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1983 Report of the Auditor General of Canada

Synopsis

Overview

15.1 Canada's national archives, established in 1872, has both cultural and administrative roles. Its historical holdings, the most important archival resource in Canada for documents of all kinds, are used extensively for scholarly research, illustration of books and magazines, film and television productions, local and genealogical research and, increasingly, by government officials. Through its administrative role in the management of government records, the Archives influences the quality and quantity of government records flowing into the Archives from departments and agencies (and some Crown corporations) and encourages economy and efficiency in records management across government. The Public Archives of Canada has served as a model for structuring provincial government archives and has been studied with interest by foreign governments.

15.2 The Public Archives is by far the largest archival institution in Canada. The Archives' expenditures constitute 60 per cent of all moneys devoted to archives in Canada, and its staff represent over 40 per cent of all archival staff in Canada. It has provided archival leadership for many years in training and in developing finding aids and specialized techniques for preserving various media, including manuscripts, maps, photographs, film and sound records, and machine-readable records. The Records Management Branch has played an equivalent role in government records management.

15.3 The Archives must respond to several developments within the Canadian archival community: increasing expectations for involvement by the Public Archives in the development of provincial and national networks, including technical help and information exchange, and the need to deal with issues such as deciding what type of archival material should be acquired by what archives and where it is best located.

15.4 The Public Archives has operated under the same Act for over 70 years, but is now working with the Minister of Communications on a proposal for a new Archives Act. One of management's key objectives is to secure statutory support for its administrative mandate in government records management. At present, it is based on a 1966 Order in Council and on Treasury Board's Administrative Policy Manual, delegating records management responsibilities to the Archives.

15.5 Good records management in government is essential not only for ensuring that historically valuable records are identified and directed to the Archives, but also for ensuring that records are organized to support government operations, including the need for prompt access under the new access to information legislation. Moreover, the financial and human resources spent in government on generating and storing files and records of all kinds - paper, magnetic tape and microfilm - place a strong value-for-money responsibility on the Archives as well as on departmental management.

15.6 The Archives' objective statement in the 1983-84 Estimates is:

the systematic preservation of government and private records of Canadian national significance in order to facilitate not only the effective and efficient operation of the Government of Canada and historical research in all aspects of the Canadian experience, but also the protection of rights and the enhancement of a sense of national identity based on archives as the collective memory of the nation.
15.7 The Archives plans net expenditure in 1983-84 of $36.1 million, using 795 person-years. This includes, in the Departmental Administration budget, providing several joint departmental functions serving both the Public Archives and the National Library. The two organizations share a headquarters building in Ottawa.

15.8 The Archives' organization chart, subsequent to 31 March 1983 when certain units were reorganized, is set out in Exhibit 15.1. It has no advisory board, but the Dominion Archivist is suggesting that provision be made in a new Act for such a board.

Exhibit not available

Summary of Audit Observations

15.9 The Archives. About 16 million items have been acquired from both private and government sources by eight Divisions of the Archives Branch specializing in a variety of media and record types. However, the Divisions and the Branch as a whole did not have explicit approved acquisition policies and written criteria to guide archivists in selecting and appraising materials. This has become important in recent years with the growth of other archival institutions, changing patterns of user needs and resource limitations. Management is in the process of developing Branch acquisition policy.

15.10 For accountability to Parliament, the objectives statements of the Archives in its Part III Estimates do not make clear enough the Public Archives' intention with respect to determining its archival role in relation to that of other archival institutions in Canada.

15.11 Federal government records are acquired most often as a result of departments and agencies applying systematic retention and disposal schedules to records they hold. These schedules are approved by the Dominion Archivist and have been mandatory for departments since 1966. Because compliance has been weak - 19 per cent of departments surveyed by the Public Archives in 1983 had no schedules and only 52 per cent had a majority of their records scheduled - the risk is high that valuable records will be lost.

15.12 Preservation. The Public Archives is responsible for the long-term preservation of the records entrusted to it and has created and successfully applied a variety of methods and technologies for various media. However, management's knowledge of the present physical condition of its collections and of requirements for preservation has not been adequate for planning and control purposes. Preservation activities have been carried out independently by the eight Divisions of the Archives Branch, and the Conservation and Technical Services Branch, without benefit of branch co-ordination or strategic planning.

15.13 Archives control. The physical location, nature and descriptions of materials held by the Archives Branch are recorded in a wide variety of registers, catalogues, finding aids and other locator tools maintained by the Divisions. The efficiency and quality of Archives Branch service to clients depend on having appropriate descriptive information at each level of detail sought by the user, from the most general description at the collection level to the most detailed description at the level of an individual archival item. We found that the Branch lacked standards for determining the appropriate descriptive information for each level.

15.14 Automated systems. Although the Archives Branch is a major federal information agency, with responsibility for about 16 million records, it has made only limited use of computer technology. In 1982, the Branch initiated a project to assess feasibility and develop a plan for implementing a computer-based control system. However, this project had not specifically provided for assessing the needs of the Archives as a whole or client needs, nor had the Branch reviewed problems experienced in managing similar projects in other agencies, such as the National Library.

15.15 Records management. Although the Archives has provided advice and training in records management practices, as well as storage facilities for departments' dormant records, the Archives has not carried out fully its mandate under the 1966 Order in Council to evaluate and report annually to Treasury Board on records management in government. Systematic assessment is needed to detect trends and identify the underlying causes and effects of weaknesses so that Treasury Board can take corrective action. Chapter 460 of Treasury Board's Administrative Policy Manual now provides for cyclical evaluation of departments by the Archives, over a five-year period, with annual reporting to Treasury Board.

15.16 Departmental records managers we interviewed expressed strong satisfaction with most services of the Records Management Branch and, in our view, the Federal Record Centres provide economical records storage facilities.

15.17 The Branch lacked a systematic plan for identifying user needs as a basis for planning for more cost-effective records management in government. Although Treasury Board's most recent directive states that advice on automating records management is available from the Public Archives, the Archives, in our opinion, does not yet have this capability.

Audit Scope

15.18 We first identified basic processes in the operations of the Archives that we believe are central to meeting its program objectives. We then assessed management controls over these key processes or functions, and management's accountability reporting to Parliament.

15.19 In the Archives Branch, the key functions suggested by our preliminary survey were acquisition and control of records, preservation, and technology support. These four functions are central to the service provided by each of the Divisions. The Records Management Branch was the other main operation reviewed, and included the Central Microfilm Operations.

15.20 In addition, we reviewed the following evaluation and support functions managed by the Public Archives for both the Archives and the National Library: Internal Audit, Program Evaluation, Financial and Administrative Services and Personnel Services.

15.21 For each scope area, we established and agreed with management the criteria to be used to assess whether planning and management controls demonstrated due regard for value for money and compliance with accountability obligations.

Observations and Recommendations

The Archives

15.22 Mandate. The Archives operates under the combination of a 1912 statute, a 1966 Order in Council and a series of chapters in Treasury Board's Administrative Policy Manual. In our view, management's formal objectives statement set out in the 1983-84 Estimates is consistent with these authorities and, for accountability and program effectiveness evaluation, describes a specific objective: "the systematic preservation of government and private records of Canadian national significance." This is intended to include, through sound records management, the preservation of records still in the hands of departments and agencies.

15.23 However, "national significance" needs definition, since other archives presumably will collect items of national interest. Further, "systematic preservation" does not make it clear whether the Archives also intends to help other archival institutions to acquire and preserve materials, in the sense of trying to ensure that every nationally significant record is safeguarded by some archival institution in Canada. Although the statement of objectives appears to accommodate this interpretation, accountability to Parliament suggests that management should make clear the scope of the Archives' program intentions. Part III of the Estimates refers to the Public Archives' help to other archives in matters such as training, but it says nothing about whether management intends to help facilitate acquisitions by other archives, and it does not clarify the meaning of "national significance".

15.24 In Part III of the Estimates of the Public Archives, management should clarify, to the extent possible, the meaning of "the systematic preservation of government and private records of Canadian national significance".

Archives' response: Part III Estimates for 1984-85 will attempt to clarify the objectives of the Public Archives of Canada.

15.25 Acquisition policy. Archival records are acquired by eight Divisions in the Archives Branch, each dealing with a particular type or medium (see Exhibit 15.2). In this context, "records" include photographs, maps, architectural drawings, motion picture films, sound recordings, videotapes, computer tapes, paintings, medals and books, in addition to traditional manuscripts and other textual records. Under the Archives Act (Section 8), the Dominion Archivist may acquire any materials he deems to be appropriate for the Public Archives.

Exhibit not available

15.26 Given the continuing growth in the numbers and diversity of records in both the federal and private sectors and the limited space that the Archives has to store materials, we expected that management would interpret its mandate through cohesive acquisition policies for the Divisions. These would reflect the Archives' collecting role in relation to that of other archival institutions and would help ensure, over the long term, that the most significant records would be acquired.

15.27 Most Divisions did not have explicit acquisition policies in place; none had been approved by Branch management, and there was no acquisition policy statement for the Archives Branch as a whole. To help ensure consistency of collection strategy over time and between Divisions, archivists should be guided by approved selection and appraisal criteria when making acquisitions, but we found that these also were lacking.

15.28 We recognize that professional judgement is central to discretionary acquisitions; however, changing client needs and scarce resources require the application of at least broad criteria. At the time of our audit, Branch management had begun a study of acquisition policy and was compiling and analysing draft statements prepared by the Divisions.

15.29 Acquisition of Federal Archives. The Federal Archives Division identifies records of historical value created in departments and agencies of the federal government. The thoroughness and efficiency of this process depend on appropriately timed reviews by archivists, resulting from records retention and disposal schedules set by the departments. All schedules must be approved by the Dominion Archivist. If they are not established and applied, there is a high risk that, among other consequences, the archival records will not be transferred to and safeguarded by the Public Archives. A specific risk is destruction of records without the Archives' knowledge. Treasury Board, in chapter 460 of its Administrative Policy Manual, requires departments and agencies to obtain the Dominion Archivist's approval before destroying records. But there are no legislative or central agency sanctions for departments if they ignore this requirement.

15.30 Formal scheduling of records - specifying how long they will be kept in active and dormant status, and when and how they will be disposed of - has been mandatory for federal departments and agencies since 1966. It helps departments to operate more efficiently and also assists in identifying archival material. However, a survey conducted by the Archives during 1982-83 of 62 departments showed that compliance has been weak: 19 per cent had no schedules; only 52 per cent had a majority of their operational records scheduled; and computer records, photographs, maps and other non-textual materials had usually been excluded from schedules. Consequently, the Public Archives is not able to examine systematically, for archival purposes, a significant number of federal records. The Archives' evaluation of departmental records management is dealt with later, in the section on Records Management.

15.31 In 1979, the Federal Archives Division evaluated alternative approaches to acquiring federal records. It concluded that applying records schedules would yield the best results, assuming a reasonable degree of compliance by departments. However, as noted above, the 1982-83 survey showed a low level of compliance and, unless improvements are forthcoming, the Archives' strategy may not be adequate by itself.

15.32 The Public Archives should assess the risk to its acquisitions program posed by the current levels of departmental compliance in records scheduling and the implications for its strategy for acquiring federal archival records.

Archives' response: In 1984, the Archives Branch will complete a review of the effectiveness of the scheduling process for written documents and for machine-readable, photographic and cartographic records.

15.33 Preservation. The Public Archives is responsible for preserving the records in its care. To safeguard these assets, a wide range of methods is necessary, including means for ensuring security, preventing or dealing with disasters, controlling environmental conditions, conserving and restoring materials and preserving information content. Threats can range from those of immediate and visible concern, such as vandalism and fire, to others that are more subtle but, in the long term, more significant, such as the effects on archival material of atmospheric pollutants, temperature and light.

15.34 To meet its responsibility for preservation, the Archives could be expected to have a strategic plan for preservation that would reflect assessment of risks to its collection and provide guidance to managers for determining priorities and assessing the cost-effectiveness of current activities and assignment of responsibilities. Preservation activity would be co-ordinated, and overall responsibility for preservation would be assigned at a senior level. In brief, a departmental preservation program would be required.

15.35 The Archives has taken steps in a number of preservation aspects. It is developing mass deacidification processes for conserving paper records, employing microfilming to preserve the content of paper records, and subjecting magnetic tapes to regular maintenance routines. The Archives has systematically planned its space needs. The headquarters building in Ottawa provides, by archival standards, excellent environmental conditions, but it can accommodate only about 50 per cent of the archival records.

15.36 Branch preservation activities are managed independently by the eight Division directors, who are each responsible for their own records. The Conservation and Technical Services Branch provides services to the Divisions but does not plan or co-ordinate activities for them or the Archives Branch as a whole. Environmental controls and security are the responsibility of the Administrative Services Division. There is no overall plan or goals for preservation activities against which achievements could be measured. No one person is specifically accountable for preservation activities in the Public Archives.

15.37 Day-to-day storage and handling of records appeared generally satisfactory; however, managers in all Divisions but one lacked current factual information on the physical condition of their collections. Thus, overall requirements for preservation cannot be determined, nor can the adequacy of current activities be assessed.

15.38 A number of preservation problems were evident. The techniques developed by the Archives for removing harmful acids from paper can deal with only a fraction of the millions of items needing treatment. At present, the Archives' equipment must also serve the National Library, and the effectiveness of the process for treating manuscripts, as opposed to books, has not been fully assessed. The risks of using storage areas with sub-standard environmental controls - areas lacking combined temperature and humidity controls - have not been evaluated, yet 50 per cent of the Archives' materials are stored in such areas. Guidelines to ensure preservation of magnetic tapes and other computer records are lacking, and research on long-term solutions, in the face of these problems, appears inadequate. The main effort for 1983-84 is videodisc research and development, with resources of $80,000 and 1 person-year designated.

15.39 All Divisions of the Archives Branch have developed disaster preparedness plans, but, at the time of our audit, they had yet to be approved by senior management. We noted certain weaknesses in security; these are discussed later in the section of this chapter under Administrative Services. In addition, we found that a departmental EDP security policy, required by Treasury Board, was not in place.

15.40 Public Archives should assess the adequacy of the resources, organization and planning committed to the preservation of its archival records. Responsibility for preservation activities should be assigned at a senior management level. A strategic plan should reflect what is at risk and make clear the resources the Archives intends to apply to preservation.

Archives' response: The departmental strategic plan calls for the development of a comprehensive conservation program to be in place by 1987. The Archives will conduct a survey on the condition of documents, identify requirements and set priorities in 1984. The Conservation and Technical Services Branch will determine the resources needed to meet the requirements and make recommendations to the Senior Management Committee in 1985. The Senior Management Committee will determine acceptable levels of preservation activity and assign resources and program responsibility.

15.41 Archives control. To locate and provide access to their records, Archives Branch Divisions register, classify, catalogue and describe incoming materials. We looked for formal standards for timeliness, content and completeness in describing archival records to assess their reasonableness for management control purposes.

15.42 Most archival materials are catalogued at a number of levels of descriptive detail, ranging from a single general description of a collection comprising, perhaps, thousands of items, to individual annotations for individual items. Between these levels there may be groups, series, or other categories of description. User finding aids and management's knowledge of what is in the collection depend on the adequacy of the descriptions. This, in turn, is a function of standards.

15.43 We found, however, that most Divisions lacked formal, written definitions and standards for the levels recognized. None had been approved by Branch management, and management had no stated norms for physical control (where items are located) and intellectual control (what the items are).

15.44 Control at the most general level, that of collections, appears to be adequate. All Divisions but one stated that collections received were registered (named as a collection, listed and location specified) within days or weeks of receipt. However, there appear to be weaknesses in control at more detailed levels of description, as illustrated by the following information obtained from the Divisions:

    - Federal Archives: Coverage of materials at the 3 recognized levels of control is estimated as 100 per cent at the most general or "inventory" level, as 70 to 90 per cent at the "file lists" level, and as 5 to 20 per cent at the detailed "finding aids" level. Computer-produced subject indexes cover only 2 to 10 per cent of the records. These are produced regularly only for the Federal Archives Division.
    - Manuscript Division: Most sections have major backlogs of materials lacking inventory descriptions or finding aids.
    - National Photography Collection: A card catalogue of about 100,000-150,000 entries is used to deal with a collection of about 9 million photographs.
    - Public Archives Library: About 40 per cent of the collection of approximately 280,000 items is uncatalogued.
    - Picture Division: Only about 10,000 of the 100,000 items in the collection are referenced in the card catalogue.
15.45 Without standards set by senior management for the nature and extent of information required, management control is less likely and we cannot assess whether the degree of operating control at the divisional level, reflected by these examples, is adequate to meet the Archives' objectives for the preservation and use of records.

15.46 The Archives Branch should approve or develop, as necessary, standards for the description of archival records held by each Division.

Archives' response: When the necessary levels of description have been identified, the Archives Branch will undertake, in 1984, to develop standards for each level of description and for each type of archival record.

15.47 Automated systems. The Archives Branch is a major federal information agency, responsible for the custody of about 16 million records including, for example, about 46 kilometres of shelf space for paper records, 9 million photographs and 1 million maps. It provides the public with services involving several million items of information and inquiries annually. We expected that the Archives would have formally investigated and evaluated, during the past 10 years, the possible application of automated systems to help improve the overall control of its archival materials, support management functions and enhance the quality and efficiency of client services.

15.48 A feasibility study and planning exercise for the use of computers in the Branch as a whole did not begin until 1982, although several Divisions had taken independent initiatives, and one was using an automated system for physical control of records.

15.49 The feasibility study, to be completed by mid-1984, will define the individual needs of the eight Divisions and will review Branch-level objectives and issues. However, it is not clear from the study's documentation whether this includes an analysis of the needs of Branch clients. Consideration of the needs of the Archives Branch as a whole does not appear in the study's terms of reference. Given the projected scope of the system(s), we would expect the Archives to consider, for example, whether the resulting database should include records of other archival institutions, whether on-line access to the database by external clients should be granted, whether products and services for other Canadian archives should be offered, and whether the system(s) should support Branch programs for managing its materials; for example, scheduling items for conservation treatment or monitoring their use by clients. We have noted our concerns to management.

15.50 Although the Branch has examined various specific EDP systems used elsewhere with a view to their potential application, Archives management had not looked at the management processes and controls for developing and implementing systems in other comparable organizations, such as the National Library, to take advantage of management lessons learned by others. Of particular concern is the estimation of resources and time required for development.

15.51 In establishing plans, budgets and management controls for developing automated systems in Archives Branch, management should ensure that the experiences of similar projects in comparable organizations are reviewed, and applied where appropriate.

Archives' response: Efforts will be made during the autumn of 1983 to acquire full information about similar automated systems and their management.

Records Management

15.52 Evaluation of records management in government. A 1966 Order in Council (the Public Records Order), which resulted from Glassco Commission recommendations for improved records management in government, requires the Dominion Archivist to:

    - prepare an annual report to the Treasury Board on the activities of departments in the field of records; and
    - submit reports to departments whenever he considers there is inadequacy in the management of their records.
15.53 Only three reports have been sent to Treasury Board since the Public Records Order was issued - one in 1967, one in 1968 and another in 1973. At 1 July 1983, the Archives had completed a fourth report on the records management activities of departments but had not yet forwarded it to Treasury Board.

15.54 We noted that the Archives had sent two letters to departments expressing concern about the adequacy of records management. One was sent in 1972, the other in 1981. One department had replied, but there was apparently no response or follow-up to the other letter.

15.55 The Dominion Archivist stated that the use of an Order in Council to introduce records management policy was chosen to test policy feasibility before passing the legislation on records management recommended by the Glassco Commission in the early 1960s. In management's view, systematic comprehensive evaluations and consequent annual reports to Treasury Board proved impracticable, but there was an understanding with Treasury Board that the Public Archives would keep itself informed concerning records management in government and would tell Treasury Board when action on its part was required. We were unable to find evidence that the Archives had resolved with Treasury Board any problems it had in complying with the Public Records Order.

15.56 Without the type of formal assessment envisaged by the Public Records Order, weak or deteriorating records management practices in departments may not be detected. This could result in higher costs for accommodation and file searching, and increased risk of loss of valuable records to the Archives. In addition, Treasury Board cannot detect lack of due regard for value for money in records management in departments and take corrective action. Compared with the message of the 1973 report, the 1983 report suggests that records retention and disposal scheduling in departments has worsened considerably.

15.57 If Archives management deems it impracticable to carry out fully the records management responsibilities assigned to it from time to time, management should formally resolve with Treasury Board what Archives action is to be taken.

Archives' response: Discussions are already in progress with Treasury Board officials on implementation of records management responsibilities. Decisions will be formally recorded.

15.58 Treasury Board's revised Chapter 460 of its Administrative Policy Manual, issued in March 1983, makes the Archives' evaluation responsibilities more specific. The chapter up-dates and consolidates records management practices to be followed by Schedule A and B departments and agencies. Chapter 460 states that the Public Archives has the responsibility, on behalf of Treasury Board, of "evaluating the records management function of each department or agency at least once every five years in order to assess the effectiveness of the policy, to monitor compliance and to examine the efficiency with which it is implemented". The Archives is to report to Treasury Board annually "on the state of records management in the Government of Canada".

15.59 In our view, while the Records Management Branch had staff experienced in records management, it lacked staff sufficiently experienced to carry out what is essentially a major government-wide evaluation function. Branch management acknowledges the problem and told us that it will consult with Treasury Board on the course of action the Branch will take to effectively carry out the Public Archives' responsibility. This agreement with Treasury Board would include mutual understanding of the use of departmental internal audit findings in records management.

15.60 Viewed broadly, all functions of the Archives relating to federal records depend on sound departmental records management. Yet the Archives' 1983 evaluation report states:

The records management function was not receiving recognition or full top-level management support in departments. As a result, the records management program in many departments was incomplete.
15.61 The Public Archives can provide help and advice on records management and can assess and report, but its influence over the quality of departmental records management across government is limited. Moreover, the Archives cannot control the creation of records or files that are not really needed in the first place. In our view, this is part of a larger issue that our audit of the Archives could not address: information resource management in government.

15.62 Chapter 460 of the Treasury Board Administrative Policy Manual is helpful in consolidating government standards for records management and clarifying departmental and Archives responsibilities. However, the available evidence suggests that the present quality of records management in departments and the low importance attached to it will not assure the systematic flow of valuable records to the Archives, facilitation of public access to government records or the intended economy and efficiency in government operations.

15.63 In our view, the Archives should strive to report to Treasury Board not only its assessments but also the causes of records management problems and their effects, and its recommendations for corrective action. It is equally important that Treasury Board satisfy itself about causes and effects and take appropriate action to help ensure that departments manage their records with due regard for value for money and for the archival value of records.

15.64 Service to departments. Departmental records managers interviewed in our limited survey (eight in Ottawa and eight in regions outside Ottawa) were supportive of the Archives' Records Management Branch and expressed strong satisfaction with the level and quality of the Branch's service, including the training courses given by the Branch and attended by not only federal records personnel but also personnel from other levels of government and governments abroad. Some records managers stated that it took too long to get departmental records schedules approved by the Dominion Archivist. The Archives is addressing this problem.

15.65 The revised Treasury Board chapter 460 states that "advice on automating aspects of the records management function is available from the Public Archives." Our interviews with departmental records managers indicated a need for advice on automation, particularly by the smaller departments. Getting this advice can help departments to make better value-for-money decisions on acquiring and implementing automated systems.

15.66 In our view, advice on automation should be provided by an Archives staff having both EDP and records management knowledge and experience. The Archives does not yet, in our opinion, have the qualified resources to advise adequately on the automation aspect of records management.

15.67 The Public Archives should determine the expertise it needs to advise on the automation of records management functions, resolve with Treasury Board an action plan to achieve the needed level of expertise and communicate its action plan to departments and agencies.

Archives' response: Discussions with Treasury Board officials are being held to prepare an action plan to provide the departments and agencies with needed advice. Departments and agencies will be notified.

15.68 In general, we would have expected the Archives to periodically assess current and future departmental needs for assistance from the Records Management Branch, assess how well it was responding to the need for more cost-effective records management in departments, and take appropriate action.

15.69 We found that the Public Archives had no systematic plan for identifying the needs of users or potential users of its records management services or for assessing how well it responds to these needs. Efforts to date have been primarily in assessing the future needs for paper records storage facilities.

15.70 The Records Management Branch relies on its close working relationship with its clients to forewarn of any deficiencies in its services. Although we recognize the value of this relationship, we believe there is a parallel need for a more formal approach to identifying and assessing user needs. This would help ensure that the right services are offered at the optimum levels of service. Possible needs, in our view, are those relating to improving value for money in government records management in the departments generally, not just those set out in departments' specific requests of the Branch.

15.71 User needs might include:

    - Developing a "marketing package" for departmental records managers to help them promote good records management practices throughout their departments.
    - Developing a more active role for senior Archives management in promoting good records management practices at the deputy head and assistant deputy head levels in departments. For example, the Archives estimates that, by using the Federal Records Centres, departments saved several millions of dollars in records accommodation costs in 1982-83. Demonstrable resource savings would support the promotion of good records management.
    - Establishing a records management research and development capability within the Archives. This is important because there is a risk of a significant duplication of effort in developing systems to support records management in departments.
15.72 The Records Management Branch should formally identify and address the current and future needs of departments and agencies with a view to increasing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in records management.

Archives' response: The Records Management Branch will put emphasis in 1984 on the identification of needs in departments and agencies, and on the development of a stronger research capacity to support records management in departments and agencies.

15.73 Improvement in methods of operation. Since April 1979, the Branch has had a performance measurement system that supplies selected performance data to the Director General of the Branch. The Branch's performance controls could be strengthened by having procedures to systematically examine methods of operation in the records centres to see whether improvements could be made. Possibilities would include setting quantifiable targets for cost reduction, establishing standard costs for cost control and creating standard methods of operation across records centres. We have noted our recommendations to management.

15.74 Individual initiatives have been taken in the various records centres, and the Branch now plans to assess methods of operations in records centres to see what degree of standardization of methods is appropriate. A records disposal program was started in 1980 to sort, shred and bale paper for sale to paper mills. This program employs over 50 handicapped people across Canada. The Archives states that it is self-supporting and, further, it has eliminated the large paper disposal backlogs which were the norm before the program began.

15.75 Records storage facilities. The Branch has seven regional records centres for low-cost storage of dormant records that are still the property of departments. It also has a centre for storing personnel records of former civilian and military federal employees and former members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. As well, there is an essential-records centre for safe storage of records that would be needed to re-establish departmental information in the event of a major disaster. In our opinion, based on our assessment of five centres, the Federal Records Centres provide economical records storage facilities. We suggested to management that it formalize its safety program to improve measures already taken in the Centres' operations.

15.76 Central Microfilm Operations (CMO). This facility serves as a microfilming common service for federal government departments and agencies. In 1983, responsibility for CMO was transferred from Departmental Administration to the Records Management Branch. Its expected 1983-84 revenue is $1.62 million, with budgeted expenditures of $2.13 million, excluding depreciation. We reviewed its operations principally to establish whether it was operating within approved policies covering CMO's objectives, pricing and performance reporting. We found that senior management had not defined a pricing policy, financial and other performance objectives for CMO or how performance should be reported.

15.77 The Public Archives should formally clarify the objectives, pricing policy and financial performance expected of Central Microfilm Operations, including what CMO operating costs are to be taken into account in determining its financial performance. Senior management should specify the performance information it requires to judge the efficiency of CMO.

Archives' response: The Public Archives is currently reviewing the mandate and scope of activity of CMO. In 1984, performance criteria and a pricing policy will be adopted by Senior Management.

Planning and Control at the Executive Level

15.78 The Archives updates annually a five-year plan setting out for its managers and the Minister the Archives' priorities in the areas covered by the plan. It includes action timetables and specifies which member of senior management is responsible. In addition to being, in effect, a long-term operational plan for managers, it serves as the Archives' Strategic Overview submission to the Minister.

15.79 In our view, the structure and organization for planning input and the management controls at the Senior Management Committee level over the execution of long-term plans were adequate for the Archives' circumstances. The Branches send quarterly performance reports to the Senior Management Committee, and the Planning and Program Evaluation group monitors variances for the Committee which then follows up on them.

15.80 However, the 1983 five-year plan, "Strategic Approaches 1983-88", did not set out what the Archives intends to accomplish in key areas such as acquisitions, audit of departmental records management, or the role management intends the Public Archives to have in an emerging system of Canadian archives. Lack of this information in management's own longer-term planning documents also means that the Archives' Part III Estimates will not reflect this information for parliamentary use and Archives' accountability. We have given management our specific observations and recommendations.

Departmental Administration

Administrative Services
15.81 Security. The Public Archives and the National Library contain many irreplaceable items and confidential records. Physical security of these items and records in both entities should be a major concern of Administrative Services. We found no written policies and procedures relating to security in the Archives and the National Library. Administrative Services is in the process of preparing them and has identified the significant security risks.

15.82 We have recommended to management that it ensure that security plans address the major components of security in the two Departments and include provision for periodic reviews of security measures taken to reduce security risks.

15.83 Accommodation. In our view, Archives management of accommodation is giving appropriate consideration to identifying needs and has demonstrated due regard for economy and efficiency. The Archives has an Accommodation Committee, composed of senior departmental managers, and has carried out, using consultants, a detailed and comprehensive study to determine the accommodation needs of the Archives and National Library in the National Capital Region through 1990.

15.84 Exhibitions and publications. Two means of communicating Archives activities are exhibitions and publications. We found no evidence, for either exhibitions or publications, that intended audiences were identified and that objectives were set. There were no estimates of total resources required to produce the exhibitions or the publications. Budgets for exhibitions were set for materials and design only. In the case of publications, costs are significant for printing alone. For example, one of the Archives' recent publications, Dreams of Empire , cost $176,000 to print in the spring of 1982. Sales by the end of May 1983 had recovered only 25 per cent of the printing costs.

15.85 Additional significant costs for both exhibitions and publications, for which we were unable to locate estimates, would include research and writing done by Archives staff, editing and overhead. These costs were distributed among the budgets of a number of cost centres and could not be identified in total.

15.86 Archives management had not evaluated exhibitions or publications in terms of benefits and costs as an aid to achieving more cost-effective exhibitions or publications. Management is currently preparing a policy document and procedures for mounting exhibitions, and, as result of a study initiated by the Archives Branch, the Branch plans to appoint a Branch co-ordinator of publications and to relate Branch publication plans to departmental objectives.

15.87 The Archives should ensure that decisions to mount an exhibition or to publish are based on approved departmental criteria and objectives, identification of target audiences and their needs, and reasonable estimates of the total financial and human resources needed to produce the presentation. Actual costs should be compared to estimates, variances identified and appropriate action taken.

15.88 The Archives should ensure systematic assessment of costs and benefits of exhibitions and publications, including whether they achieved their objectives, and ensure that information from the evaluations is used for decisions on future exhibitions and publications.

Archives' response: Once the policy and procedures on exhibitions are established, mechanisms will be put in place to effect the recommendations for both publications and exhibitions.

Financial Services
15.89 Our review of the Financial Services Division disclosed several matters which we brought to the attention of management, with our recommendations. For example:

    - fees charged by Archives services (mainly central microfilming) lacked Governor in Council approval;
    - the Financial Administration Manuals for both the Archives and the National Library have been in preparation since 1974 and are still incomplete; and
    - no systematic financial variance analysis has been carried out by the Division, although its Financial Analysis section has been staffed for over two years to assist with this reporting.
Personnel Services
15.90 From our audit work in the management of human resources, two issues arose that were brought to management's attention. These involved the need to address identified problems and the lack of experience of personnel specialists at the working level. We are satisfied that management is taking action on these problems.

Internal Audit

15.91 As part of its regular review of internal audit in government departments, the Office of the Comptroller General (OCG) carried out a Performance Assurance Review of the Internal Audit Directorate in late 1982. It concluded that the Internal Audit Directorate was "generally fulfilling the requirements of the standards for internal audit."

15.92 From our review of the OCG's assessment and report to management, and Internal Audit's policy documents, plans, audit reports and working papers, we concluded that we could place reliance on Archives' internal audit work.

15.93 Our principal concern noted to management, beyond the matters reported by OCG, is that the scope of internal audit work should be expanded to include management planning and accountability reports and certain important projects not currently being audited. The planning and accountability reports would include PEMS documents and Part III of the Estimates.

Program Evaluation

15.94 We reviewed the Program Planning and Evaluation group's management and reporting practices to determine whether the joint program evaluation unit was satisfactorily managed to evaluate the programs of the Public Archives and National Library.

15.95 In our view, management of program evaluation was reasonable in the circumstances. One evaluation has been completed in each of the Public Archives and National Library. Initially ambitious evaluation plans, which led to significant slippages in schedules, have been revised and made more realistic for the existing resources. The number of evaluations originally scheduled has been reduced to coincide with a reduced number of program evaluation components.

15.96 We reviewed the evaluation assessment and study of the Government Records Storage and Reference Service program component and found it to be adequate, considering the newness of the program evaluation unit and the limited resources allotted to it. Our comments on the evaluation in the National Library are noted in Chapter 14.

Reporting to Parliament

15.97 Part III of the Estimates of the Public Archives were issued for the first time with its 1983-84 Estimates. Treasury Board requires Part III to provide Members of Parliament with sufficient information for a basic understanding of the Archives' programs and objectives, details of planned and actual results and related expenditures, and other performance information useful in the Estimates review. We reviewed Part III for compliance with Treasury Board's instructions for preparation, for completeness and timeliness and significant errors or reporting bias, and for management controls over reliability of information supplied by the Branches.

15.98 We found the 1983-84 Part III to be a reasonable first effort that generally complied with Treasury Board requirements. The Program Planning and Evaluation group carried out reviews of reasonableness of Branch information, but there were no guidelines for verifying information supplied. The Part III Estimates were not reviewed by Internal Audit.

15.99 Our detailed observations on the information in each section of Part III and the adequacy of internal controls over reliability of the information have been given to management. Several of our audit recommendations elsewhere in this chapter could also help improve the quality of the Part III, in particular those related to Branch objectives and policies.

15.100 Management should specify standards and guidelines for the Branches in developing Part III Estimates information and for verifying information supplied, especially the basis for projections or forecasts. Internal Audit should include in its regular work a review of the information in Part III and the underlying systems and procedures generating information for the Estimates.

Archives' response: Archives Senior Management is currently developing guidelines for producing Part III Estimates information and for verifying the information supplied. Subsequent internal audits will do the review recommended.