Records management: theory or practice

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Records management theory or practice?

• Presented to the COFAS Annual Conference, May 30,
  2004
• by
• Susan Jackson,
• Head, Maps, Data and Government Centre
• Carleton University Library

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Everyone who works in an organization has had to
face records management issues at some time
Everyone who works in an organization has had to
face records management issues at some time

• Some take to it naturally while for others it is
  a struggle for survival
• In the interests of our mental health and
  organizational well-being we need to meet this
  challenge head-on!

• Some take to it naturally while for others it is
  a struggle for survival
• In the interests of our mental health and
  organizational well-being we need to meet this
  challenge head-on!

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What is a record?
What is a record?
Lets take as our operational definition that a
record is information created, received and
maintained as evidence by an organization or
person. This includes any file format.
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Basic principles

• Information is an integral part of business for
• decision-making
• service delivery
• accountability and responsibility
• evidential purposes
• historical purposes

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Where do records come from?

• Created by your organization in the course of
  doing business
• Received in the course of doing business
• Arising from legal obligations
• Shared by a network of interested parties
• Multiple copies?

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Information Overload?

• First, an environmental scan
• Is there a records management policy in place?
• What did you do when you started work to find out
  what had gone on before your time? Read? Toss?
  Ignore?
• When was the last time you couldnt find
  something you KNEW was there?

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Why a records management policy?

• A sound, integrated strategy reflects the
  relationship between records management and your
  operations and ensures that you manage records in
  a way that supports your daily work, supports
  long-term operational needs, and meets your legal
  requirements.

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A mixed blessing

• One of the advantages of being disorderly is
  that one is constantly making exciting
  discoveries. -A.A. Milne
• On the other hand, the time it takes to make
  these exciting discoveries could be used for more
  profitable work!

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Strategic resource

• Records management is a means of making good use
  of a strategic organizational resource
• to maintain organizational policies
• to facilitate information sharing
• to collect once and use many times
• to ensure that information is properly
  safeguarded

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Targets for success

• Records should be
• trustworthy
• complete
• accessible
• durable
• properly described (metadata is the information
  about the records creation and content)

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In the beginning was paper...

• The myth of the paperless society
• Paper multiplies after you go home at night
• Paper hangs around unless it has a good home to
  go to

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Treasure or Just Stuff

• Security of files. Who has access?
• Wandering documents and retrieval of same
• Protection of personal information
• History of the organization
• When in doubt ask an expert

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What is the best way to get out from under those
piles?

• Politicize
• Analyze
• Sort
• Record
• Commit

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Inventory and Archiving

• Do you have an Executive Policy?
• Are you the Office of record?
• Who else has it?
• Who needs it?
• How long will it be needed?
• What format is it in?

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Timeframes

• Work out a disposition schedule
• Consider variable timeframes according to the
  material concerned one size may not fit all
  files
• Always record your decisions
• Be sure it is one that you can follow, otherwise
  all is lost

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Example of a simple disposition document

• Retention guidance and authority
• 6 fiscal years
• perpetual retention inactive storage after 5
  years
• 10 years then keep a summary indexed by name,
  date and article

• Function/Description
• cheques and banking records
• Minutes of meetings
• Grievances

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Examples of office of record files

• Staff information
• Office equipment
• Service contracts
• Journal subscriptions
• Insurance records
• Travel and expense reports
• Policy and operating manuals

• Membership data
• Constitution and by-laws
• Representation Certificate
• Legal records -grievance, arbitration
• Collective agreements
• Minutes of meetings
• Publications/PR

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Non-replaceable information

• Grievance records personal and private as well
  as institutional
• Minutes of meetings record of actions
• Financial accounts audit in particular
• Salary information structural only not
  individual
• Collective agreements full text, record of
  negotiations

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The Rule of 3

• These are general guidelines only you must
  decide what works best for your organizational
  needs
• Keep a third
• Get rid of a third
• Find a better home for the rest
• What is left? Well, there shouldnt be anything
  but we all know there will be

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File cleaning priorities

• Never try to tackle everything at once
• Decide which files need better access first and
  draw up a plan to move forward in a manageable
  way...

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Keeping track

• Rely on aging brains? Not so much!
• Manual methods
• Access database
• Fancy records management software (EDMS)
• Anything that works for you but it has to be
  recorded and able to be communicated to others

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Indexing?

• This is an essential component of record
  management
• Pick a system that suits and follow through in
  applying it.

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Taxonymy isnt just for botanists

• Just a fancy name for a naming system
• Structure depends on organization
• Structure has to be operationalized
• From the general to the component parts and
  ending with the most specific
• Links need to be identified and recorded

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File structure

• Keep number of top level categories as limited as
  possible
• Keep related elements together as sub-themes
  from most general to most specific
• Allow for miscellaneous category but avoid
  putting things in it as much as possible

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Organizing principles

• Alphabetical by name of file or by category
• Alphabetical sub-arranged by numerical system
• Numerical
• Chronological by date

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Thematic system

• Example
• Administration
• Collective agreements
• Legal
• Grievances
• Arbitrations
• Finance
• Accounts
• Audit
• Investments
• Membership
• Negotiations

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Alpha-numeric system
Example C Collective agreements (general) C1.0
Own collective agreements C1.1 Current
collective agreement C1.1.1 Superseded
collective agreements, by date C1.2 Background
to clauses sub-arranged by clause number C2.0
Collective agreements from other
universities C2.1.A/2003 Acadia (Arranged
alphabetically by name of institution
sub-arranged by date of c.a.
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Numeric system

• Example
• 1.0 Administration
• 1.1 Office equipment
• 1.2 Service contracts
• 1.3 Personnel
• 1.3.1 Benefits
• 2.0 Collective agreements
• 2.1.1 Current collective agreement
• 2.2.0 Superseded collective agreements

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Chronological

• Best for financial information, correspondence
• Example Year, month, day
• Can be used as a sub-arrangement within another
  main system
• Can be a secondary filing system used for current
  files and replaced by permanent file when inactive

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Paper fibers to fiber electronics?
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Electronic records management strategy

• Consider technological issues in light of future
  generations trying to use these files
• Dont duplicate and keep all copies
• Good guidance is available from the Minnesota
  Historical Society at http//www.mnhs.org/preserve
  /records/electronicrecords/erguidelines.html
• Also check the McGill University Archives Records
  management guidelines http//www.archives.mcgill.c
  a/recmanage/recguide_01.htm

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Remember the Domesday Book?
If it is REALLY important, should it be kept on
paper?
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Email

• Everyone keeps too much
• Why? Where? How long?
• Organized by theme or date?
• Do you delete, delete, delete?

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The Web and its contents

• Born digital?
• Storage space versus History
• Amount of control needed?

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Windfalls and pitfalls

• One of the advantages of being disorderly is
  that one is constantly making exciting
  discoveries. A.A. Milne
• On the other hand, can you afford
• lost information?
• Wasted time through inefficiency, duplication and
  recovery?
• The potential damage to your organization?

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Reality check time...

• Make a list of your 5 biggest problems with file
  management
• Are they issues of time? Organization? Space?
  Decision-making?
• Would a records management policy help resolve
  these?
• If not, what else do you need?

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Help is online

• Library and Archives Canada Draft retention
  guidelines for commons administrative records
  http//www.collectionscanada.ca/information-manage
  ment/060403_e.html
• NRCan Guidelines on managing electronic mail
  messages http//www.imforumgi.gc.ca/products/natr
  es4_e.htm
• INTERNET AND RECORDS MANAGEMENT Internet
  Resources for Records Managers http//www.hi.is/a
  nne/recman3.html

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RECORDS AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT RESOURCE LIST
Links to Records and Information Management
(RIM) and other related websites.Alan S. Zaben,
List Owner This list of 4989 links, in 314
categories, to records management organizations,
information, and other related sites (last
updated on May 03, 2004 at 1856 (ET)) This
resource list is available atHomestead
(http//infomgmt.homestead.com)PRISM
International thanks to Jim BoothISI Global
thanks to John O'Brien
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Summary or Keys to Victory
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No Records Task is Impossible
Not surrender but SUCCESS!