This paper aims to assess how prepared public bodies are for the transfer of born-digital records to the National Archives (TNA) of the UK in line with the reduction in the transfer rule from 30 to 20 years.,The change in the transfer rule means that records of UK public bodies will be transferred to TNA for permanent preservation at 20 years as opposed to 30 years old. This move, which has been described as a major change that is going to be introduced in a manageable and affordable way (20-year rule, The National Archives), will inevitably witness the transfer of born-digital records to the archives much earlier than would have been the case if the change in the transfer rule had not been made. This paper reports on research carried out in the winter of 2017 on the extent to which UK public bodies are prepared for the transfer of born-digital records to TNA. Research was based on a survey of 23 public bodies which included ministries, charities and non-departmental public bodies. The target population was predominantly public bodies that had the highest level of transfer of records to TNA. The justification for this lies in the fact that these bodies, amongst others, transfer the most records to TNA, thus it would be interesting to gain an insight into how prepared these relatively larger public bodies are with regard to born-digital transfer. The remaining public bodies were chosen randomly amongst non-ministerial departments. The primary areas under analysis are plans of public bodies for the transfer of born-digital records, processes for transfer to be undertaken such as selection, appraisal etc., the use of technology in sensitivity review and the trigger date for the transfer of records.,An analysis of the research findings found that while a few UK public bodies surveyed had transferred datasets within the framework of the TNA Government Datasets (NDAD) initiative or as part of an inquiry, only one public body had transferred other born-digital records to TNA. The findings also reveal that most public bodies are yet to plan for, or to adjust, their current archival processes to take into account the different mind-set and skills required for the transfer of born-digital records. The level of preparedness is therefore limited primarily because public bodies have yet to undertake a transfer of born-digital records to the archives. The research findings also revealed that public bodies had not as yet made adjustments or changes to current practice to take into account the issues relating to the processing of born-digital records prior to transfer.,The findings of the research at hand are based on a survey submitted electronically to twenty-three public bodies with the aim of assessing how prepared they are for the transfer of born-digital records to the National Archives (TNA). The survey was sent to 27 public bodies with responses received by 23 public bodies. The survey sent to these bodies comprises eight questions that were deemed to be important in the current digital landscape with regard to the processes involved in the transfer of records, beginning from their creation. Thus, an element of subjectivity exists with regard to the outcome of the research, as the public bodies chosen were guided in prioritising any issues about digital transfer through the questions posed. The research carried out is also limited in that it focuses primarily on ministerial departments (14 of the 23 surveyed) and also constitutes a very small sample of UK public bodies overall. However, the originality of the data obtained through the study carried out by far outweighs the limitations of the research methodology.,This paper highlights that the transfer of born-digital records through original research amongst the 23 public bodies surveyed is not widespread, and that processes and procedures specifically for the management of processes for born-digital records are yet to be implemented. The study concludes that long-term planning for the transfer of born-digital records is yet to be undertaken and that public bodies are more likely to deal with the issue when their digital records are closer to reaching the point of transfer.

中文翻译：

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数字传输的必然性

本文旨在评估准备就绪的公共机构如何将出生数字记录转移到英国国家档案馆（TNA），与转移规则从30年减少到20年有关。转移规则的变化意味着英国公共机构的记录将在20年（而不是30年）之前转移到TNA进行永久保存。这一举动被描述为一项重大变化，将以一种可管理且负担得起的方式进行引入（20年规则，国家档案馆），将不可避免地见证将出生的数字记录转移到档案馆的时间比更早如果未更改转移规则，情况将会是这样。本文报道了2017年冬季进行的研究，该研究涉及英国公共机构为将出生数字记录转移到TNA做准备的程度。该研究基于对23个公共部门的调查，其中包括部委，慈善机构和非部门公共机构。目标人群主要是向TNA转移记录最高水平的公共机构。这样做的理由在于，这些机构以及其他机构将最多的记录移交给了TNA，因此，有必要深入了解这些相对较大的公共机构对于出生数字转移的准备情况。其余的公共机构是在非部委部门中随机选择的。分析的主要领域是公共机构转让出生数字记录的计划，进行转移的过程，例如选择，评估等，在敏感性审查中使用技术以及转移记录的起始日期。对研究结果的分析发现，尽管接受调查的一些英国公共机构已转移了数据集在TNA政府数据集（NDAD）计划的框架内或作为查询的一部分，只有一个公共机构将其他出生数字记录转移到TNA。调查结果还显示，大多数公共机构尚未计划或调整其当前的归档流程，以考虑到传输出生数字记录所需的不同思维方式和技能。因此，准备水平受到限制，主要是因为公共机构尚未将出生的数字记录转移到档案中。研究结果还显示，公共机构尚未对当前做法进行调整或更改，以考虑到与转让前处理出生数字记录有关的问题。手头研究的结果基于该调查以电子方式提交给23个公共机构，目的是评估它们为将出生数字记录转移到国家档案馆（TNA）的准备情况。该调查已发送给27个公共机构，并收到23个公共机构的答复。发送给这些机构的调查包括八个问题，这些问题被认为在当前的数字环境中，从记录的创建开始就涉及记录传输所涉及的过程非常重要。因此，关于研究结果存在主观性的因素，在选定的公共机构的指导下，通过提出的问题优先考虑有关数字传输的任何问题。所进行的研究也很有限，因为它主要集中在部级部门（接受调查的23个中的14个），并且总体上只占英国公共机构的很小一部分。但是，通过这项研究获得的数据的原始性远远超过了研究方法的局限性。本文强调指出，在被调查的23个公共机构之间通过原始研究进行的出生数字记录的转移并不广泛，并且用于出生数字记录的过程管理的过程和过程尚未实现。