Transferring and Retrieving the Records of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

1
Transferring and Retrievingthe Records of the
FreerGallery of Art and ArthurM. Sackler Gallery

• Presented by
• Jennifer Wright
• Smithsonian Institution Archives
• Records Management Team
• November 9, 2004

2
Goals of the Presentation

• Introduce the Smithsonian Institution Archives
  (SIA) and its Records Management Services
• Discuss the Freer/Sackler Records Disposition
  Schedule
• Describe the Processes for Transferring and
  Retrieving Records
• Answer Questions

3
SIAs Mission

• Appraise, acquire and preserve records of the
  Institution
• Establish policies and provide guidance for
  management of the National Collections
• Offer a range of reference, research, and records
  services
• Create products and services which promote
  understanding of the Smithsonian and its history

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SIAs Authority SD 501

• All documents created or received by employees
  of SI in the course of official business are
  records of the Institution, and none may be
  disposed of except in accord with guidelines
  established by the Smithsonian Archives.

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Records Management Services

• Help identify what to keep and what to discard
• Create disposition schedules
• Assist you in organizing your records advice
  and file plans
• Supply boxes and do the physical transfer of
  records
• Maintain and care for records
• Provide access to the records
• Destroy records according to established schedules

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Advantages of Records Management

• Faster retrieval of documents
• Reduced/eliminated level of record-keeping
  redundancies
• Reduced costs of storage equipment and supplies
• Elimination of unnecessary files storage
• Increased usable space

7
Freer/Sackler Records Disposition Schedule

• Authorized by Freer/Sackler administration in
  1999
• Instructs on records disposition
• Consists of a general schedule and a schedule for
  each office
• General Schedule Used for records common to
  many offices
• Office Schedule Used for records found in a
  specific office

8
Record Schedule Structure

• Consists of 6 columns
• Series Title
• Series Description
• Office of Record
• Retention Period
• Source
• Disposition

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Series Title and Description

• Series
• A group of records that serve the same function
  and are often filed together
• Series Title
• A descriptive title used to identify a series of
  records
• Series Description
• A detailed description of the types of records
  that are included in this series.

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Office of Record

• Office of Record is responsible for maintaining
  the official and most complete set of the record
• Torch Office of Public Affairs
• Smithsonian Directives (SDs) Office of
  Planning Management and Budget
• Not all offices are the Office of Record

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Retention Period

• Permanent Records
• Historical, enduring value
• Best document your offices activities
• Temporary Records
• Records of short-term value
• Records for which you are not the Office of
  Record
• Administrative, routine, housekeeping functions
• Permanent/Temporary Records
• Records with short-term value that are interfiled
  with records of permanent value and need to be
  weeded before transfer

12
Appraisal Source

• Documentation of legal authority, or appraisal
  decision on which retention decisions are based
• SIA
• National Archives and Records Administration
  General Records Schedules
• Previously authorized schedules for Smithsonian
  units

13
Records Disposition

• Instructions for the maintenance or transfer of
  records once they become inactive
• Inactive Records are no longer needed by your
  office to conduct current business
• Disposition information instructs units in how
  long to keep records in this series and what to
  do when that time period is over
• Permanent records will usually be transferred to
  Archives
• Temporary records will either be destroyed
  on-site or transferred to SIAs Records Center
  for longer-term temporary storage

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Records Transfer

• Call SIA with the types of records to be
  transferred and the number of boxes you will
  require
• Transfer records from filing cabinets to boxes,
  removing all hanging folders and binders
• Number the boxes and create a list of folder
  titles in each box
• E-mail the folder list to SIA and schedule a
  records pickup

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Records Retrieval

• After the records transfer, SIA will provide you
  with the accession number and a copy of the
  folder list and will place another copy on the
  Web with full-text search.
• To retrieve records, simply contact SIA.
• Records stored on-site can be retrieved
  immediately. Records stored off-site will be
  retrieved once per week.
• Records may be used in the SIA Reading Room or
  charged-out for extended use.

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Records Center

• Records Center materials should be prepared,
  transferred, and retrieved in the same manner as
  permanent records.
• At transfer, a destruction date will be assigned
  based on the Freer/Sackler records disposition
  schedule.
• SIA will ensure the timely destruction of
  records.
• Destruction will be suspended pending
  investigations or legal actions that might bear
  upon the records.

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Contact Information and Resources

• General questions and records transfers contact
  Jennifer Wright, Freer/Sackler Liaison, 357-1421
  ext. 37, WrightJM_at_si.edu
• Reference Services e-mail osiaref_at_si.edu or call
  357-1420
• SI Archives Website http//siarchives.si.edu
• Records Management on the Web
  http//siarchives.si.edu/records/main.html
• Freer/Sackler Disposition Schedule
  http//prism.si.edu/ocio/sia/FGAAMS20Schedule/fga
  amsgtoc.html (SI only)