What’s a record?

Librarians, archivists, and records managers can say “record” to one another and know it means document, catalog record, three-dimensional object, or digital file. But this wide net can confuse those who create and manage records but do not consider them central to their jobs. Ask and they may reply “What’s a record?”

Credit: Pixabay

At the University of Cincinnati, a record, whether it’s created, received, or managed by university employees represents an action taken to complete a task. Many documents, paper or digital, can be considered records. But not all for various reasons. Records exist in many places, from filing cabinets to the cloud. Email is a curious case, being both a record and a means for transmitting them.

Record is a ubiquitous term that casts a wide net. Any confusion is understandable. But at UC, a record can be any document, device, or item, physical or digital, regardless of its purpose. Whatever its form or the purpose it was created for or received by UC, a record serves to document the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, and other activities at UC.

At the same time, not every document, device, or item constitutes a record. Examples include rough notes, drafts, or copies kept for reference which do not contain information requiring preservation or duplicate information found in documents deemed official records. Because they are not considered records, they may be discarded whenever the creator or user deems it appropriate.

Credit: Element5 Digital

Those that are records can be found in many locations. Physical ones include boxes, filing cabinets, and folders. Digital locations include computers, shared drives, databases, the cloud, and email servers.

But email as both a record and a location? The answer is yes. Those considered records contain information that falls under the campus-wide General Records and Retention Schedule (GRS), which determines how long records are retained. This does not mean that all emails constitute records. These typically include meeting reminders, courtesy copies, listserv notices, drafts, or a means to transmit documents (e.g. attachments or OneDrive links). They may be deleted.

The definition of a record at UC means that it documents an activity. Not all documents and items, physical or digital, are considered records. Those deemed records can be found in many places from filing cabinets to Teams. Emails serve as both records and means for transmitting them. With this knowledge, UC faculty and staff can exercise greater confidence in knowing what records are and are not and their uses.

So you want to learn about records management

The Archives & Rare Books Library is pleased to serve the University of Cincinnati with instruction in records management. With a student population of 53,000 and 12,000 employees, lots of records are created, received, managed, and destroyed or transferred at UC every day. The instruction gives employees the skills and knowledge to confidently manage records under their oversight. But what can they expect from instruction?

It starts with defining what a record is: any document, device, or item – physical or digital – that’s created by or received by UC to perform an action. That’s a broad definition but necessary with the many kinds of records on campus. At the same time, it’s just as important to know what is not a record: rough notes or drafts of official documents.

With these definitions, employees can better understand their responsibilities, starting with the four reasons for records management at UC: 1. Minimizing legal risk; 2. Reducing physical and digital storage costs; 3. Increasing administrative efficiency; 4. Preserving UC history. These help employees learn to create or receive records only as necessary to do their jobs and help others. But what about keeping or discarding records?

That involves the records retention schedules. They are a huge part of records management, determining how long records are kept. Most records at UC fall under the General Records Schedule. The GRS governs common business, administrative, and education records. Most areas of UC use the GRS. Yet some units have highly specialized records and therefore use unique retention schedules. Training helps employees understand and navigate both.

With staff understanding what records are, their responsibilities, and the retention schedules, they are ready to learn about destruction and transfer of records. Some records lose their usefulness with time and require destruction. But any destruction is documented on a form. Other records retain their usefulness and are transferred to University Archives.

To learn more about records management at UC, please contact the Records Manager to schedule a training for your unit (kirkwojp@ucmail.uc.edu or 513-556-1958. Training typically lasts one hour with a presentation and Q&A after. Specialized topics require more notice and preparation.

Changing of the GRS

Change happens. It’s a fact of life. For lots of reasons. Recent changes to the General Records Schedule, the document providing direction for the disposition of records generated by UC personnel, show that it’s no different for records retention. While slight, the changes were still essential to executing the records management program. What is as important as change happening is that these changes be documented for and shared with relevant stakeholders. Fortunately, at UC a process exists for that. It occurs in three phases: the reason behind the changes, how the GRS is updated, and communication of the changes.

General Records Schedule
Archives and Rare Books Library
Records management
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UCBA Library To Host An Introduction to Records Management Workshop

Introduction to Records Management Workshop

laptop sitting on desk

Presented by Eira Tansey, Digital Archivist/Records Manager, UC Libraries
Wednesday, March 13 from 2p-3p
Muntz 117 (Learning & Teaching Center)

During this workshop, we will discuss the University’s records policy and requirements, benefits you will receive from managing your records, your responsibilities as an employee, and the proper means of records disposal and archiving.

Please RSVP at https://uc.libsurveys.com/workshop-registration by Monday, March 11th.

Read Source to Learn How We’re Making Digital Collections More Widely Available and More UC Libraries’ News

sourceRead Source, the online newsletter, to learn more about the news, events, people and happenings in UC Libraries.

In this edition of Source we highlight some of the University of Cincinnati Libraries’ newest endeavors in digital collections. From the latest version of the university’s digital repository, Scholar@UC, to a new archive space for special collections, to our recent membership in the large-scale collaborative repository HathiTrust, UC Libraries has made great strides in increasing our digital footprint and exploring new ways to enhance our user’s scholarship and the ways they can access and utilize our collections.

In addition, read about two exciting projects UC Libraries is involved in: PBS’s Great American Read and the touring exhibit Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness.

Read these articles, as well as past issues, on the web at http://libapps.libraries.uc.edu/source/ and via e-mail. To receive Source via e-mail, contact melissa.norris@uc.edu to be added to the mailing list.

Digital Archivist Eira Tansey to Give Keynote Address at Digital Preservation Forum Wednesday

Eira Tansey

Eira Tansey

Eira Tansey, digital archivist/records manager in the Archives and Rare Books Library, will deliver a keynote address at the Digital Library Federation’s (DLF) Digital Preservation Forum from 4-5 pm on Wednesday, Oct. 25. DLF keynotes feature speakers doing work around contemporary issues in librarianship and cultural heritage (see 2016’s speakers). Eira’s talk, titled “The Necessary Knowledge,” will focus on the connections between record keeping and environmental protection, using Pittsburgh’s environmental history – where DLF is taking place – as a backdrop.

Logistical details:

Wednesday, October 25, 4-5 pm. This is the opening keynote for National Digital Stewardship Alliance’s Digital Preservation 2017: “Preservation is Political,” which is hosted by the Digital Library Federation and taking place in Pittsburgh.

Live stream link: https://forum2017.diglib.org/livestream-recordings/

Speaker page: https://forum2017.diglib.org/speakers/eira-tansey/

Eira Tansey is the digital archivist and records manager at the University of Cincinnati’s Archives and Rare Books Library. She has previously written about Cincinnati’s public libraries, the visibility and compensation of archivist’s labor and the effects of climate change on archival practice. She is currently collaborating on a Society of American Archivists foundation grant to develop a comprehensive data set of American archives locations in order to aid future spatial analysis of the field, and researching environmental regulatory record keeping.

The National Digital Stewardship Alliance, hosted by the Digital Library Federation, is a consortium of more than 220 partnering organizations, including universities, professional associations, businesses, government agencies and nonprofit organizations, all committed to the long-term preservation of digital information. Members work together to preserve access to our national digital heritage.

 

What Is the Ohio Electronic Records Committee?

By Eira Tansey, Digital Archivist/Records Manager

Public-sector archivists, records managers, and other information professionals across the country share similar challenges: electronic records are getting more complex, public institution budgets are leaner (and sometimes cut to the bone), and citizen’s interest in access to public records grows. In Ohio, we are addressing some of these challenges through the Ohio Electronic Records Committee (OhioERC). Continue reading

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

By Eira Tansey, Digital Archivist/Records Manager

The transition from paper-based workflows to electronic records-based workflows has been one of the most profound ways in which work has changed over the last several decades. The “paperless revolution” has created many unanticipated challenges, but perhaps one of the more underrated ones is how it has affected institutional archives. Continue reading

Behind the Scenes with UC’s Digital Archivist: Finding the Needle in the Haystack

By Eira Tansey, Digital Archivist/Records Manager

A constant challenge for digital archivists is identifying potentially sensitive material within born-digital archives. This content may be information that fits a known pattern (for example, a 3-2-4 number that likely indicates the presence of a social security number), or sensitive keywords that indicate the presence of a larger body of sensitive information (for example, the keywords “evaluation” and “candidate” in close proximity to each other may indicate the presence of an evaluation form for a possible job applicant).

Digital archivists use a number of tools to screen for potentially sensitive information. When this information is found, depending on the type of information, institutional policy, legal restrictions, and ethical issues, archivists may redact the information, destroy it, or limit access to it (either by user, or according to a certain period of time). Continue reading

Behind the Scenes with UC’s Digital Archivist: Making Sense of It All

By Eira Tansey, Digital Archivist/Records Manager

When archivists first make contact with a large group of records, they often perform some form of appraisal. You might think of appraisal as being the calling card of the much-loved PBS television show Antiques Roadshow, in which average people realize that Great Aunt Milly’s painting is a valued masterpiece – or a total dud.

Unlike appraisers, when archivists appraise something they generally aren’t assigning a monetary value, but seeking to articulate the value of the records and the information they contain. The Society of American Archivists defines (http://www2.archivists.org/glossary/terms/a/appraisal#.V2hA1jXERmM)  appraisal as:

  1. ~ 1. The process of identifying materials offered to an archives that have sufficient value to be accessioned. – 2. The process of determining the length of time records should be retained, based on legal requirements and on their current and potential usefulness. – 3. The process of determining the market value of an item; monetary appraisal.

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