Video summary
Keeping your records safe is essential for ensuring organizational continuity when facing unexpected events such as fires, floods, computer crashes, staff turnover, or health emergencies. The core principle emphasized in this lesson is that if the person managing files, the computer system, or even the physical building disappears, the critical information must remain accessible to the district. This preparation involves a proactive assessment of all existing records, which extend far beyond simple digital files on a screen to include board meeting minutes, emails, social media accounts, banking details, financial reports, policies, grant documents, educational outreach materials, historical archives, and landowner contact lists. Understanding the full scope of these assets is the first step in building a robust protection strategy that safeguards the district's legacy and operations.
The location where records are stored plays a pivotal role in their security and accessibility, particularly when distinguishing between personal storage and shared organizational storage. Relying on personal accounts like individual Gmail or personal cloud drives creates significant risks because leaving such an account behind can lead to legal complications regarding open records laws and the potential loss of vital district data. Instead, official files should be housed in shared organizational locations provided by platforms like Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, which offer tiered pricing options suitable for various budgets. These shared environments allow multiple authorized users to collaborate on documents simultaneously while ensuring that the data remains owned by the organization rather than an individual employee, thereby guaranteeing access regardless of who is working in the office or if the physical location becomes unusable.
Securing these records also requires strong password hygiene and a clear succession plan that integrates technology and policy. Passwords serve as a primary line of defense, so it is crucial to avoid writing them down, reusing them across accounts, or using predictable patterns like "Monkey26!". Instead, districts should adopt multi-factor authentication and use password managers to store complex credentials securely. A highly effective method for creating unique passwords is using passphrases based on real-life memories, such as combining a specific date with weather conditions, which are difficult for others to guess yet easy for the creator to remember. Ultimately, the goal is not for every employee to know every password, but to establish a secure recovery process where the organization can regain access if a key person leaves or becomes unavailable, ensuring that the district can continue to operate effectively during any crisis.
Read the full video transcript
Welcome to our next micro lesson in our
fall 2026 series on keeping your records
safe. My name is Lindy Berg. I am the
NDSU Extension Program Coordinator for
Conservation Leadership and Planning.
Today we're going to be talking about
protecting your information.
Looking at what you're trying to
protect, what kind of records do you
have, where are they being stored? We're
going to talk a little bit about the
cloud, personal storage versus shared
storage,
and then how to create unique and strong
passwords. And then ultimately, how does
all of that influence your succession
plan?
So protecting your information for the
future, why does this matter? We need to
kind of prepare for the unexpected. We
don't prepare for fires, floods,
um computer crashes. We don't expect to
just drop our computer
and it breaks and or it's old and
crashes and we can't get it restarted
and pretty soon we've lost all of our
files.
Staff turnover, health emergencies,
um retirement, family emergencies.
Sometimes these things are immediate and
we don't expect them.
So the question is, could your district
still access its important records?
And the key message is, if the person,
computer, or building disappears, the
information should not.
Okay, so what records are there to
protect? So there's a lot more records
that you have than what is just on the
screen, right? You have board meetings,
emails and social media accounts, but
outside of that you also have a password
and other account information with
banking information and financials,
policies and procedures. You work with a
lot of grants, educational outreach,
historical records,
and then you also work with landowner
and partner contact records. So think
about what records you have and where
they are right now.
So, where are they being stored? Where
are they being saved? Potentially on a
computer,
in a filing cabinet, on an external hard
drive,
or are they being saved on a personal or
shared drive in the cloud? And we're
going to talk about what that means.
So, again,
why does this matter? We
We uh need to prepare for the
unexpected. If something happens, could
your district still access important
records?
And how, if the person, computer, or
building disappears, the information
should not.
Okay, so let's talk about
personal storage versus shared storage.
So, here's an option of Microsoft 365.
But, let's back up for a minute. If for
some reason, for example,
my work email and my work drive for some
reason became inactive, and I had to
work on my personal Gmail account and my
personal Gmail on in the cloud in the on
the web,
I would start putting my work files and
things within my email, within my files.
And if I chose to leave, I am taking
that work with me. That
That account is tied to my name and my
account. And it kind of puts me in a
sticky situation, you know, leaving with
important documents, but also the
organization could come after me with
open records laws and potentially
saying, you know, that they own some of
that information, and it kind of puts me
in a bad spot.
So, there's a way to if if anyone is
using a personal storage
um system to move to a shared storage
system.
There are options out there through
Google.
Microsoft 365 is a pretty popular
option, so that's what I'm using today
as an example.
Because official district files should
be stored in an organizational shared
location.
I want you to ask yourself, is our
district set up to access our files if
the office were shut down and we need to
continue operating from an outside
location?
Microsoft 365, there are a few different
tiers cuz I know some of you were
wondering if this costs money. There are
a few different tiers. The lowest um
business platform option, I think it's
$7 a month. And there are two other
tiers of like $23 a month and maybe $32
a month.
But I would encourage you to at least
just go explore some of these options
through Google, Microsoft, and just see
what might work well for your employees
in your district. And feel free to reach
out to the districts around you, ask
questions, what are they using, the
pros, the cons, what they like, what
they don't like.
Um and see if this is something that
works for you.
So Microsoft 365 provides access to
familiar Microsoft applications such as
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, along with
cloud-based tools for storing and
sharing files.
So this also provides a OneDrive, which
allows employees to store and work on
individual documents.
And then there's a SharePoint, which
allows multiple authorized users to
access and collaborate on shared files.
So this is great for board records,
financials, policies, plans of work,
documents that
you would be able to have multiple
authorized users have access to the
information where if something were to
happen,
you have access to it. Whether it's a
change of staff or something major
happens, this is a way that you can
remain
um have access to those documents.
And these files are owned and remained
with the organization.
And this is also a way that multiple
employees can access share records, um
you know, work, collaborate, and work on
different documents at the same time,
and file share.
Just touching briefly on secure and
unique passwords.
Passwords are one of the first lines of
defense for protecting your district's
information. So, avoid writing passwords
down on paper or leaving them where
others can easily find them.
Don't reuse the same password across
multiple accounts. And use multi-factor
authentication whenever possible, such
as a code sent by text, email, or an
authentication app. Those are different
ways of the second-factor
authentication.
And then consider using a password
manager to securely store your
passwords. So, there are password
managers that you can use to put
passwords in instead of maybe in a file
on a piece of paper in your drawer.
So, how many of you use
a password like this monkey 26
{exclamation point} on the screen,
right? It's one uppercase letter, five
lowercase, two digits, and of course,
when you need that special requirement,
um you stick that {exclamation point} in
there. So, a lot of them look just like
that. Try a passphrase. So, this TISABDI
and I I
and I I 39D, I know that looks very
confusing, you know, like, who would
ever use that?
It's a passphrase. So, if you can think
of a passphrase, today is a beautiful
day in North Dakota and it is 39°.
That is a very strong and unique, and
actually could be a very usable
password. Okay? So, try to think and
maybe try using one of those one day and
see see if you like it and see if it
works for you.
The goal isn't for everyone to know
every password. The goal is for the
organization to have a secure way to
recover access when someone is
unavailable or leaves the organization.
And your succession plan. Maybe you want
to add technology to your succession
plan and maybe even your policy manual
because every district should know your
email, who manages it manages it. Files,
where are they stored? Backup, where is
the second copy? Passwords, how can
access be recovered? Access, who else
can access critical information? And
then emergencies, could we operate if
the office was destroyed or if it
disappeared?
So, I appreciate you joining me today.
Try some of these discussion questions.
Um number one, if the person who manages
your accounts and documents left
tomorrow, could the district regain
access?
If there were a fire, flood, or a
computer crash, is there a backup file?
What information would be the hardest to
replace if everything was destroyed? And
what is one change your district could
make to better protect its records?
Your records belong to the district. So,
protect them, back them up, share access
appropriately, and plan for the
unexpected.
Feel free to call our team at any time.
Like I said, if you have more questions,
feel free to reach out, but also ask
your neighboring districts. There's a
lot of districts that are using some of
these great options and they would be
able to answer answer your questions.
Thank you and have a great day.