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  Ruling: Schools must archive eMail
  Primary Topic Channel:  email
  According to new federal rules that went into effect Dec. 1, schools, businesses, and other organizations are required to keep tabs on all eMail, instant messages (IM), and other digital communications produced by their employees. [ Read More ]

   

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  eMail overload spurs new sorting tools
  Primary Topic Channel:  email
  Reflecting a trend that could greatly aid overwhelmed educators and administrators, a handful of new technology companies are springing up to deal with the problem of eMail overload, which is now often considered a much bigger workplace problem than traditional eMail spam. [ Read More ]

   

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  Sun sheds light on digital archiving
  Primary Topic Channel:  Data management
  Schools and libraries have a growing number of digital materials to archive, but how can they get started on such a project? How will they store and preserve materials in digital format, and how will they grant the appropriate levels of access to their stakeholders? These are just some of the questions that pose significant challenges for schools--and now a new effort from Sun Microsystems might be able to help. [ Read More ]

   

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  Poll: Schools aren't meeting data-storage rules
  Primary Topic Channel:  School Administration
  Six months after new federal rules mandated that schools, businesses, and other organizations keep tabs on all digital communications produced by their employees, an informal survey of K-12 school districts by data-management company CommVault suggests that most schools still aren't prepared to meet the new requirements. [ Read More ]

   

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  School boards curb eMail exchanges
  Primary Topic Channel:  School Administration
  Wary of violating their states' open-meetings laws, some public school officials are looking to limit the volume and content of the eMail messages they send each other--even as other school employees are increasingly turning to eMail to enhance communication. [ Read More ]

   

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  School board's eMail deletion violates open-records laws
  Primary Topic Channel:  School Administration , Funding
  School board members in Oshkosh, Wis., have admitted deleting eMail correspondence with stakeholders--an action the state's attorney general says violates Wisconsin's open-records laws. [ Read More ]

   

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  Student hacker destroys eMail and ADA records at online school
  Primary Topic Channel:  School Administration , Research , Safety & security
  The recent break-in and vandalism of an online charter school's primary eMail program raise questions about the safety and security of learning delivered via the internet. [ Read More ]

   

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  Caution: School Board eMails Often Are Public Records
  Primary Topic Channel:  School Administration
  Although school board members and district administrators realize that board meetings are open to the public, they may not be aware that eMails they send on professional matters also may be covered by state "sunshine" laws. Complications can arise when an eMail discussion among members of the board and school district is considered a meeting that should be open to the public. [ Read More ]

   

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  Six Strategies to Help School Leaders Take Control of eMail
  Primary Topic Channel: 
  When used effectively, eMail can be a real time-saver for school leaders whose communication channels already are stretched to the breaking point. But what happens when the practice of sending, reading, and receiving eMails becomes more of a burden than a modern-day convenience? [ Read More ]

   

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  Parents today require new forms of outreach
  Primary Topic Channel:  Communication
  As you fine-tune your school communications program, you might want to rethink your use of print and cable TV and focus more on eMail. [ Read More ]

   

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  $17,000 public-records request offers cautionary tale
  Primary Topic Channel:  email
  Responding to a public-records request by the Raleigh News and Observer for school board members' eMail messages regarding proposed changes in student assignments recently cost Wake County, N.C., schools a whopping $17,000, primarily in staff time. Think it can't happen to you? Think again. Journalists routinely mine school and district data looking for virtual smoking guns. [ Read More ]

   

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  Don't let sunshine laws scorch electronic board meetings
  Primary Topic Channel:  School Administration , Business news
  Three decades ago, when the states began to enact laws requiring public bodies to open the doors of their meetings and the drawers where they kept their documents, the wristwatch TV communicator was still just a futuristic idea in the Dick Tracy comic strip. Today, the chisel-jawed detective would use his Timex not only to call the office, but also to check his eMail and send graphic files of fingerprints from the crime scene. It seems like modern technology has the answer for just about everything. [ Read More ]

   

Additional resources

ArchMail offers links to case studies and white papers on eMail archiving, FRCP compliance, and more.
http://www.arcmailtech.com/casestudies/index.php

This federal document discusses the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in light of electronic discovery amendments.
http://www.uscourts.gov/rules/EDiscovery_w_Notes.pdf

Resources from EDUCAUSE on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as they pertain to electronic discovery.
http://connect.educause.edu/Library/Abstract/EDiscoveryFederalRulesofC/36992?time=1209082151

Details about the FRCP amendment's from Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society.
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/digitaldiscovery/digdisc_library_4.html

This web site, from the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE), details some general guidelines for laws on open meetings or records, although each state's laws vary.
http://www.asne.org/ideas/rtk/rtkstrategies_sunshine.htm