Question 1: Why Records Management? Ten Business Reasons Every business or program must address well-defined objectives that will add value, either directly to the bottom line or toward the achievement of the organization's goals and objectives. Records management objectives usually fall into one of three categories:
Records management programs must manage organizational information so that it is timely, accurate, complete, cost-effective, accessible and useable. Better information, at the right time, makes better business. Records management programs are not generally an organization's primary business, and even though records management programs don't usually generate income, the following are the most important reasons to set up a good records management program in your office anyway. (Adapted from Ten Business Reasons for Records Management in Information and Records Management: Document-based Information Systems, Robek, Brown, Stephens, 1995.)
Question 2: What is a Record? Records include all books, papers, maps, photographs, machine readable materials, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by an agency of the United States Government under Federal law or in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved or appropriate for preservation by that agency or its legitimate successor as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the Government or because of the informational value in them. (Taken from 44 U.S.C. Chapter 33, Sec. 3301) Several key terms, phrases, and concepts in the statutory definition of records are defined as follows: (Taken from the Code of Federal Regulations Part 1222, Subpart A, Sec. 1222.12)
Question 3: What are your responsibilities? Every person who works for the Agency is responsible for Agency Records. Some people just spend more time at it than others, because they are in charge of a specific series of records (see Question 5). If you create a document using a word processor, enter information into a database, file a document in a folder, answer an inquiry from the public, respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, or do anything else that documents your activities for the DOI, you are a records custodian. You are responsible for ensuring the safety, timely availability, and proper retention and/or transfer of information in your custody. If you are in charge of managing a specific series of records, you are responsible for organizing, maintaining and retiring those records. Some of these responsibilites are laid out in 380 DM 1, Records Management Program and Responsibilities, as follows: f. Agency managers are responsible for ensuring that their programs are properly documented and that records created by their programs are managed according to relevant regulations and policies. g. Information system managers (program managers) are responsible for overseeing the creation and use of electronic records in keeping with federal regulations and Agency policy. This includes coordination with the records officer to establish recordkeeping requirements including a retention period and to implement authorized disposition instructions for system information and documentation. Systems managers also coordinate with records officers to develop specific information resource management plans to meet future system information needs. h. ADP or Information Technology Managers are responsible for managing ADP resources, as well as notifying the systems managers and records officers of technology changes that would affect access, retention, or disposition of system records. i. All Agency staff and agents of DOI shall:
Question 4: Which Records are important to your program? What does your program do that needs to be documented? What types of records are created in your program? What are your mission critical records? What records document your decisions or are part of the audit trail? Examples might include permit files, project files, reports, publications, time cards, personnel files, contact files, and so on. Look at each type of record and decide why it is created and maintained. Your program may be required to create and maintain records for a number of valid reasons including program administration, management reporting, statute, federal regulation, Agency policy or procedures. Reference and personal convenience are valid reasons too. Frequently the only justifications for maintaining files are personal ones such as "I need the records for reference", "Joe wanted me to keep a copy," "somebody may ask for it", and "I don't trust anyone else to keep it." You will find that many of the series on the list for your office are working files, files maintained simply for convenience, or reference materials. Put those aside for now, and concentrate on the files that directly support the agency mission or administration. These are your "corporate" records. without which your program could not function. They are the ones you need to control. Identifying the list of corporate or mission critical records is the most important and the most difficult step in the process. It takes a little time, but the benefits are great and it will allow you to manage your information assets much more effectively and efficiently. Question 5: What is a Records Series? A series is the basic unit for organizing and controlling your files. Series are those file units or documents kept together because they relate to a particular subject or function, result from the same activity, document a specific type of transaction, take a particular physical form, or have some other relationship arising out of their creation, receipt, maintenance, or use. The series concept is a flexible one, and programs should be careful to create series by organizing their documents in ways that facilitate management of the records throughout their life cycle. Each record series should be located separately from all other records. Each record series must be covered by a records disposition schedule (see Question 6). Question 6: What is a Record Disposition Schedule? A Records Disposition Schedule (schedule) constitutes the DOI's official policy for records and information retention and disposal. The schedule provides mandatory instructions for what to do with records (and nonrecord materials) no longer needed for current Agency business. Records retention and disposal should occur at regular intervals in the normal course of business of the Agency. Other benefits of using the DOI Record Disposition Schedules are:
Each Federal Agency is required by statute (36 CFR 1228) to maintain a comprehensive records schedule. This comprehensive schedule is developed by combining the General Records Schedules (containing disposal authority for records common to several or all agencies), published by the National Archives and Records Administration, with DOI-specific schedule items or record series. Based on careful analysis of the Agency's documentary materials, the schedules provide instructions for the retention and disposition of each record series or system and of nonrecord materials, and authorizes the systematic removal of unneeded records from offices. 10 COMMANDMENTS OF RECORDS MANAGEMENT Records management responsibilities, as defined in statutes, regulations, and Agency policy, can be distilled down to the following ten tasks. The Agency, its Program Offices, Staff, and Agents must:
This is all we "have to do" in records management. Everything else is either: Definition of terms Procedures for consistently carrying out those ten steps Sample best practices (don't reinvent the wheel). The purpose of the 10 commandments exercise is to focus on what is really important and to simplify the message. Records management is an important management concept. It can be distilled down to a few basic ideas, but like any other resources management, there is regular repetitive work that has to be done, just as we need regular property inventories, regular employee evaluations, and regular financial accounting. 10 EASY WAYS TO IMPROVE RECORDS MANAGEMENT Good records management can save: Time Money Space It isn't complicated - Here are 10 easy things you can do to implement an effective records management program:
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