Time Stamping in OneNote

[Jason T]

I work in the medical field and sometimes in the course of my research need
to timestamp my findings in a way whereby the timestamp is validated and the
document cannot be modified subsequently. For example, if I were documenting
some research findings from July 21, I would need to lock these findings down
(at least once per day) so that they cannot be changed and the locking date
is firmly recorded and accessible for review by governmental agencies. This
is important in my field and is in high demand.

I need to find out if such functionality is in any version of OneNote. If
not, is there any functionality available in third-party developed
applications which would permit this?

Much appreciated.

 

[Rainald Taesler]

I work in the medical field and sometimes in the course of my
research need to timestamp my findings in a way whereby the timestamp
is validated and the document cannot be modified subsequently. For
example, if I were documenting some research findings from July 21, I
would need to lock these findings down (at least once per day) so
that they cannot be changed and the locking date is firmly recorded
and accessible for review by governmental agencies. This is
important in my field and is in high demand.

I need to find out if such functionality is in any version of
OneNote. If not, is there any functionality available in third-party
developed applications which would permit this?

Unfortunately there are no features in ON which might be used for
locking a page.

As much as I love ON:
It's not a egg-laying-wool-milk-pig (as we use to say over here in
Germany).

For security-related tasks you would have to find different instruments.
IMO only specialized database solutions might do the job.
You wont find those as cheap as ON, however.

Rainald

 

[Ilya Koulchin]

I work in the medical field and sometimes in the course of my research need
to timestamp my findings in a way whereby the timestamp is validated and the
document cannot be modified subsequently. For example, if I were documenting
some research findings from July 21, I would need to lock these findings down
(at least once per day) so that they cannot be changed and the locking date
is firmly recorded and accessible for review by governmental agencies. This
is important in my field and is in high demand.

I need to find out if such functionality is in any version of OneNote. If
not, is there any functionality available in third-party developed
applications which would permit this?

Such functionality is not available in OneNote directly, however, there
are some things you could do that might be helpful. Some ideas:

1. Make the section read-only in the file system. That way you won't be
able to accidentally modify the section, and if someone intentionally
removes the protection and changes the file, the last modified time in
the file system will be updated. Note that a skillful user could reset
the file modification time after making the changes.

2. Save the page/section as a PDF or OneNote package. Most apps cannot
edit PDFs, and you'd need to unpack the OneNote package before editing.
You could also digitally sign the PDF/package for extra validation.

3. Physically print the page and get it notarized. This is probably
about as solid as far as legal proof goes as you'll be able to get.

4. Have IT set up a server for you that would allow you to upload
documents, but not edit them once they're uploaded. Alternately, have
them make a non-editable backup of your notebooks at the end of every
day. Make sure IT is aware of your regulatory requirements.

Ultimately though, you'll need to talk with your organization's IT and
legal departments to determine what levels of protection you will need,
and what support they can provide in implementing whichever solution you
decide upon.

 

[Ben M. Schorr, MVP]

3. Physically print the page and get it notarized. This is probably about

as solid as far as legal proof goes as you'll be able to get.

Yes, or mail it to yourself but don't open the envelope. (The postmark
provides proof of date). Not quite as good as notarizing the printed page,
but cheaper.


--
-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr, MVP
Roland Schorr & Tower
http://www.rolandschorr.com
http://www.officeforlawyers.com/onenote.htm