Management of Records in the Record Centre PDF

IMD237: FUNDAMENTALS OF RECORDS CHAPTER 5 CENTER Management of records MANAGEMENT in the Records Centre Liaising with Records Office Learning Objectives Understand the procedures to be followed in the records center Describe...

IMD237: FUNDAMENTALS OF RECORDS CHAPTER 5 CENTER Management of records MANAGEMENT in the Records Centre Liaising with Records Office Learning Objectives Understand the procedures to be followed in the records center Describe the types of disposal schedule Understand the process of destruction Understand the emergency planning and vital records care  Each department or agency ill have a records office, responsible for managing all the current records created and used by action officers within the office. Records centre staff should be familiar with the records office’s procedures and situation. Similarly, records office staff should understand the procedures used in the records centre. Active liaison between the two offices is necessary, so that records are removed from records office and are deposited in the records centre, transferred to the archival institution or destroyed as required by the schedules. Active communication and co-operation is also needed to ensure records that are issued to the records office for reference use are returned to the records centre in a timely fashion. Liaising with records office Disposal Schedule Destruction of records in office Emergency planning and vital records care  Disposal schedules Disposal schedules govern actions about the management, transfer and disposal of records. Disposal schedules are the means by which the records and archives institution documents decisions about the disposal of files. There are usually two types of disposal schedules: 1. General disposal schedules, covering all administrative records common to the organization as a whole 2. Agency disposal schedules, covering those records specific to particular agencies. Records offices should be issued with the : Specific schedule relating to their own agency (ministry, department or branch) Copies of relevant general schedules. Office staffs are responsible for : Seeing that closed files are transferred to the records center at the proper time. Notify the records center if there are specific reasons why records should be retained for periods other than those identified in the scheduled.  The records center holds copies of all disposal schedules. Once the records have been transferred to the records center, staff there are responsible for carrying out all required procedures, including : Retrieving records for use, Reviewing files if required, Destroying obsolete records or Transferring files to the archival institution.  Destruction of record in offices Some records may be scheduled for destruction within one year or less of their creation. These records should not be transferred to the records center. Instead, they should be destroyed by the records office under secure conditions. The only exception might be if there is no storage available in the office to hold records pending destruction. However, if such records are transferred to the records center temporarily, arrangements must be agreed beforehand by the head of the records and archives institution or records center. Otherwise, the records center could become cluttered with obsolete records that should be have been destroyed as a matter of course.  To destroy those records scheduled for destruction within one year from their creation, the record offices should undertake the following actions. Every six months, office staff should complete in duplicate a Proposal to Destroy Scheduled Records form, listing the records ready for destruction, the covering dates, the number of files and the relevant schedule number. The head of the records center will authorise destruction. If there is any query, he or she will inspect the records before confirming that they may be destroyed. Actual destruction will be carried out by the office, following guidelines established by the records and archives institution. Emergency Planning and vital Records care The creator agencies and the records center need to collaborate in drawing up and implementing an emergency plan, in order to ensure the best possible recovery in the event of a disaster involving the loss of records, or damage to records, in any office. The emergency plan should also cover the possibility of damage occurring in the records center itself. Emergency plan: Policies and procedures developed by an organization to be used during an emergency or disaster to prevent or minimize damage to an organization, its people and its resources Vital records: Records considered critical to the ongoing operations of an organization or the re-establishment of operations after an emergency or disaster. Also known as essential records.  Vital Records Care Ensure vital records are protected. Staff must be aware of their existence and condition. Ensure that these records are preserved and retrievable. Vital records are often duplicated, with the second copy kept in a building separate from the one where the original is held.