TEXT C. Formats for Electronic Records

Task: go through the text and summarise its main points under the following headings:

a) the difference between paper records and electronic records;

b) the four format types of electronic record.

All records can be defined as documents, regardless of form or medium, created or received, maintained and used by an agency, organisation (public or private) or individual in pursuance of¹ legal obligations or in the transaction of business, of which they themselves form a part or provide evidence.

An electronic record is a record that can be manipulated, transmitted or processed by a computer. Electronic records can be created in a range of different formats. Electronic record format types include the following.

· Data sets: These are groups of related electronic records organised and treated as a unit. This is the simplest format of electronic records. Data sets are created, managed and used in the context of a database. For example, a data set could contain annual census² information for a region.

· Text-based documents: These are word-processed documents, with words only and few or no graphic images. However, it is already common for a single word-processed document to include embedded elements created by other software applications. For instance a spreadsheet from Microsoft Excel could be imported into a report being created using Microsoft Word. The majority of electronic records are still simple text-based records or relatively uncomplicated spreadsheets.

· Multi-dimensional documents: Some forms of electronic record can be represented in more than one way on the screen and on the printed page. A spreadsheet can be represented as a set of figures and formulae or as the result of the calculations. Both representations are part of the record, although it may not always be necessary to retain both of them. Similarly, a presentation may consist of a set of slides and notes displayed and used in different ways.

· Multi-media documents: Such documents are composed of a number of different elements, which interact together to display their full meaning. They include graphical, moving image, sound and text documents, which may appear differently at different times in response to variations in user interaction.

There is an increasing trend for documents to include elements in several media. Documents may be composed of separate components that can be stored in different parts of a network, brought together as a ‘virtual’ document and presented in different forms for different uses. Voice annotations can be added to text-based documents; digital sound and video can be added to presentations; 3-D modelling and simulation can be added to analytical documents.

Notes:

¹ in pursuance of – во исполнение

² census – перепись; сбор сведений

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