Journaling

Journaling is a messaging-system capability that copies each email message to a separate, secured repository at the moment it is sent or received, before any user can move, edit, or delete it. The copy typically includes the full message content along with envelope metadata — sender, all recipients (including blind copies), and timestamps — so the captured record reflects exactly what was transmitted.

Journaling matters in recordkeeping because it produces a tamper-resistant, comprehensive capture that does not depend on employees filing their own messages. This supports defensible disposition, litigation holds, and e-discovery, since the journal preserves messages even after a custodian deletes them from a mailbox.

It is useful to distinguish journaling from archiving and from role-based approaches. Archiving generally migrates older mail to cheaper storage for retrieval; journaling captures everything at the point of transmission for evidentiary completeness. Capstone, by contrast, schedules accounts by the holder’s role. Journaling alone is capture, not classification or retention — captured messages still need a retention schedule and appraisal to govern how long they are kept.