RECORDS RETENTION AND DISPOSAL SCHEDULES

BY G TSVUURA

Paper Presented at a workshop at Chinhoyi Caves Hotel 26-30 March

2012

INTRODUCTION

Actual decision on records retention and disposal should be an agreement among records creators, users and the local archival institution regarding how long the record should be retained and before disposal. The decision must be documented in the organization as a policy, as it specifies how long a record should be kept in the ACTIVE storage for reference, how long it should be kept in the SEMI-ACTIVE storage, and it should finally be preserved or destroyed.

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVESThe purpose of the records retention and disposal schedule is to retain, protect and dispose of records of an organization. Three broad objectives are:

For prompt disposal of records whose retention periods have ended

Proper storage of records which must be temporarily retained after they are no longer needed in current business

Preservation of records which are of long term value.

BENEFITS OF DISPOSAL SCHEDULESSave time by reducing the volume of records which must be searched for information

Identify the valuable records for archival preservation

NB: The result of records disposal scheduling is fewer records, better records, more effective records and economical records.

STEPS IN DEVELOPING RECORDS RETENTION AND DISPOSAL

SCHEDULERecords surveys and records inventoryingRecords appraisalDevelopment of the retention schedules – archives institution and records personnel work together

Records transfer to records center Final disposal of records – either by transfer to the archives or by destruction

NB: Also consider the legal issues or the national legal aspects pertaining to retention and destruction of records.

SAFE AND SECURE RECORDS SCHEDULING

CHAOTIC RECORDS SCHEDULING

WHO DEVELOPS RECORDS RETENTION AND DISPOSAL SCHEDULE?

It is recommended that all stakeholders should be represented given that it’s a policy issue; -

records managers, archivists, legal division, finance department, administration and major creating departments, all should be involved on one stage or the other.

THE TRANSFER OF RECORDS

It means physical movement of records from the records office to the records center, i.e. from high cost storage to low cost storage.

NB: There is need to have procedures of records transfer from the records office to the records center.

PROCEDURES FOR RECORDS REQUESTSSince many times there will be request for the records transferred to the records center, it is important that there is a formal procedure for retrieving such records. Maintaining statistics of records referred to in the records center will give some ideas as to whether the records office should have continued keeping the records On the other hand; low-use of a record should prompt the records managers to have a re-look at the retention periods.

COMPONENTS OF THE DISPOSAL SCHEDULE

The office of the record – the office responsible for the record during its use

Each format of the record should be included. Records can occur in offices in more than one format – each format must be sentenced and included on the disposal schedule

At what point the disposal action specified is to be applied. – each record has a trigger which indicates that its active life is complete. This needs to be clearly established for each record type on the schedule, because disposal action can not take place while the material is still in active use.

The disposal schedule should specify for how long records should be stored in the current office.

ISSUING THE DISPOSAL SCHEDULE Once drafted, the disposal schedule should be returned

to the creators of the records to ensure that their views are incorporated into the document- this reflects consensus between the creators and archivists.

The schedule then need to be accepted as an official document of the organization, and a copy must be submitted to the legal representatives of the organization, although many lawyers are not as well versed in the legal requirement for recordkeeping

The document should receive the official imprimatus of the organization, be it the signature of the chief executive, the department head or the chairperson of the board, eg archivist – creator-appraisal committee – official document is declared.

In most circumstances, the disposal schedule is adaptable enough to provide appropriate tools to implement appraisal decisions. However, there are circumstances, where, for particular reasons, archives may determine that these procedures are not appropriate and an alternative disposal strategy is adopted.

TYPES OF DISPOSAL SCHEDULES

A] The General Disposal ScheduleIssued by government archival authority –these schedules cover functional areas such as personnel, finance and administration; -issued formally through the appropriate mechanisms of the government and can be applied to a large number of bodies with no further approval of destruction required.

B] One-off or adhoc disposalOne- off or adhoc disposal authorities are sometimes issued in these circumstances to cover only the specific records detailed in the authority,- this technique allows formal issuing of instructions or authorization of action, but will not tie the archives to a precedent in the disposal decisions taken

TYPES OF DISPOSAL SCHEDULES (continued)

C] Blanket ProvisionsIn areas of known scarcity, some archives have adopted the strategy that records fitting within particular parameters will be accepted without any further appraisal. Usually the scarcity of the particular records outside archival custody enables the archives to make these blanket provisions, e.g. might be:

All materials which pre-dates federationAll records survived in a major disasterAll referendum or liberation war records.

VITAL RECORDS PROTECTIONVital records contain evidence needed to establish or continue an organization in the event of a disaster.

Such records are necessary to recreate the organization’s legal and financial position and preserve the rights of the organization and its employees, customers and stakeholders

Loss, damage and missing of such records will cause a serious threat to the operations of the organization.

Without vital records protection programme in place – accounts receivable could not be collected, contracts could not be enforced; designs for products would be lost, all leading to the death of the organization.

Safeguarding vital records includes protecting them against the ordinary hazards of fire, water, light, dust, insects, rodents, acids and excessive humidity.

These records must also be protected against human hazards such as theft, misplacement and unauthorized access.

A good vital records protection programme consists of assigning responsibility for the programme, evaluating potential risks, analyzing and classifying records, selecting protection methods, establishing procedures and maintaining communications

ESTABLISHING A RECORDS VITAL PROGRAMME

Objectives of establishing a vital records protection programme

To ensure continuity in business operationsTo provide for effective and economical procedures, systems, personnel and equipment to protect records and standardize the processing and control of these systems

To establish guidelines for maintenance, use and control of active, inactive and vital records

To identify and classify various types of records to be retained; establish their location within the organization and account for specific records systems, equipment and procedures.

To designate responsibility and authority over the total records management programme and training of records personnel

To integrate the vital records management functions into the total organizational structure and operations.

DISASTER MANAGEMENTAny organization should be prepared for any eventualities

It should be prepared to react as rapidly and appropriately as possible if disaster does strike in order to save the holdings of the organization.

The key issue is to be pro-active and not reactive

Disasters that can destroy records

Key Steps

Know your enemy; i.e. disasters likely to occur in your area

Know your records; i.e. which records to salvage first in the event of a disaster

Vital records help to facilitate continuity of an organization’s activities under emergency conditions and such records can be copied on to microfilm, and other backup facilities, and stored offsite locations such as other branches or in vaults.

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Millar, L. 1999. Managing Records Centers: A Procedure Manual. London: IRMT

Mnjama, N. 2004. Records and Information: The Neglected Resource. ESARBICA Journal Volume 23.

Ngulube, P. 2005. National Archival Institutions and the Management of Public and Private Documents. [Online] Available from http://stardata.nrf.ac.za/CODATA2005/presNgulube. ppt

Wallace, P.E. etal. 1992. Records Management: Integrated Information Systems. 3rd ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Wallace,D. 2004. Record-keeping for Accountability. ESARBICA Journal. Volume 23.