April 15, 2010
Records Management holds open house April 23, reminds staff to manage electronic records
Records Management Services — the office that oversees UW compliance with laws regarding which paper and electronic records to keep and which to destroy — is having an open house on April 23. But really, that’s only part of the story.
The open house will be from 9 a.m. to noon in building 5-D of the old Sand Point Navy Base, now Magnuson Park, where Records Management Services is located. The street address is 7501 63rd Ave. NE, building 5D. Parking is free.
The office’s basic responsibilities include:
- managing and overseeing University compliance with state and federal laws and regulations relating to the preservation and destruction of electronic and paper information.
- responsibility for developing Records Retention Schedules which identify records created or received by the University
- advising administration on the implementation of a policy and procedure which promotes adherence to these standards and minimizes risk.
Visitors to the open house can see the 17,000-some square feet of storage space for paper documents at the facility, which opened in 2002. The facility has room for about 40,000 boxes and there are about 30,000 there at any time — paper documents the UW must keep for anywhere between six months and 60 years. The open house is especially timely because April happens to be National Records and Information Management Week.
Barbara Benson, director of Records Management Services, said the open house also helps underscore an important point to the campus community: “Records are electronic, too, and you have to be aware of that and be as responsible for your electronic records — including e-mail — as you are for paper records.”
For instance, she said, certain types of e-mail — official policy statements as well as messages relating to departmental purchases — must be retained by employees for a period of six years. Benson said there will be posters on hand at the site explaining more about rules pertaining to e-mail and electronic documents.
The message, she said, bears repeating: The Records Center manages paper documents and will even work with your department for the proper storage of necessary paper documents. “But you alone — the employee — are responsible for managing your electronic records.”
To learn more about Records Management Services and its work, visit online.
