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TRANSCRIPT
1 Records Management Training for Employees Part 1 October 2016 Script
Employee Training Script
Slide 1
Records Management for Maine State Employees
Hello and welcome to this introduction to Records Management. My name is Felicia Kennedy and I am the Management Analyst for the Maine State Archives. I am conducting the first part of this training and Rob Caron will do the second part, discussing scanning, the State Records Center and the process of transfer and retrieval of records.
Slide 2
Overview
This Training is for card holders or any employees who havent had any training before or for anyone who wants a refresher course. What we are offering in this webinar is what we like to consider our minimum standards training. These are the topics we will be covering:
Introduction
What is Records Management
Records Management Responsibilities
An Overview of the Records Management Process
Where to Go for Help
Also a Brief Overview of Email Records Management
Slide 3
The Exciting World of RM
When you mention the words Records Management this is a typical reaction either people arent interested because they dont think it pertains to them or they want to run away and hide because they dont want to deal with it.
However whether you want to face it or not, records are part of your work day and something you need to know about. In this electronic age, to deny that or to stick your head in a drawer so to speak is really bordering on the edge of negligence when it comes to your job duties as a State Government employee.
Although I realize Records Management isnt an exciting topic (and I apologize for that) it is an important, often overlooked element of every employees job. Consider that this is something taking place on a consistent basis, yet many state employees arent even aware of it; agencies arent planning or putting procedures in place for it; yet records are being created and destroyed in all state government agencies on a daily basis. The scary thing to consider is thisare those records being properly managed?
Slide 4
The Records Management Program Exists Because its written in Maine Statute
According to Title 5, Chapter 6, every state agency must establish and maintain an active, continuing records management program. So if your agency doesnt have any type of program just be aware that it is written in Maine statute.
The Statute is based on an ISO Standard for Records Management
The statute and other guidelines we have developed are based on International Records Management Standards. We might base some of our decisions on state laws or other factors but our overall records management guidelines are based on International Standards.
Slide 5
What Is Records Management
Records management is controlling records throughout their life cycle. This begins with the creation or receipt of a record and continues through maintenance, use, and disposition. Records Management is the process by which an agency captures and maintains evidence of and information about its programs, transactions, policies and procedures in the form of records.
Slide 6
Howeverthe problem is Records Management is very seldom an exact science.
Part of Records Management including knowing what to retain and what to dispose of at the proper time - is using common sense and sound judgment.
Determining what is and isnt a record or what to keep and how long to keep it is seldom black and white believe me, I wish it were because my job would be made so much easier. There can be several variables or gray areas so its important to ask questions and find answers so records arent kept needlessly or worse that records are improperly disposed of.
Slide 7
What Records Management Does
Provide standards, procedures and techniques for effective management of records
This is done through our Chapter Rules, the General Schedules and other information we have available on our website.
Help establish retention schedules
Agencies write their own schedules but Records Management will review, give guidance and approve submitted schedules
Provide training for records officers and others in state government
Provide assistance in the transfer and retrieval of records to/from the State Records Center and also the transfer of records to the Archives
Slide 8
State Agency Responsibility
To appoint an Agency Records Officer
1)Records Officers should have a thorough knowledge of the organization and its functions
2)Per Title 5, agencies should have an established records management program/policy in place
3)Agencies need to inventory their records and have updated schedules
4)Depending on how big the agency is they might need to appoint Assistant Records Officer(s)
5)And make sure all employees are informed and trained
Slide 9
Reasons Why Good Records Management Is Vital
Facilitates effective performance and delivery of services throughout an agency
Allows quicker retrieval of documents and information from files
Improves office efficiency and productivity
Provides better documentation
Frees up office space
Protects the rights of the agency, its employees, and its customers
Protects records from inappropriate and unauthorized access
Meets statutory and regulatory requirements
Provides protection and support in litigation
Better information, at the right time, makes sense for staff, the organization and the public!
Slide 10
Maine State Government Needs ALL Staff To Be a Part of Records Management
All State employees need to learn more about Records Management and how to do their part.
Maine State Agencies produce records every day. They are the vital component to the functionality of the agency for administrative, fiscal, legal and historical purposes.
Improperly destroying records is not the answer to Records Management and neither is keeping everything. There are implications for both.
Slide 11
Implications of Improper Record Keeping
A Presumption that records are correct and complete
Wasting resources/money to store unnecessary records
An Inability to locate information when needed
Destruction of records before they have met fiscal or legal requirements or possible destruction of archival records
Having to produce records for a FOAA request that otherwise should have been destroyed
Slide 12
Why Should You Care About Records Management?
Because whether we want to accept it or not, we are all an integral part of the agency and how it conducts its business. If YOU are mismanaging records, deleting files you shouldnt, holding on to personal information which otherwise should have been removed, you could be in danger of harming the integrity and reputation of the agency, not to mention any legal ramifications the mismanagement of records can pose.
Slide 13
Is Managing Records YOUR Responsibility
All state employees are responsible for creating records needed to do the business of their agency, and documenting activities for which they are responsible. As a government employee, you are responsible for managing any and all public records (including email) for which you are the custodian.
Slide 14
Records Management Procedure
Agency Management Responsibility - Creating and maintaining an efficient and continuous records management program (this includes creating an agency RM policy)
Records Officer Responsibility - Implement the program and oversee records inventory process
and records scheduling.
Employee Responsibility - If Management and the Agency Records Officer are doing their parts
Employees will know what records they are responsible for, how long records are to be retained, and where to go for answers.
Slide 15
The Records Management Process
Slide 16
Have the Right People in Place Records Officers and Assistants
Agencies need to appoint Records Officers and Assistants
A Records Officer Coordinates the Departments Records Management Program and ensures records management activities are performed in accordance with standards and procedures.
Records officers act as the liaison between your agency and ours.
Slide 17
Identify Your Records the Records Inventory
An Inventory is a high level survey of all types of information created, received and stored by your agency.
Its perhaps the most important, often overlooked step in the Records Management process. BUTif you dont know what you have, how can you properly schedule your records and determine what should stay and what should go.
If your agency hasnt conducted a recent inventory, hopefully they will do that soon. You should be prepared to give detailed information on the records you create, manage and/or are retaining in both paper and electronic format.
For further information you can watch the National Archives video on this subject.
Further Information: National Archives Video: Word of the Week Inventory
Slide 18
What is a Record?
"Record" means all documentary material in any format (paper, microfilm, digital records including e-mail messages and attachments), made or received and maintained by an agency in accordance with law or rule, or in the transaction of its official business.
Things to keep in mind:
Records can have varying purposes per agency
Focus on the materials content, not the format
Most non-retention or non-record materials dont document government business or theyre duplicate documents which can be destroyed
Slide 19
What is the Life Cycle of a Record?
Creation: Receiving or generating information for the first time
Active/Current: Using or referring to records regularly in the course of business
Retention is in the agency until records are closed
Inactive/Noncurrent: Infrequent need for the records but they still need to be kept for fiscal, administrative, legal, or historical purposes per approved retention schedules
These are closed record. Retention can be served at the Records Center or within the agency.
Disposition: Is the final fate of a record will these records be destroyed or are they archival (what some people refer to as permanent retention)
Slide 20
If you answer yes to any of these questions, you may have a record:
Was it created in the course of business?
Things like correspondence, agreements or studies
Was it received for action?
Such as FOAA requests or other types of information requests
Does it document agency activities and actions?
Things like meeting minute or project reports
Is it mandated by statute or regulation?
Records specific to the functions of the agency; outcome based records
Does it support financial obligations or legal claims?
Items such as grants, contracts or case files
Does it communicate agency requirements
Such as guidance documents or policies and procedures
Slide 21
Are Drafts Considered Records?
Drafts or working documents are records but they might only need to be retained for a brief period of time if they do not have significant administrative, legal, fiscal or historical value.
The July 2016 Advice Bulletin has more information on drafts. That is located on the Records Management website.
Slide 22
If you answer yes to any of these questions, you may have non-retention material (or non-records):
Is it reference material?
Such as vendor catalogs, technical journals
Is it a convenience copy?
These are duplicate copies of correspondence or directives that are
specifically for convenience purposes where no action is required
Is it a stock copy?
Things like agency publications or forms
Is it only related to your personal affairs?
Those personal messages like (Can we do lunch?)or personal schedules
One Note here: Be careful about Personal planners or calendars - they can be considered records if they document agency activities
For more information you can watch the National Archives video on non-records.
Slide 23
Things to Consider
Not all business materials are records that require a retention time
Part of a records management program is deciding what is and what is not a record
Focus on materials content, not the format
Most non-retention or non-record materials dont document government business or are duplicates
Records must be managed throughout their life cycle, according to their retention schedules
Slide 24
1. How Do You Manage Your Records
Start by asking yourself:
What types of records do you create?
Examples could include client files, project documents or administrative type records such as invoices or agency general correspondence.
Its important to consider the aspects of your job and the types of records you might be creating.
Slide 25
2. What is the Purpose of the Records
Next Review:
Why are these records created and maintained?
There are a number of valid reasons for creating files such as statute, regulation, management reporting, and program administration.
There are also less valid reasons such as reference or personal convenience.
Concentrate your attention on the files that directly support the agencys mission.
Slide 26
3. Who is Responsible for the Records
Then Think About:
Who is responsible for these records?
Generally there should only be one custodian for each type of record.
Where are these records located?
This is where its very critical to have policies and schedules in place so all employees are following the same process and know what records they are responsible for, where records are located and how long records need to be retained.
Slide 27
Schedules and Record Retention
Slide 28
Managing Your Records
In order to have the information you need (when its required), there has to be a way to identify, manage and retain records for the right amount of time.
Records are managed by creating agency schedules.
If you think about it, we live our lives by schedules giving us a certain structure to know where we need to be and what we need to do on a day-to-day basis.
This is how we need to think of our records. That without a proper schedule, we cant be expected to know what the purpose of specific records are, whos responsible for them, where theyre located or for how long they need to be kept.
Slide 29
What Is a Records Schedule?
A records schedule describes agency records, establishes a period for their retention by the agency, and provides mandatory instructions for what to do with them when they are no longer needed for current Government business.
This includes digital records or records that never leave the creating agency's custody. Schedules and retention periods apply to ALL government records.
Slide 30
Why You Need Schedules
Records retention schedules serve as an agency's legal authority to retain and purge records and, therefore, hold great importance.
Schedules capture all of the types of records created and used by the agency in the course of its business and indicate how long these records are required to be retained.
Both development and implementation of retention schedules are important elements in establishing a "good faith" effort for ensuring proper records management practices by all employees.
Slide 31
What Schedules Can Do
Ensure records are organized and maintained to be easily retrieved and identifiable as evidence of the agency activities (especially in the event of an audit, FOAA request or a discovery for a lawsuit).
Protect legal rights and interests
Helps preserve those records that are valuable for historical or research purposes
Determine appropriate records media or what the record copy of the document is
Maximize use of appropriate storage
Provide security for restricted records
Provide control throughout the records life cycle including final disposition
Make sure everyone in the agency is retaining records for the same amount of time
Slide 32
Types of Retention Schedules
There are 2 types of retention schedules
General Record Schedules - issued by the Maine State Archives to provide retention and disposition standards for records common to most State agencies (there are currently 17 schedules)
Agency Schedules for those records unique to the office
Before submitting a new schedule be sure that a General Schedule doesnt exist.
Slide33
Do your records fall under the State General Schedules?
This is the list of the 17 General Schedules
Most of the General Schedules relate to audit, fiscal, correspondence or other administrative office procedures.
Schedule 1, Vendor Series
Schedule 2, Accounting Series
Schedule 3, Payrolls and Authorizations
Schedule 4, Income Series
Schedule 5, Budget Series
Schedule 6, Financial Order Series
Schedule 7, Attorney General Opinions Series
Schedule 8, Inventory Series
Schedule 9, Records Management Series
Schedule 10, Personnel Series
Schedule 11,MFASIS Reports
Schedule 12, Minutes of Meetings
Schedule 13, State Agency Correspondence
Schedule 14, Rules Adopted by State Agencies
Schedule 15, Quality Management Records
Schedule 16, State Employee Charitable Programs
Schedule 17, Freedom of Access Act
If you are retaining records in your office that fall under the General Schedules, an agency schedule is not necessary unless records are going to be sent to the Records Center or Archives.
Slide 34
Agency Specific Schedules
Agency Record Schedules are those created because of unique programs or activities within your agency. They should be reviewed annually and updated as necessary by your Records Officer. Any schedules and amendments must be approved by the Maine State Archives.
Are you familiar with your Agency Schedules? Find them on our website:
Agency Schedules
Slide 35
Agency Schedules - Process
If you have records you know need to be scheduled, talk to your records officer to see if they can write the schedule for you or help you to write a schedule for the records. They would submit an Application for Records Retention Schedule and Inventory Form (available on our website) with proper justifications for the chosen retention times. Samples of the records would also be included.
Slide 36
How to Determine Retention and Disposition
Unfortunately, there is no universal guide to determine retention periods and disposition methods. Each record series needs to be examined individually in regard to usage patterns, departmental needs, historic value and legal issues.
Agency retentions can vary greatly depending on a number of factors. Even records that may appear similar between two departments can have different usage patterns, and require different retention strategies.
Some questions you can consider:
How long will the records be needed for business purposes, as far as your agency is concerned? What are the fiscal or legal requirements? What is the frequency of use? What is the records value to your agency?
Total Retention Period is the Time kept in your agency PLUS Time kept in the Records Center
The most important principle to remember is this: Content, not format, determines retention.
Slide 37
Determining Retention Periods - 4 Part Criteria
1. Administrative use: What is the value of the records in carrying out the function of the organization? How long are they needed for immediate retrieval? Records for the Day to day business operations; materials such as general correspondence and reports typical need for these records is under 5 years and should be retained within the agency.
2. Legal requirements: Is a certain period specified for compliance with statutes, agency rules or protection of legal rights and interests of the state? Are Federal retention periods involved? These are Records mandated by law or regulation which may be needed as evidence in things like legal cases or contracts.
3. Fiscal requirements: How much time must be allowed for the completion of fiscal activities such as audit or budget? These records Document an agencys fiscal responsibilities; such as invoices and receipts. Typically, audit records are kept 6 or 7 years. Some Federal requirements may be 10 years.
4. Historical or research purposes: Do these records document historical events or the history and development of the organization? These are Records documenting the history of the agency such as board minutes, agency policy impacting external operations. Typically these would be unique records not found elsewhere and valuable for public research purposes for hundreds of years to come.
Slide 38
Record Disposition
Non-archival (non-permanent) retention is based completely on the records time-value to the business functions of the agency, including audit or other statutory requirements, and reasonable access by interested parties.
These records will be destroyed once they have met their retention.
Archival retention is based on the records value after it no longer serves the agencys business.
Again, think in terms of the records value in the future. Hundreds of years from now, will someone find these records useful? Will they provide any significant information that far in the future? Keep in mind when you are thinking of archiving confidential records records which will be sitting in a box on a shelf collecting dust and virtually nobody will be able to look at these records if they are restricted.
Slide 39
Things to Consider
Avoid the Just in Case or CYA syndrome.
Information should be retained if there is a reasonable probability it will be needed at some future time to support legal or business objectives, and the consequences of its absence would be substantial.
You need to make sure there is proper justification to support hanging on to the records.
Remember, the presence or absence of information can be either helpful or harmful.
A retention period is most likely to be valid if it is based on a consensus of the opinions of persons most knowledgeable about the value of the information.
Make sure youre getting the right information from the right people who can also support their opinions with fact. Even if you get an AAG opinion they should be able to cite statutes or rules to back up their findings beyond a because I said so kind of reasoning.
Slide 40
Where to Go for Help
Slide 41
The Agency Records Officer
The Agency Records Officer should have a thorough knowledge of agency functions, the records created to fulfill those functions and the schedules which define the retention and disposition of the records. A list of all appointed records officers can be found on our website.
Slide 42
Records Schedules
If you have a question regarding retention and disposition of records you should first check both the General Schedules and Agency Schedules to confirm how long you need to keep certain records.
Remember the total retention time may include time stored at your agency and any time at the Records Center.
Slide 43
Agency Records Management Policy
A policy will guarantee all employees are following the same records management procedures.
Where records will be kept
"centralized" area, or "decentralized" at individual work stations
What type of documents to be included in the record files
How draft documents, working papers, and copies will be handled
How records will be maintained for access
So all employees who need access can find and retrieve what they need including confidential records
Who will be responsible for maintaining the record copy
Who is considered as the records custodian
So find out if your agency has any kind of Records Management policy or other policies related to records.
Slide 44
Maine State Archives Records Management
Our staff can assist with training, schedule or transfer questions or other record related questions.
Also, go to our website for schedule and records officer listings, training and resource information and records management forms.
Slide 45
Other Sources
Are there any Federal Laws or State Statutes related to your agency and its records?
Do you know your Agency Chapter Rules
Does your agency have a FOAA representative
Contact your agency AAG for legal questions
Slide 46
Lets talk a little bit about Email Management
Slide 47
Email ManagementFirst Things First
When you ask: How long do I keep my e-mail?
RememberEmail is a format, not a record.
Retention is determined by the content of the email.
Would you look at a folder full of legal correspondence and a folder full of general information requests, group them all together and say, how long do I keep my paper?
Records are unique and email is subject to the same retention requirements as paper correspondence.
Slide 48
Why Bother to Manage Email
Because these are potential records and just like records in paper format, they must be managed so they can be retained, accessed and destroyed at the appropriate times.
Slide 49
Email Schedules
Email is typically considered general correspondence. In the General Records Schedules, most general correspondence, and therefore most email, has a retention period of 2-5 years.
State General Schedule 13 establishes retention periods for correspondence, regardless of media.
Slide 50
General Schedule #13
These records series are all considered to be incoming or outgoing correspondence in any media format. Retention for individual employees would depend on several factors including whether or not this is the record copy and whether or not action is required.
Series 1 Commissioner/Executive Correspondence
Retention of Record Copy: 2 Years Disposition: Archival
Series 2 Program Correspondence
Retention of Record Copy: Variable
Disposition: Destroy
Series 3 General Correspondence
Retention of Record Copy: 2 Years Disposition: Destroy
Series 4 - Transitory Correspondence
Retention of Record Copy: Retain until no longer needed Disposition: Destroy
Series 5 Non-Business Related Correspondence
Retention of Record Copy: Delete/destroy immediately
For complete descriptions go to the General Schedules page and look at General Schedule 13.
Slide 51
When Are My Emails Records?
If you are conducting government business in that email it is considered a record (communication sent or received in the transaction of local state government business.) Keep in mind, if you are sending work emails using your personal email account, your account could become subject to Public Information Requests and legal discovery.
Slide 52
Things to Consider
Think about what types of email you send and receive.
Generally, not more than 10 records series will apply to any employee.
Non-retention material such as spam or personnel messages should be deleted immediately.
Transitory records can be deleted when no longer needed and should be kept no longer than 30 days.
If emails are CCs or Forwards where no action is taken or required they typically can be deleted immediately.
If you are the official custodian of any email records YOU are the person responsible for retaining them until they have served their retention.
Also keep in mind that email records are typically general correspondence and will most often have a retention of 2 years or less unless they are related to specific programs, case files, etc.
Slide 53
Email Planning
Organizing Folders
It is best to set up folders in your Outlook mailbox that organize email messages according to your retention schedules, with sub-folders set up by year and month.
This will make it easy to delete messages that have fulfilled their retention periods, without having to look at individual messages again.
For more information on mailbox and archive folders watch OITs 8 minute video: http://inet.state.me.us/foaa/mailbox-archive-folders.mp4
Slide 54
A Word of Warning
ONE IMPORTANT EMAIL NOTE
Be careful when seeing the word archive or archiving on the OIT site. This does not mean all email should be saved as a permanent record. Remember, email is only a format. It is the content of the email that matters and each record should be retained according to schedules.
Im concerned that employees are being told to archive or save all of their email records. This is not true and should not be done. The pst folders are meant as a means to store records which need to be retained for a specified period or for those records which are actually archival. But by no means should an employee be indiscriminately sending all of their email to a pst folder.
Slide 55
Some Suggested Email Folders/Filing Schemes
Any electronic record should, if it's "record material" that requires retention and filing, be stored in a properly named directory/subdirectory.
Again, the easiest way to manage email records is to separate them as much as possible by broad category, by topic and then by year.
Here are some suggested mailboxes
Personal email or non-record material (should be deleted immediately)
Transitory email (delete when no longer needed typically 30 days or shorter)
General correspondence requests (delete after 2 years)
Program related emails (retain according to schedule)
Those specified in the General Schedules, or in the agencys specific retention schedules
Permanent e-mail (save to archival folders)
Things such as Commissioners Correspondence or material related to Policy decisions
Slide 56
Email Tips
Dont use personal email for professional business Your personal email account could become subject to FOAA.
Dont delete or save emails indiscriminately Remember, email is a format, it is the content of the email that must be evaluated and then retained accordingly.
Limit the use of Reply All or sending those thank you and your welcome emails Consider thisif this was in paper format and not email, would you be sending all the responses, replies, forwards, CCs, etc. that you send? Because email is so easy and convenient, we tend to overuse and misuse its intended purpose in state government.
Fill in/use meaningful subject lines This will help you to sort, organize, index and search for your emails.
Plan daily times Use 10-15 minutes first thing in the morning or at the end of the day to devote to your email management.
Consider an Agency-wide Records time Get upper managements involvement to plan for a department-wide electronic records time where all employees devote one day per month/once every 2 or 3 months or whatever time is allowable to Records Management with a focus on email.
Separate transitory email - Obviously these should be deleted as soon as possible. But when transitory email is kept for reference purposes, it should be separated and labeled as such into folders so it is clear these are for reference purposes only and can be purged when no longer needed.
Cc: yourself - To help manage sent mail, cc: yourself on messages which have to be retained and manage them with your other incoming mail. Your sent mail folder will then contain only duplicates and messages of transitory value, and can be purged regularly.
Slide 57
Some Tools in Outlook
You can color code email and Organize them by categories which makes it easy to send them to appropriate folders.
Then, you can sort your inbox by categories, so that all emails related to one category go together. This then makes it very easy to file those emails away in the related folder, which is hopefully based on your retention schedule or other agency filing schemes.
Another tool in Outlook is to Set up rules to help manage your inbox and send emails to specified folders. This allows you to send emails directly to folders you have created.
I do this for things like listserv messages I have them automatically go to a folder in my Non-records portion of my inbox so I know these are informational and I should look at these and delete as soon as possible.
Slide 58
When records are kept in more than one format, you should identify an official record copy to which you will apply the full retention period. When the record copy is electronic, its important to identify the storage location (directory and subdirectory) so that all changes are made there and that records are purged once they have met their retention.
I think theres a misnomer that if records are kept in digital format its okay to keep them forever. This is not true. Records need to follow their retention schedules regardless of format. Not only are agencies paying for storage space but this leads me to the next slide
Slide 59
Legal Implications
Organizing and managing records (including electronic records) limits your liability for deleting records you shouldn't, and gives you authority to delete files you should delete. It will also reduce legal exposure in DISCOVERY proceedings on records that otherwise should have been destroyed.
In other wordsIF IT EXISTS AND SOMEONE ASKS TO SEE IT, THE AGENCY HAS TO PRODUCE IT!
While you arent under any legal obligation to destroy records as they become eligible, as long as
they exist youre obligated to reference them. If your agency isnt following its retention schedules this can be viewed by outside sources as an inadequate management program or even worse, as intentional wrongdoing.
Consider the ramifications to your agency if a party is aggrieved because information which was supposed to be destroyed per agreed to records schedules was negligently retained. Would this person or business have grounds to sue the agency? At the very least, it could cause a lot of unneeded negative publicity. Something to think about if you know of someone in your office hoarding paper or electronic records.
For more information on Freedom of Access Act go to the FOAA website.
Slide 60
How Do I Find the Time
Email is something that can no longer be ignored.
Managing email has to become part of our jobs, part of our daily routine and has to be recognized as being important enough to incorporate that management into our work process. Set up folders, sort email on a daily basis or weekly basis or however it works to make it work. But it has to be deemed as essential at the agency level so that employees are taking the time to manage their email records. It must be viewed as a part of a departments processes and procedures or it will continue to be left unattended and mismanaged.
Think of it in terms of paper mail. Is mail allowed to be stacked up weeks at a time or is it processed on a daily basis, stamped received, forwarded, answered and filed accordingly? Is junk mail tossed or do people hang on to it just in case? We seem to either want to get too involved with email or not deal with it at all. State government email is used in so many ways for which it is not intended. How many of these type of email messages do you see in a day? Thank you Youre welcome Hey can you come see me? Yes Ill be there in a minute. Okay. Consider how much email we could cut out of our lives right now if we pick up a phone or get out of our chairs or just think before we send the email.
Slide 61
Final Note
When an employee leaves a position, computer files, including e-mail, may NOT be automatically deleted! So if you leave your position those records on your computer are public records and you cant just indiscriminately delete them all. However, you should be managing your emails so your agency isnt left with hundreds of non-records or transitory emails to sift through.
Senior administrators can Use the OIT Checklist for Departing Employees (pdf) or go to the OIT website for more information
Slide 62
Final FINAL Note
How Does Records Management
Become a Priority?
My question is, how can it not be?
What we have to accept is that Records and Records Management has really come to the forefront in this day of FOAA and electronic media.
As much as wed like to ignore it and think it doesnt pertain to us or doesnt matter it does! What we have to accept is that Records and Records Management has really come to the forefront in this day of FOAA and electronic media. If you just keep doing things the same old way, you are just adding to current problems.
I worked at an agency for 23 years and never heard of Records Management, didnt have a clue what it was except that I had this friend who worked for Archives who used to complain to me about how difficult his job was because hed go to agencies and try to train them and help them manage their records and he was dumbfounded that they had no clue about records management. Well, neither did I really until I took over my friends position 27 years later. In the agency I worked at I never saw a schedule, nobody ever told me how long I was supposed to be keeping the annual reports I was in charge of or other records I generated from my program. I just kept them for whatever suited my purposes.
We are trying to break that pattern where employees are uninformed, misinformed or indifferent to records management and also to make upper management more aware of the role they play in having a well implemented program.
I do believe NOW is a very critical time for agencies to get on board, for employees to pay attention and to recognize or have the knowledge that they are creating public records. Its also vital for agencies to make employees aware of their records schedules and have those schedules up-to-date. Management needs to get involved and create policy for all employees to follow so everyone in the office knows how to manage records efficiently and effectively.
I will leave you with these Records Management quotes:
Slide 63
Let records management take you... from heap to harmony... from chaos to control. (Christopher Gaines)
Information which is not communicated is valueless Information which cannot be found is worthless The value of Information is directly related to its accessibility. (Katie Geuin)
ABC of RM: A: Keep what must be kept B: Shred what may be shredded C: Understand the difference between A and B (Yves Lgar)
Slide 64
This is a list of our Staff
Tammy Marks
Director
287-5799
Felicia Kennedy
Management Analyst (creating/amending schedules)
287-5798
Robert Caron
Records Center Supervisor (record retrieval, packing boxes for shipping, filling out forms)
287-5792
William Towne
Records Center Assistant (record retrieval, packing boxes for shipping, filling out forms)
287-3627
Maine State Archives: http://www.maine.gov/sos/arc/records/state/
Slides 65
Questions
Please contact me with any questions you might have regarding retention or schedules. However, you should always check with your agency Records Officer first.
We also have a lot of training and resource material available on our website.
Felicia Kennedy
Management Analyst (creating/amending schedules)
287-5798
Maine State Archives: http://www.maine.gov/sos/arc/records/state/