Records vs non-records is the first distinction any information governance program has to get right, and most organizations never make it explicitly. In the opening episode of our lightning round series, Lee Karas and Maura Dunn answer both halves of the question: what is a record, and what is not. A record is any data, in any format, that is recorded or capable of being recorded and that provides evidence of a transaction, a decision, a policy, a process, an obligation, a contract, an agreement, a legal right, or an ownership interest. Format is irrelevant. Structured data, photographs, and recordings qualify; an unrecorded conversation does not, which is why “did you get that in writing” has survived as advice. Maura draws the line at evidence: discarded drafts, background reading, and abandoned research are recorded and are not records, because they are not where the organization landed. Published material you cite belongs to whoever originated it, so your record is the citation, not the source. We close with a Sarbanes-Oxley example that makes the principle concrete: in vendor verification, the record is not the tax identification number you looked up, it is the documented fact that you checked it.
What is a record? A record is any data set, in any format, that is recorded or capable of being recorded and that provides evidence of a transaction, decision, policy, process, obligation, contract, agreement, legal right, or ownership interest. What is not a record? Information that is recorded but provides evidence of nothing: background material, discarded drafts, exploratory research, and publicly available sources maintained by another organization.
Episode chapters
00:00 Introduction and the lightning round format
00:28 What is a record, and what is not
01:05 Why the definition was easier on paper
01:29 The formal definition of a record
02:16 Providing evidence: proving what happened
02:29 Commitment and obligation as separate records
03:09 Any data, recorded or capable of being recorded
04:05 What is not a record: drafts, background, research
04:45 Cited research and publicly available information
05:57 Contracts, policies, and internal documentation
06:42 Vendor verification under Sarbanes-Oxley
07:49 The record is the fact that you checked
08:11 ClosingClosing
What Counts is produced by TrailBlazer Consulting, LLC and hosted by Lee Karas and Maura Dunn. Learn more or reach out directly at info@trailblazer.us.com. Explore compliance-ready corporate training programs at the TrailBlazer Learning Academy. Read more from Maura at Maura’s Substack. Music by Jason Blake. Full disclaimer.