Section 4400.70  Digital Reproduction

a)         Original records may not be destroyed in favor of digital surrogates unless the digital surrogates are produced in compliance with this Section and unless done pursuant to a list or retention schedule approved by the Commission.

b)         In submitting lists or schedules of original records for which digital surrogates are to be substituted, the head of each agency shall certify that the copies will be made in accordance with the standards of the Commission and will be adequate substitutes for the original records.

c)         File Integrity – The integrity and authenticity of the original records shall be preserved through the digitization process so that the images or surrogates will be adequate substitutes for the original records.  They must serve the purposes for which the original records were created or maintained and the copies must contain all significant record detail needed for probable future reference.

d)         File formats

1)         Digital surrogates must be created in an open file format.

2)         Meta-data or indexing information for digital surrogates must be stored in SQL (structured query language) compliant databases or in XML (extensible markup language) format.

e)         Access – The digital surrogates shall be prepared, arranged, classified and indexed to readily permit their subsequent location, examination, and reproduction.  Hardware, software and documentation must be maintained to allow ready access to each file.

f)          Technical standards for digital surrogates:

1)        Quality Control – Prior to production, an agency shall assemble a sample set of source documents or records equivalent in characteristics to the source documents for the purposes of evaluating scanner results.  Scanner quality must be evaluated based on the standard procedures in ANSI/AIIM MS44 and MS49.

2)        Quality Assurance – Before production, an agency shall develop written quality assurance procedures based upon the results of the pre-production quality sample. Before the original documents are destroyed, quality assurance must be conducted in accordance with ANSI/AIIM TR34.

3)         Scanning Resolution – Scanning resolution must be adequate to ensure that no information is lost. A scanning resolution with a minimum of 200 dots per inch is required for recording documents that contain no type font smaller than six point. A scanning density with a minimum of 300 dots per inch is required for engineering drawings, maps and other documents with a type font smaller than six point or with background detail. The selected scanning density must be validated with tests on actual source documents.

g)         External Vendors – Contracts for the storage of digital surrogates by external vendors must allow for the return of all electronic data files and indexing information to the agency at the expiration of the contract, in a format complying with the requirements of subsections (h) through (n).

h)         Media – Digital surrogates may be stored on a hard disk, networked server, magnetic tapes, or optical disks.  Floppy disks may not be used.  Data maintained on magnetic tape must be recopied onto a new tape a minimum of once every five years.

i)          Backup copies − All digital surrogates of original records must be stored in duplicate copy on a second hard disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, or storage network.  If possible, the second copy must be stored in a different building than the first copy.

j)          Access – Each digital surrogate must be individually accessible. System tapes used for data backup or disaster recovery, unless indexed for individual accessibility, do not satisfy records retention requirements.

k)         Additions, Deletions, Erasure – Systems used to store and access digital surrogates must not permit additions, deletions, or changes to the digital images or surrogates substituting for the original record.

l)          Labeling – External labels for magnetic tapes or optical disks used to store digital images or surrogates shall provide unique identification of each reel/cartridge or disk, including the name of the office responsible for the data, system title, and security classification, if applicable.

m)        Maintenance

1)         Each agency shall ensure that hardware, software, and documentation (including maintenance documentation) required to retrieve and read the digital surrogate are retained for the entire period mandated under the approved retention period for the digital surrogates.

2)         If hardware, software, and/or documentation are replaced, or if the digital surrogates are migrated to a new information system, the agency must ensure that the replacement hardware, software and/or documentation meets all requirements mandated in the approved records schedule and in this Section.

n)         Long-Term Retention − Whenever a record series proposed for conversion to a digital surrogate has been scheduled for a retention period in excess of 10 years, it must be maintained additionally either in its original format or in a microfilm format that complies with Sections 4400.50 and 4400.60 of this Part.

(Source:  Added at 31 Ill. Reg. 8572, effective June 4, 2007)