Flexible electronic records management

A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed at a computing device, cause the computing device to:

• present on a display device, an administrative interface, the administrative interface permitting a selection of one of a group of record declaration policies, each record declaration policy allowing an electronic document stored at a first repository to be declared to be an electronic document that preserves the electronic document for later reference, a first selection allowing any author of the electronic document to declare that the electronic document is to be preserved for later reference, a second selection allowing only an administrator to declare that the electronic document is to be preserved for later reference, a third selection allowing the electronic document to be preserved for later reference when a particular event occurs and a fourth selection allowing the electronic document to be preserved for later reference based on a workflow, the electronic document stored at the first repository being associated with a context, the context comprising a hierarchical directory with folders, each folder including related electronic documents;
• receive an input specifying that the one of the group of record declaration policies is applicable to a group of contexts, the one of the group of record declaration policies specifying a set of circumstances under which the electronic document is allowed to be declared to be an electronic record, the group of contexts comprising a context including the hierarchical directory with folders and another context including metatdata utilized for grouping the related electronic documents, the metadata including one or more of a filename, a date that one or more of the electronic documents was last modified, a name of an author of one or more of the electronic documents and a value that indicates whether one or more of the electronic documents is a link to an electronic record;
• determine that the electronic document stored at a first repository has been declared to be an electronic record;
• in response to determining that the electronic document has been declared to be an electronic record, evaluate a record storage policy to determine whether the record storage policy requires the electronic document to be stored as the electronic record at the first repository without making a copy of the electronic document or requires a copy of the electronic document to be stored as the electronic record at a second repository;
• in response to determining that the record storage policy requires the electronic document to be stored at the first repository, manage the electronic document as an electronic record;
• and
• in response to determining that the record storage policy requires a copy of the electronic document to be stored at the second repository:
• store a copy of the electronic document at the second repository;
• and
• manage the copy of the electronic document stored at the second repository as an electronic record.

A computing device for management of electronics records, comprising:

• a memory storage;
• a processor operative to:
• present, at the computing device, a user interface, the user interface permitting a selection of one of a group of document retention policies, each document retention policy allowing an electronic document stored at a first repository to be declared to be an electronic document that preserves the electronic document for later reference, a first selection allowing any author of the electronic document to declare that the electronic document is to be preserved for later reference, a second selection allowing only an administrator to declare that the electronic document is to be preserved for later reference, a third selection allowing the electronic document to be preserved for later reference when a particular event occurs and a fourth selection allowing the electronic document to be preserved for later reference based on a workflow, the electronic document stored at the first repository being associated with a context, the context comprising a hierarchical directory with folders, each folder including related electronic documents;
• receive a record declaration policy for the electronic document, the record declaration policy specifying a set of circumstances under which the electronic document is allowed to be declared to be an electronic record;
• and
• receive an input specifying that the record declaration policy is applicable to a group of contexts, the group of contexts comprising a context including the hierarchical directory with folders and another context including metatdata utilized for grouping the related electronic documents, the metadata including one or more of a filename, a date that one or more of the electronic documents was last modified, a name of an author of one or more of the electronic documents and a value that indicates whether one or more of the electronic documents is a link to an electronic record;
• determine, at the computing device, that the electronic document stored at the first repository has been declared to be an electronic record that preserves the electronic document for later reference;
• in response to determining that the electronic document has been declared to be an electronic record, evaluating, at the computing device, a record storage policy to determine whether the record storage policy requires the electronic document to be stored as the electronic record at the first repository without making a copy of the electronic document or requires a copy of the electronic document to be stored as the electronic record at a second repository;
• in response to determining that the record storage policy requires the electronic document to be stored at the first repository, manage the electronic document at the first repository as an electronic record;
• and
• in response to determining that the record storage policy requires a copy of the electronic document to be stored at the second repository:
• storing a copy of the electronic document at the second repository;
• and
• managing the copy of the electronic document stored at the second repository as an electronic record.