It is highly recommended that office-bearers scan all hard copy records into an electronic format and save all electronic records a shared online platform such as One Drive, google docs or dropbox. Regular back ups should be built into this storage system and can be set up by your IT provider.
Electronic copies of meeting minutes, circulars, memorandums and other forms of SLSC communications should be made available electronically to the relevant parties on receipt so that they can take appropriate action and made available:
- On the appropriate member communications page of the SLSC website
- Within the appropriate category of the SLS Members Area Document Library for your SLSC’s organisational level
- Within the SLS Members Area News and Events page for your SLSC’s organisational level if appropriate.
Electronic file names should allow you and other office-bearers in your SLSC to identify a precise document from the name and easily identify the file version number and date designation. Choose a format for naming electronic SLSC files and use it consistently. For example:
- ShortFileName_001_YEARMMDD
- Medium_FileName_010_YEARMMDD
- Long_File_Name_100_YEARMMDD
- Tips for Electronic File Naming:
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- Assign short file names of two or three words (under 30 characters) with the first letter of each joined word capitalised because long file names do not work well with all types of software, e.g. FileName
- Avoid special characters such as ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) ` ; < > ? , [ ] { } ‘ “ and |
- Format files with the date designation YYYYMMDD to make sure files stay in chronological order over many years. e.g. FileName_YEARMMDD
- Use a sequential numbering system that leads with zeros for clarity and to make files sort in sequential order, e.g. FileName_001_YEARMMDD
- Use underscores or full stops instead of spaces or dashes in file names as some software will not recognise file names with spaces, and dashes will prevent files from being compressed into zip files that are easier to email to others, e.g. FileName_001_YEARMMDD or FileName.001.YEARMMDD
Refer to the IT Governance and Cyber Security sections of this guide for more information about the safe storage of online records.