects Exams Spring
2005 Memo from Dean Lewis Annual Reports
2000-2005 LIS 690 Exam NSF Grants Travel
form, Toronto trip Travel reports
Canada NSF_1234.567c2 Correspondence with
Dean Annual report attached
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Access and Security

• Policies concerning email privacy
• Duke http//www.oit.duke.edu/oit/policy/ITACPolic
  y.html
• UNC http//help.unc.edu/?id1677
• Emails that mix business and personal messages
  are considered public records!
• Who can view your email?
• Who owns your email?

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Confidentiality Issues

• Policies? Safeguards?
• Never send Social Security or credit card numbers
  in an email!
• Faculty/student communications
• At Duke http//www.registrar.duke/registrar/stude
  ntpages/student/ferpa.htm
• At UNC
• http//regweb.oit.unc.edu/resources/index.php

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Top 10 Tips for Email Use

• 10. Be careful when opening email from an unknown
  sender. The message could be spam or could
  contain a virus.
• 9. Use subject lines that are indicative of the
  content of your message and that the person who
  receives the email can use to retrieve it.
• 8. Use university-sponsored email systems
  sparingly to send or receive personal email. Use
  discretion when mixing personal and work-related
  messages.

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Top 10 Tips (cont.)

• 7. Take time to compose a thoughtful response
  before sending an email. Proofread your email for
  spelling errors, grammar, and punctuation before
  sending it.
• 6. When sensitive issues need to be discussed,
  face-to-face conversation or a telephone call may
  be a better communication choice than email.
  Remember that the security of your email cannot
  be ensured.
• 5. Do not put anything in an email message that
  you would not want to see printed in tomorrows
  newspaper or displayed on a bulletin board.

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Top 10 Tips (cont.)

• 4. Manage email based on its content, not space
  quotas. Retain and dispose of email messages
  according to established records retention
  guidelines.
• 3. Everyone receives email that may pose personal
  or institutional risks. These emails should be
  removed from the email system as soon as possible
  and according to law.
• 2. For most people, much of the email that they
  receive is not too important, but everyone
  receives a small percentage that is. You should
  take special care with these important emails to
  make sure that they are secure, retrievable, and
  preserved over time.

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Top 10 Tips (cont.)

• 1. Email does not manage itself. Be a proactive
  manager of your inbox and manage your messages in
  a way that is most effective for you. This may
  involve filing significant messages or a
  combination of filing in folders and using the
  inbox to store messages.

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A Final Thought

• Making duplicate copies and computer printouts
  of things no one wanted even one of in the first
  place is giving America a new sense of purpose.
• -- Andy Rooney

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Questions?

• For more information
• http//www.ils.unc.edu/digitaldesktop/