Records Management

It is College policy that records of the official activities of the college offices and officers are the property of Mount Holyoke College. Such property is not to be destroyed or disposed of, or placed in storage without the approval of the officer in charge of the department and the Director of Archives and Special Collections. If large scale destruction of certain types of records is routinely performed, the officer in charge of the destruction must inform the Director of Archives and Special Collections, in writing, of this destruction.

Records scheduled for destruction in the College Records Retention Schedule must be destroyed confidentially.

Generally any records that contain personal information such as birth dates, social security numbers, bank account numbers or other financial information, student grades, personnel or search committee files, etc. require confidential destruction.

A record is recorded information exchanged in conducting normal business of the College. A record can include but is not limited to correspondence, memos, reports, minutes, agendas, purchase orders, student grade sheets.

• administrative record of the recent activities of your office or department, and thus assist department members with the day to day operation of the department or office.
• legal record for tax and other purposes.
• historic record of the activities of your office or department and the College as a whole.

The management of records involves understanding that records are generally maintained in units, or records series; that records have a life cycle; and that records need to be appraised to determine their continuing value and final disposition.

Records Series: Records series are file units or documents maintained as a unit because they relate to a particular subject or function, result from the same activity, have a particular form, or because of some other relationship arising out of their creation, receipt, or use. Some common examples include correspondence, annual reports, committee records and course records.

Records Life Cycle: The life cycle concept maintains that records are created, distributed, referred to, filed, re-used, and re-filed until they become non-current. When records become non-current they become less relevant to the daily operations of the office that created them. At the end of a records series' active life, it should be disposed of in some manner, either through destruction or transfer to the Archives.

Records Appraisal: Appraisal is the process of determining the value and ultimate disposition of a records series. Decisions about the disposition of a record series is based on its historical, legal, administrative, and financial value. Appraisal is carried out by an archivist in consultation with the creator of the records series or the administrative head of the office or department charged with the oversight of the records.

• Do not save drafts of documents unless they show major changes in wording or thinking.
• Do not save multiple copies of a document; one copy is enough.
• Do not file clippings or copies of periodicals unless you refer to them on a regular basis. Use the Library.
• Spell out acronyms and abbreviations.
• Sort records before filing.
• Do not file cryptic or illegible phone messages or notes.
• Discard envelopes if there is a return address and date on the document itself.
• Do not overstuff file folders. If you have too many documents for a folder, simply write "1 of 2" or "2 of 3" on the folders.
• Do not overstuff file drawers. This makes refiling hard and can also be dangerous.
• Weed files regularly. (If you need assistance or advice on weeding please contact Archives and Special Collections.)
• Use markers to indicate when a file has been removed from the system for use. If you have a large office, this marker can include a space for the name of the person who has removed the file and the date it was removed.
• If you keep inactive or semi-active records in an area other than your office, make sure that you keep a complete, up-to-date inventory of what you have stored there.