04/21/23 1

Topic

Public Record & Rare Materialand their scope

04/21/23 2

Public Record

Introduction

• The word “record” originally comes from a Latin word recordari ‘meaning to be mindful of this again originates from the Latin cor (heart), the only relationship between heart and “being mindful of’ called record.

• Oxford Dictionary defines it “memory of fact or event”

04/21/23 3

Public Record…

• Introduction….

• While each Country has its own standards about what information is considered public record, for example in USA the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

04/21/23 4

Public record…Definition: Public record:

Any information, minutes, files, accounts or other records which a governmental body is required to maintain, and which must be accessible to scrutiny by the public. This includes the files of most legal actions. A court will take "judicial notice" of a public record introduced as evidence. For example: recorded deeds to show transfer of title or a criminal judgment are both public records.

04/21/23 5

Public record…

• Public records are documents or pieces of information that are not considered confidential.

04/21/23 6

Public record…• “Public records” shall mean all books, papers,

maps, photographs, recorded tapes, financial statements, statistical tabulations, or other documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristic, made or received by any officer or employee of any agency, executive office, department, board, commission, bureau, division or authority of the commonwealth, or of any political subdivision.

04/21/23 7

Public record…1) All documents 2) Papers3) Letters4) Maps5) Books6) Tapes7) Photographs8) Films9) Sound recordings10) Data processing software, or other material or regardless

of the physical form AND11) Characteristics, or means of transmission, made or

received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by any agency.

04/21/23 8

Public record…12) Census records13) Criminal records14) Consumer protection information15) Court dockets16) Government spending reports17) Legislation minutes18) Professional and business licenses19) Real estate appraisal records20) Sex offender registration files21) Voter registration

04/21/23 9

Public Record…

22) Records of law court proceedings23) Records of births, marriages, and deaths24) Statistics regarding population and the economic activity of a

country

04/21/23 10

Fe Angela M. Verzosa 11

Why need an integrated approach to Public Records?

• Lack of uniform classification and filing system

• lack of systematic and orderly transfer of inactive records

• lack of standardization and control to the creation of forms and directives

• loss or misfiling of records• lack of storage space and filing

equipment

Fe Angela M. Verzosa 12

Goals of Public Records management

• create only necessary records for efficient and successful operation of the office/institution.

• produce the records when needed.• retain/preserve only records needed for

continued operation of the office/ institution, and dispose what is not needed.

Fe Angela M. Verzosa 13

LIFE-CYCLE CONCEPT OF PR

Fe Angela M. Verzosa 14

Records with evidential values• organizational charts• annual reports• directives/policy memos• official histories• correspondence• accreditation records• legal opinions/decisions• handbooks and manuals• minutes of meetings

Fe Angela M. Verzosa 15

Record groups general correspondence transitory correspondence case files references audiovisual materials cartographic records engineering drawings cards machine-readable records microforms

Fe Angela M. Verzosa 16

Other record groups

Administrative records academic records accounting/financial records legal records personnel records personal records “convenience” copies

Fe Angela M. Verzosa 17

• determining the length of time that the records should remain in the originating office

• usually influenced by such factors as their administrative values to the creator

• as a general rule, records are to remain in the originating office as long as they are active

• records that are inactive should remain in a storage facility; while records with no archival value should be disposed of

• records with archival values should be transferred to the archives

Retention scheduling

Fe Angela M. Verzosa 18

Suggested Retention Periods

• Keep permanently and preserve.• Keep permanently (transfer to

Archives at intervals of 5 years)• Keep for 10 years, then destroy.• Keep for 5 years, then destroy.• Keep for two years, then destroy.• Review at intervals, keeping only

those with continuing value.

Fe Angela M. Verzosa 19

Keep permanently and preserve.• annual reports• minutes of meetings• papers relating to policies &

decisions, development plans, budget approvals, etc.)

• property/investment records• contracts/agreements• personnel records (201 files)

Fe Angela M. Verzosa 20

Keep permanently and transfer to Archives• accreditation records• employment contracts• ledgers (summaries of receipts and

disbursements)• audit reports• building maintenance and

operations files (including plans, blueprints, cost records)

Fe Angela M. Verzosa 21

Keep permanently and transfer to Archives

• Students’ transcripts of records (inactive)• reports / plans (including working papers) • projects (proposals, progress reports, etc)• government permits• court records/decisions• photo/clippings files• publications

Fe Angela M. Verzosa 22

Keep for ten years, then destroy.

• budget records and ledgers (including vouchers, requisitions, cancelled checks, payroll records, deduction registers, etc.)

• building maintenance inventories• purchase orders, requisitions,

invoices for major items• accounts (audited after 5 years)

Fe Angela M. Verzosa 23

Keep for five years, then destroy.

• purchase orders, requisitions, etc.• payroll transactions• credit investigation reports• job evaluation reports• school calendars• price lists/maps/brochures/flyers

Fe Angela M. Verzosa 24

Keep for two years, then destroy.

• acknowledgements• application records• attendance / job performance reports• duplicate/multiple copies of minutes,

reports, plans, printed material (catalogs, brochures), etc.

• survey questionnaires• unused forms

Fe Angela M. Verzosa 25

VITAL RECORDS

• records needed for continued operation

• records with long retention periods

• irreplaceable records• records where no other copies

are available• records of historical/ permanent

value

CATEGORY OF PUBLIC RECORDS

• Records of government departments and agencies • Records of boards and establishment under

government departments of non-departmental and other public bodies.

• Records of Autonomous bodies / Attached departments

• Semi-Government• Courts and District Records

04/21/23 26

Value of Records

• Administrative• Fiscal• Legal• Historical

Records Management Detectives

• WHAT• WHERE• WHEN• HOW • WHY

Types of public record

1. LEGAL & COURT RECORDS2. HEALTH RECORDS 3. EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT & SOCIAL RECORDS 4. FINANCE & REVENUE RECORDS 5. MILITARY AND WAR RECORDS 6. TRANSPORT RECORDS 7. ENVIRONMENTAL RECORDS 8. TRADE & INDUSTRY RECORDS 9. HERITAGE AND CULTURAL RECORDS 10. OFFICIAL PAPERS OF PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS

04/21/23 29

Types of public record…

11. PUBLIC RECORDS OF INDIVIDUAL LOCAL SIGNIFICANCE12. RECORDS IN SPECIALIST MEDIA

04/21/23 30

Access to Public

• Although public records are records of public business, they are not necessarily available without restriction

• Some companies provide access, for a fee, to many public records available on the Internet. Many of them specialize in particular types of information, while some offer access to different types of record, typically to professionals in various fields.

04/21/23 31

Access to Public…

• Some companies sell software with a promise of unlimited access to public records, but may provide nothing more than basic information on how to access already available and generally free public websites.

04/21/23 32

Access to Public…

• Access to U.S. national public records is guided by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Requests for access to records pursuant to FOIA may be refused by federal agencies if information requested is subject to exemption, or some information may be redacted.

04/21/23 33

Access to Public…

• With the advent of the Internet and the information age, access to public records in the United States to anyone who wishes to view them has dramatically increased. Third-parties such as the information broker industry make regular use of public records to compile profiles on millions of people that are easily accessible to anyone at the click of a mouse, and sometimes make a profit from the service of recompiling and mining the data.

04/21/23 34

Access to Public…

• However, it is important to remember that public record data is usually beneficial to people.[original research?] Such areas as child support, employment, and identity theft prevention rely on accurate public record data to the benefit of consumers.

04/21/23 35

History of PR

• Since the earliest organized societies, in ancient Babylon records were kept in cuneiform writing on clay tablets.

04/21/23 36

History PR…

• In western Europe in the late Middle Ages public records included census records as well as records of birth, death, and marriage; an example is the 1086 Domesday Book of William the Conqueror. The details of royal marriage agreements, which were effectively international treaties, were also recorded. The United Kingdom Public Record Office Act, formalising record-keeping by setting up the Public Record Office, was passed in 1838.

04/21/23 37

Rare Material“Rare Books” are defined as those parts of the Library

collection that fit one or more of the following categories:

1) Volumes printed before 1850 in the Americas, and before 1775 in Europe and the other continents (these thresholds of rarity will be periodically advanced).

2) Items including a unique autograph or other unique manuscript elements (marginalia, annotations, etc.). Note that not all books signed by an author or illustrator are necessarily “rare”. Discretion is used in evaluating signed copies.

04/21/23 38

Rare Material…3. Signed presentation copies of books written by a

member of the Museum staff (whether on a subject of interest to the Museum or not).

4. Books known to be very scarce or known to be of especially high monetary value.

5. Original bindings of types which are extremely scarce, or which may be associated with known early binders and their shops, or with a particular owner and in general, books with unique or highly distinctive formats.

04/21/23 39

Rare Material…

6. Books less than four inches in height.7. Volumes with unique graphic elements such as hand-

colored plates, significant maps or graphics and portfolios of unbound hand colored prints.

8. Classic or “landmark” books in the field, preferably in their first or definitive editions and subsequent revisions issued under the direct auspices of the author (for example, Darwin’s On the Origin of Species and its various editions) -- modern editions are thus normally excluded; also, first English editions of works originally published in other languages.

04/21/23 40

Rare Material…

9. Limited editions (issued in editions of fewer than 200 copies).

10. Selected curiosa, (as, for example, Edgar Alan Poe’s plagiarized volume on conchology).

04/21/23 41

Criteria for Rare Material

The following criteria are considered:a. The book itself (or all of the authors’ writings)

is of special interest.b. The book is an association copy, containing a

signature, bookplate, or other evidence of ownership by a distinguished person, especially if the book itself or its owner is closely tied to the Museum.

04/21/23 42

Rare Books

• books which are valuable by reason of their early imprint date, including all monographs published before 1801 and selected monographs published between 1801 and 1850.

04/21/23 43

Rare Books…

• books of aesthetic importance, including fine printing, illustration or binding, and special press books;

• books with significant manuscript or other material laid or tipped in;

• special collections containing both rare and non-rare material, which need to be retained together to meet some special purpose;

04/21/23 44

Rare Books…

• books of high monetary value; or• high quality facsimile editions of important

books.

04/21/23 45

Rare Serials

• serials which ceased or where our holdings ceased before 1801; and American imprints of the first 15 states of the Union published up to 1820, the states in the Union by the end of the Civil War published up to 1865, and all other states up to their last territorial year or 1900, whichever is the earlier

04/21/23 46

04/21/23 47