Records Management Tips
You are undoubtedly already overworked, and the thought of instituting a new system has, to say the least, limited appeal. But with a very limited expenditure of time and effort this new campus Policy on Records Management can provide you with some significant benefits.Here are some tips to help you get rid of the clutter in your offices, avoid duplication of effort, and allow easy retrieval of older materials whether they are held in your offices until their destruction or they are sent to the archives.
- Weed all files more than 3 years old. See Guidelines for Weeding
- Order contents of each record series into
chronological order. (A record series is a group of related records
normally filed and used as a unit for reference as well as retention
and disposition purposes.)
- Break folders at a predetermined date. Break files annually
(or every two years) Breaking a file means to start a new folder at
regularly scheduled intervals, say every year, or on a specific
date such as graduation, without fail. In this way, not only do
folders not become over crowded but it is extremely easy to purge
material on a regular basis. Making note of specific record series
stipulated in the retention schedules and keeping each record series
/record type separate will facilitate weeding and disposal of scheduled
materials.
- Label old folders with inclusive dates before boxing them. (Student
assistants can help with this.)
- Fill boxes in the same order that the folders exist in the file
cabinets. (For records to be sent to the University Archives please
contact the archives for acid free records cartons.)
- Number boxes (“1 of 3; 2 of 3, 3 of 3”)
- Label boxes with the department/office name. Records scheduled for
disposal should be marked ‘Dispose After’ with the disposal date
in accordance with the retention schedule for that record series.
These can then be easily stored until their destruction date without
having to be revisited. Records being transferred to the University
Archives should include a typed list (on a floppy disc/CD would be
helpful) of the contents/folder titles (including beginning and ending
dates) of each box. This ensures that the Archives can easily retrieve
records for you should you need it in the future.
- Transfer boxes either to records storage or to the University Archives. See Transfer Procedures
***At this time there is no campus wide records center available. Therefore individual offices and departments are responsible for storage of any records not destined for the archives.
