Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
www.tbs-sct.gc.ca
Common menu bar links
Breadcrumb Trail
ARCHIVED - Management of Government Information Holdings (Review Guide) - November 11, 1995
This page has been archived.
Archived Content
Information identified as archived on the Web is for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It has not been altered or updated after the date of archiving. Web pages that are archived on the Web are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats on the "Contact Us" page.
Information Planning
Service to Users: Objective 3
Information holdings meet the operational needs of the institution and satisfy legislative and policy requirements.
Criterion
3.1 The information requirements for operational, legislative and policy purposes are identified and analyzed.
Questions/Practices
3.1.1 Has the institution identified and categorized information users within and outside of the organization? Have the information needs of users been identified? Have information holdings been analyzed to determine if the information needs of users can be satisfied by existing holdings?
3.1.2 Is dissemination of information to the public considered when planning new databases and information systems?
3.1.3 Has the value of information to users been assessed and balanced against the costs of providing the information?
3.1.4 Does the annual planning process for short- and long-term operational needs include analysis and planning of requirements for information holdings? Where program or subject matter representatives have planned substantive changes in their operations, have the related information needs been analyzed? Is information treated as a resource for planning purposes on the same basis as finance, personnel and assets?
3.1.5 For any new operational, legislative or policy requirements, are information needs identified, together with related information system requirements? (MGIH policy, requirement 2.) When was this done, and by whom?
3.1.6 Is duplication of holdings and technology applications avoided? Are the new information needs compared to existing holdings and information systems, both within the institution and those available outside the institution?
Criterion
3.2 Information management plans are coordinated with the support requirements for corporate and operational information holdings.
Questions/Practices
3.2.1 Do information management plans respond to program and management requirements for information, including the technological tools required to access, retrieve and use information?
3.2.2 To what extent are information holdings specialists (e.g. records managers, librarians, etc.) involved in information management planning, including the technology planning aspects? Often the responsibility for technology planning and acquisition is delegated to programs, branches and regions in order to better meet operational needs. The question becomes to what extent the need of information holdings for technological support is coordinated with the planning and acquisition of information technology? For example, is a reasonable proportion of the time spent on technology planning and the money spent on technology acquisition devoted to ensuring that the institution's information technologies are compatible?
3.2.3 Prior to proposing or developing new information systems, have existing information systems been assessed for their efficiency and effectiveness? (For further reference to the review of new computer systems, see the OCG's Guide to the Audit of Systems Under Development.)
3.2.4 Has the institution looked at ways of decreasing costs or providing more productivity or value with existing systems, either by combining systems, using new technologies, or using standardized applications? Does this assessment cover all stages of the information life cycle?
Criterion
3.3 Opportunities for information technology applications are assessed in relation to information holdings requirements.
Questions/Practices
3.3.1 How are potential technology applications identified and analyzed for information holdings which are not in electronic form? (For example, in some government departments, maps and blueprints are now created in digital form, but how far should these departments go to convert existing hard copy blueprints to digital form?) How is this analysis linked with corporate information technology planning and preparation of the institutions' Information Management Plan?
3.3.2 To what extent are information technology purchases based on the need to support information holdings? Are technology acquisitions made because they are needed to meet the functional requirements of both the institution and users?
3.3.3 To what extent are information technology alternatives considered and related to information holding support requirements as well as to user needs for such things as information transmission, retrieval and use? How do these information technology choices compare to alternatives in terms of costs, benefits, etc? (For further reference, see the OCG's Guide to the Audit of End-User Computing.)
3.3.4 Does the methodology for developing automated information systems
take the need to support information holdings into account? When new
automated information systems are planned and implemented, are the
MGIH requirements identified?
