Across agency offices nationwide, leaders are asking: “We need to modernize our records to be M-23-07 compliant, but where do we even find people who can do this?” If you’ve looked at your org chart and wondered the same, you’re not alone. The main challenge in records modernization is building an internal team capable of meeting federal standards – a significant staffing hurdle for agencies and enterprises today.
The challenge is not simply filling positions, but assembling a team with the specialized skills required for compliant records modernization. With NARA now requiring digitized permanent records to meet FADGI three-star standards, agencies need professionals who understand these requirements and can consistently achieve them.
Many organizations underestimate the breadth of expertise required for compliant records modernization. You’re not just scanning, you’re rolling out record management solutions to serve your organization for decades. This requires coordination across several specialized roles, each with unique skills.
At the foundation of any successful records modernization effort, you’ll need document preparation technicians who understand how to handle various record types safely and efficiently. These aren’t entry-level positions, despite what some budget officers might hope. A skilled document preparation technician needs to assess document condition, remove staples and bindings without causing damage, organize materials to maintain their original order, and prepare records for scanning to ensure optimal image quality. When you’re dealing with fragile historical documents or permanent records bound for NARA, improper handling during preparation can undermine your entire digitization effort. The challenge here is finding technicians who combine manual dexterity with understanding of records management principles – a combination that’s harder to recruit than you might expect.
Quality Assurance
Then there’s the quality assurance challenge, which might be the most critical staffing hurdle agencies face. Federal standards for scanning records demand consistent, verifiable quality that meets specific technical parameters. This is where your quality assurance specialist becomes essential. But here’s where organizations often stumble; they assume any detail-oriented person can handle quality control. A quality assurance specialist in records modernization needs to understand FADGI technical guidelines (which specify requirements for digitized images), know how to use DICE measurement tools (tools that evaluate scanner image quality), interpret colorimetric data (information about color accuracy in images), and identify subtle quality issues before they compromise an entire batch of scanning records. These specialists need both technical knowledge and the judgment to make real-time decisions about whether digitized materials meet federal standards.
The staffing challenge intensifies when you realize you don’t just need one quality assurance specialist, you need multiple quality assurance program staff working across different stages of your digitization workflow. Someone needs to validate scanner performance at the start of each session. Another team member should conduct in-process reviews to catch problems before they multiply. And you’ll need senior quality assurance program staff who can analyze trends, adjust processes, and ensure your entire operation maintains compliance over time. Finding individuals with this level of expertise and convincing them to join your agency, rather than work for established digitization companies, is a significant recruitment challenge.
Additional Challenges and Requirements
Records modernization also requires developers to integrate digitized records with management solutions. These staff must understand electronic records management and how to configure systems that comply with it. They’re the link between digitization and IT. The challenge: finding developers fluent in records management requirements (a niche in computer science).
What further complicates staffing is that you can’t build this team overnight, yet federal deadlines don’t align with recruitment timelines. Agencies compete for a limited pool of skilled candidates who are in high demand at established digitization companies. Convincing these specialists to join a government agency just starting its modernization journey requires more than a standard job posting.
Staff Training
Training represents another significant challenge. Even if you find candidates with adjacent skills, bringing them up to speed on federal digitization standards for permanent records takes time and resources. A quality assurance specialist moving from commercial scanning needs extensive training on FADGI requirements, while document preparation technicians from other industries must learn the specific handling requirements for federal records. Your quality assurance staff also requires ongoing education as standards evolve and new NARA guidance emerges.
Ultimately, the true challenge in records modernization is staffing an internal team that can reliably deliver a compliant program. This requires substantial effort in recruitment, training, and retention. Agencies often find that developing this capability internally is more time-consuming and costly than expected. Turning to experienced records management partners may provide the quickest path to compliant modernization while internal capacity is developed over time.
Whatever your approach – internal, external, or hybrid – understanding staffing needs is the first step toward successful records modernization. The challenge is real, but getting it right matters.
[Written by a human with the assistance of Claude.AI]