Government Records Management for Public Information Officers Training Course

Course overview

Public Information Officers must locate authoritative records quickly, explain what can be disclosed, protect restricted material, and demonstrate that information was managed lawfully from creation through disposal. Weak filing structures, inconsistent metadata, unmanaged email, duplicate copies, and unclear retention decisions can delay public-information responses, weaken audit trails, and expose an agency to legal, reputational, and operational risk. This course addresses the practical records-management responsibilities that sit behind credible, timely public access to government information.

Participants learn to classify records using a business classification scheme, apply metadata and file-naming rules, distinguish records from convenience copies, and map records to retention and disposal authorities. The course covers paper, shared-drive, email, and digital records; access controls and sensitivity markings; legal holds; transfer to archives; defensible disposal; and the relationship between records management, public-information requests, privacy obligations, and audit requirements. Participants practise using ISO 15489 principles, MoReq2010 functional requirements, and Microsoft Purview Records Management concepts in realistic government scenarios.

Delivery combines instructor-led briefings with records audits, classification exercises, request-response casework, and group decisions on difficult disposal and disclosure scenarios. Each participant works through a structured agency case file and leaves with a practical Records Management Improvement Pack: a draft file plan, metadata profile, retention decision log, information-request search protocol, and 90-day implementation action plan suitable for adaptation in their own office.

The course is designed for Information Officers and related public-sector staff who handle official information, coordinate public-information requests, maintain registries, or support compliance and archival functions. It is appropriate for professionals working in ministries, municipalities, regulators, public agencies, development programmes, and humanitarian organisations that must account for how official records are created, accessed, retained, and disposed of.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Assess a government records environment using a records inventory, risk register, and gap-analysis checklist
• Classify paper and digital records within a business classification scheme and controlled file plan
• Apply metadata, naming conventions, version controls, and sensitivity labels to create retrievable official records
• Map record series to retention schedules, disposal triggers, archival transfer requirements, and disposal authorities
• Conduct a documented search for a public-information request across email, shared drives, and records repositories
• Differentiate disclosure, exemption, privacy, confidentiality, and legal-hold considerations in records decisions
• Configure a basic records-governance workflow using Microsoft Purview Records Management concepts and retention labels
• Produce a 90-day records-management improvement plan with assigned actions, controls, and performance measures

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Public Information Officers — who must retrieve and account for records when responding to public-information requests
• Records Managers and Registry Officers — who maintain file plans, retention controls, and official repositories
• Freedom of Information Officers — who need defensible search, review, and disclosure processes
• Administrative Officers — who create, file, and maintain operational records across paper and digital channels
• Compliance and Internal Audit Staff — who test whether records controls support accountability and audit evidence
• Programme and Project Officers — who must preserve decisions, agreements, reports, and donor-funded project records

Requirements and prerequisites

This is a foundation-to-intermediate course and does not require prior records-management certification or technical administration experience. Participants should be comfortable working with standard office documents, email, shared folders, and spreadsheets, and should understand the basic types of records produced by their unit, such as correspondence, approvals, contracts, case files, or reports. Familiarity with the organisation’s public-information, privacy, or retention policies is useful but not required. Complete beginners should expect a structured introduction to records terminology, classification, metadata, retention, and disclosure workflows before applying them in exercises. No coding, database design, or Microsoft Purview administrator access is required.

Training methodology

The instructor uses short technical briefings followed by practical work on a simulated government department’s records environment. Participants inventory mixed paper and digital records, build a file plan, apply metadata and retention rules, and conduct a documented search for a public-information request. Case studies examine accidental deletion, sensitive records, email capture, legal holds, and disputed disposal decisions. Small groups compare decisions against ISO 15489 and MoReq2010 principles. On the final day, each participant converts course findings into a 90-day action plan for their own unit.

Course outline

Day 1: Records accountability and the public-information function

• Government records as evidence of decisions, transactions, and service delivery
• Roles of Information Officers, records custodians, business owners, and archives
• Records lifecycle and continuum models for paper and digital information
• ISO 15489 records-management principles and accountability requirements
• Distinguishing records, non-records, transitory material, duplicates, and working drafts
• Public-information access, privacy, confidentiality, and security obligations
• Records risk assessment using likelihood, impact, control, and ownership ratings

Workshop: Participants complete a records-risk scan of a simulated public agency and produce a prioritised risk register.

Day 2: Classification, filing, and metadata controls

• Business classification schemes based on functions, activities, and transactions
• File-plan design for administrative, programme, finance, procurement, and case records
• Controlled vocabulary, file titling, numbering, and naming-convention rules
• Core metadata elements for creator, date, subject, status, access, and retention
• Version control and authoritative-copy identification
• Capturing email, attachments, instant messages, and scanned documents as records
• MoReq2010 functional requirements for classification and record capture

Workshop: Participants build a draft file plan and metadata profile for the simulated agency’s public-information and programme records.

Day 3: Retention, disposal, and archival transfer

• Retention schedules, record series, triggers, and retention periods
• Legal, fiscal, operational, historical, and accountability values in appraisal
• Disposal authorities and approval routes for destruction or transfer
• Legal holds, investigations, audits, and suspension of normal disposal
• Defensible destruction methods and disposal certificates
• Transfer preparation for archives, including packaging, metadata, and chain of custody
• Retention labels and event-based disposition concepts in Microsoft Purview Records Management

Workshop: Participants map sample record series to retention actions and complete a disposal decision log with legal-hold checks.

Day 4: Retrieval, access, and public-information request response

• Search planning across registries, shared drives, email, line-of-business systems, and paper files
• Search logs, custodians, keywords, date ranges, and repository search scope
• Reviewing records for completeness, duplicates, and authoritative versions
• Access classification, sensitivity markings, and role-based permissions
• Disclosure review for personal data, confidential advice, third-party information, and security-sensitive content
• Redaction workflows, review notes, and disclosure decision records
• Audit trails and evidence of reasonable search and response actions

Workshop: Participants conduct and document an end-to-end search and disclosure review for a simulated public-information request.

Day 5: Implementing records governance in the workplace

• Records-management policy components and minimum operating procedures
• Governance structures, accountability matrices, and escalation paths
• Training, user guidance, and compliance communications for record creators
• Records audits using sampling, exception reporting, and corrective actions
• Performance measures for retrieval time, classification quality, overdue disposal, and training coverage
• Digital repository migration, legacy clean-up, and change-control considerations
• Ninety-day implementation planning for an Information Officer function

Workshop: Participants produce and peer-review a 90-day Records Management Improvement Pack for their own office or a simulated unit.

Tools & standards covered

ISO 15489, MoReq2010, Microsoft Purview Records Management, Microsoft SharePoint

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions