Release of Use Cases for Electronic Records Management

We are pleased to announce the posting of the Use Cases for Electronic Records Management!  We first shared drafts of the use cases on Records Express in April 2020. Thank you for all of your feedback. 

We created the use cases as part of our Federal Electronic Records Modernization Initiative (FERMI). Through FERMI, we have been working to improve the way agencies acquire ERM services and solutions. The use cases are a part of the Electronic Records Management Federal Integrated Business Framework (ERM-FIBF) and tell the stories of how agencies need to manage electronic records. 

Federal Integrated Business Framework Graphic
Federal Integrated Business Framework Components
(Source: https://ussm.gsa.gov/fibf/)

We are developing the ERM-FIBF according to standards set out in the Federal Integrated Business Framework (FIBF) developed by GSA’s Office of Shared Solutions and Performance Improvement (OSSPI). The FIBF serves as a model to help the Federal government better coordinate and document common business needs, improve processes and performance, and drive economies of scale across Federal mission support functions. With the development of the ERM-FIBF, NARA hopes to ensure records management requirements conform to the FIBF and are addressed in all shared services across the government.

We organized the use cases using the records lifecycle. To reduce duplication in each document, we created an Electronic Records Management Use Cases Overview. At this time, we have use cases for Records Capture, Records Maintenance and Use,  Records Disposal and Records Transfer. Each use case includes a considerations section for specific record types, such as electronic messages and social media. We may develop future use cases around subject areas, such as FOIA or digitization. 

The use cases are written from a high-level perspective and are intended to cover all types of electronic records. We intend for agencies to use the use cases to demonstrate how vendors and service providers meet the requirements for managing electronic records. The scenarios reflect an ideal flow of events and do not have to be accomplished in the exact way they are outlined in the use cases. The goal is to meet the requirements.