Records Management Program
As many of you may know, the functions of record management and archiving are being reorganized. As part of this process, we are re- evaluating the policies and procedures for storing staff records. The result of our current policy is that we have several thousand boxes being stored off site for long periods of time. While we formulate new guidelines, we would like to put a temporary moratorium on accepting new staff boxes for storage. This hiatus will be short-lived and we appreciate your cooperation in giving us the time to put more effective guidelines in place. Please do not send us any new staff boxes for the interim. And thanks for your patience and understanding.
Please contact Yvonne Mondragon at x8601 if you have any questions about staff boxes. If you have questions about materials that may be of historical significance, contact Kate Legg at x8508.
What is the difference between records management and archives?
Records Management is the field of management responsible for the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use and disposition of records, including processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and information about business activities and transactions in the form of records. (International Standard ISO/TR15489-1, Clause 3.16)
The general purpose of records management is providing the creator with the records necessary to support the efficient continuation of business activities. The specific objectives of records management concern:
- The production and acquisition of reliable records for legal and technical purposes.
- The organization of the creation of records in an orderly and coherent manner linked to the functions performed.
- The transmission and preservation of authentic records.
- The speed and efficiency of retrieval in the context of the administrative activity carried out.
The mission of a records manager is to:
- Plan the information needs of an organization.
- Identify information requiring capture.
- Create, approve, and enforce policies and practices regarding records, including their organization and disposal.
- Developing a records retention schedule, which identifies how long particular classes of records will be kept according to administrative, legal, and fiscal value.
Archives are the noncurrent records of an organization or institution preserved because of their enduring, or historical, value. Archives are those materials created or received by a person, family, or organization, public or private, in the conduct of their affairs and preserved because of the enduring value contained in the information they contain or as evidence of the functions and responsibilities of their creator, especially those materials maintained using the principles of provenance and original order.
The mission of the archivist is to:
- Identify records and papers of enduring value.
- Preserve those records.
- Make the records available to patrons.
What's the difference between Iron Mountain and the Archives?
The Archives are the repository for permanent UCAR/NCAR/UCP records that are determined by the archivist to have enduring value.
Iron Mountain is for the temporary storage of records destined for destruction, or for permanent records that may have permanent business value, but do not have enduring value in the archival sense.
Another important difference is responsibility. Records held in Iron Mountain are the responsibility of the office that created them and are owned by that office. They may be retrieved by the creating office at any time. Records transferred to the Archives become the property and responsibility of the Archives. The archivist determines what will be kept and what will be deaccessioned from the collection. Archives records may not be removed.
|
Subscribe
to our News Feeds at www.ucar.edu/news/rss