2. Use and Maintain - RIM Manual

This section of the RIM Manual provides you with best practices for managing information between the time of its creation and its final disposition. For more on those phases of the lifecycle, see Section 1. Create or Receive and Section 3. Keep or Destroy.

The ways we use and manage government information change over time, as do the information systems, technologies, and file formats. It is not enough to follow best practices only when we create and receive information; further actions are needed throughout the information lifecycle.

Government information may need to move between systems when legal custody is transferred, or a system is replaced. Government information may also change in form, for example when paper records are replaced by digital copies for a business purpose (digitization) or when digital information is repackaged to a different format to ensure its continued accessibility (migration and conversion). Ensuring ongoing usability requires regular maintenance as information systems, technologies and file formats evolve.

For more information read about the components of Use and Maintain:

• 2.1 Digitize
• 2.2 Migrate
• 2.3 Store
• 2.4 Transfer within Government