New Hanover County Information Technology Department	Issued:  12/1/03
	Policy Number:  11-01
Subject:  Database Document Management System

PURPOSE AND SCOPE:

The purpose of this policy is to establish acceptable use guidelines for those who use the county-owned Database Document Management System (DDMS).  This policy applies to all users of the system and each person that signs on to that system agrees to abide by this policy.  Failure to abide by this policy can result in the county denying its use to the offending staff member.

The scope of this policy applies to all departments in the county that will use the Database Document Management System in the performance of their duties.  The management of the Information Technology Department is responsible for working with the DDMS committee to insure the appropriate plans are developed to implement the requirements of this policy.  The staff of the Information Technology Department is responsible for implementing those plans in the manner prescribed by the plan.  Each department manager is responsible for insuring that their staff operates the DDMS in a manner that is consistent with this policy and all other relevant guidelines.  The county management is responsible for funding the implementation of this plan. 

CHANGE SUMMARY:

None.  This is the original policy 

POLICY:

It is the policy of the county to expand the scope of its operations to include the full implementation of a Database Document Management System into its business processes.  The guidelines outlined in this policy are to be followed as this technology is deployed in the county.  Each department that has a need to preserve documents shall consider using the DDMS for that purpose and thereby reduce or eliminate the need for storage of paper documents.  It is the responsibility of each department head to initiate the use of the DDMS in their department and to insure their departmental use of this system complies with all applicable policies, guidelines and statutes. 

PROCEDURE:

            To be completed when we know how the system will operate.

(Describe, at a high level, the procedures (the “how”) required to implement this policy in this section.  Detailed work instructions or Operational Procedures should not be included in a policy document.)

Controlling Authority

The county DDMS system operates under several controlling guidelines of which the user must be mindful.  These guidelines specify the responsibilities that the county must meet and they apply to all users of this DDMS system.  Some of them are listed below for each user’s review and compliance.

• All New Hanover County Policies and Procedures
• GS 132 - North Carolina Public Records Statute
• GS 121 - North Carolina Records Retention Statute
• Guidelines from the North Carolina Department of Archives and History

Copies of all North Carolina guidelines mentioned above are currently located on the State of North Carolina web site.  Each user should familiarize themselves with the contents of these documents and manage their electronic documents in accordance with the requirements contained therein.

REFERENCES:

North Carolina Public Access Statute 

http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Statutes/GeneralStatutes/HTML/ByChapter/Chapter_132.html

North Carolina Records Retention Statute

http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Statutes/GeneralStatutes/HTML/ByChapter/Chapter_121.html

CHANGE HISTORY:

Version	Date	Author	Comments
A	12/1/03	BC	Original Document