IMR 454

Management of Records Repository

RECORDS CENTER REQUIREMENTS:

STAFF, PROCEDURES AND EQUIPMENT
 Learning outcomes

Procedur
es
Equipme
Staff
nt
Records
center
requirement
s
 STAFF
 Managerial concepts
 Duties and responsibilities
Staff
Managerial concepts
 Understand that good information management is essential to agency
business and government accountability
 Have sufficient understanding of the importance of records and
accountability to make judgements where situations are not explicitly
covered in policies and procedures
 Know what their work group and agency information and records
management policies and procedures are
 Follow these policies and procedures to document and capture
evidence of their work to the specified standards
 Use records and information to meet agency obligations
 Encourage their colleagues to do likewise
 Staffing structure

Director of
Records
Administrati
on

Records
Center
Manager

Liaison with
Internal Security and Liaison with
Records
Management Transport Archives
Officer

Varies among the Records Repository – Registry -> Records center ->
Commercial Record Center/Data center -> Archive
Staff responsible:
Senior management
 Includes the head of an agency, members of the executive, the Chief
Information Officer, senior executives and managers.
 Recognise the importance of information and records management to
their agency
 Help the program to succeed by
 endorsing policies and procedures
 directing the agency staff to use those facilities available to them
 allocate roles and responsibilities to agency staff
 ensuring that staff understand their roles and responsibilities
 making sure that staff are fully trained in the application of those
facilities
Cont…
 Provide appropriate resources for all aspects of the program.
 sufficient numbers of skilled people
 appropriate information management infrastructure within the
agency to ensure the program can run effectively
 Seek and act on the advice of those skilled people when required
 Foster the establishment and maintenance of working partnerships
among senior managers, information and records managers,
and information and communication technology staff in order to
develop, review and implement business technology systems that
support the creation and management of authentic and reliable records
Staff Responsible:
Information and records management (IRM) staff
 Includes information and records centre managers, records manager,
knowledge managers, archivists and information analysts
 Gaining appropriate qualifications in the field and keeping up to date
with new developments
 Understand the strategic and regulatory environment of information
management
 Analyse agency business functions, identify information management
requirements, assess risks

PEWUJUDAN JAWATAN KADER PEGAWAI ARKIB DI PEJABAT AWAM

[Link]
 CONT…
 Influence and persuade stakeholders to incorporate information and records
management requirements
 Integrate information management expertise and strategic business skills to
develop policies, standards and systems to support business outcomes
 Ensure that adequate documentation, training and advice on information
management,
 Work cooperatively with ICT professionals to design, implement and improve
the records management capability, information architecture and accessibility
of information within business systems
 Support and train agency personnel at all levels
Staff Responsible:
Information and communication technology (ICT) staff
 Includes systems analysts, business analysts, web content developers,
application developers and database administrators
 Responsible for creating and maintaining the technological infrastructure
which supports the agency
 Understand that applications and systems need to have appropriate
functionality for capturing and managing the evidence of agency business
 Work cooperatively with IRM professionals to design, implement and
improve the records management capability, information architecture and
accessibility of information within business systems
 Consider the significant risks involved if records are not managed
properly for as long as is required
 Provide input to strategic frameworks for managing information across
the agency
Duties and responsibilities
Four types of staff activities:
 Liaising with creator agencies and managing reference services
 Managing the holding within the Records centre
 Providing security, transport and housekeeping within the center
 Liaising with archival institution.
Duties and responsibilities:
Records Manager

 Records Manager: Functions

 Develop, install and administer the organization records management
program in accordance with established policies, including the
retention, protection and disposition of reports, forms, correspondence
and other records.
Duties and responsibilities:
Records Manager
Records Manager Responsibilities
1) Organization
 Establish procedures for retention and destruction of all classes
of records on a departmental and organization wide basis

 Design and revise forms and procedures pertaining to

interdepartmental and intradepartmental projects

 Coordinate problems concerning records, files, messenger

service and incoming mail
Duties and responsibilities:
Records Manager
Records Manager Responsibilities
2) Departmental
 Plan, develop, improve and modernize records availability and
service capabilities

 Maintain and control all records, including files, index card,

business registers, policy samples, microfilm, and items stored by
other departments

 Delegate authority through supervisors or directly to specialized

personnel for specific projects

 Prepare department and organization wide manuals

 Duties and responsibilities:
Records Manager
Records Manager Responsibilities
3) Specialized
 Creation of system, procedures and techniques for filing materials of all
types
 Selection of appropriate supplies and equipment for active and inactive
record keeping system
 Use of automated and mechanized filing and information retrieval
system
 Use of microfilming systems and equipment
 Development of retention and disposition schedules
 Organization of records centers and archives
 Selection of methods for safeguarding records

MARA: Records & Archives Manager

[Link]
 Sys
tem
/
Rec
ord
s
An
Reports Analysts
alys
t

Form Analyst

Active Records Supervisors

Records Center Supervisor

Operating Personnel

Records Center Clerk

Duties and Responsibilities: Records
Management Supervisors
 Records Management Supervisors : System/ Records Analyst
 Studies existing systems and procedures used in creating, processing
and distributing records
 Evaluate records to determine their usefulness and estimated cost
throughout their entire lifecycle of records
 Make recommendation for changes and improvements in managing
organization's records
Duties and Responsibilities: Records
Management Supervisors
 Records Management Supervisors : Reports Analysts
 Determines the need for each report used by the organization
 Recommend improvements in format and style of writing or reports
 Elimination and consolidation of reports
 Improvement in distribution procedures
 Duties and Responsibilities: Records
Management Supervisors
 Records Management Supervisors : Form Analyst
 Determines the need for each form used by the organization

 Makes recommendation concerning elimination, duplication and

overlapping subject content

 Design forms and form letters and develop procedures and techniques
covering the preparation, standardization, use and control of forms and form
letters

 Evaluates forms on the basis of necessity, design, cost, completeness, clarity

and use
Duties and Responsibilities: Records
Management Supervisors
 Records Management Supervisors : Active Records Supervisors
 Maintain uniform filing systems and procedures throughout the
organization
 Assume responsibility for the correct coding, cross filing and
reference procedures
 Analyze reference requests and prepare records usage reports
 Recommend revision of retention periods for active records
 Inventory and evaluate records periodically to ensure the transfer of
inactive records and the destruction of obsolete records
 Duties and Responsibilities:
Records Manager
 Issue requests for storage equipment for active records
 Supervise the preparation and transfer of records to inactive storage
 Develop more efficient and economical methods of records
maintenance
 Assist in training programs for employees
 Recommend the hiring, promotion and transfer of active records
personnel
 Duties and Responsibilities:
Records Manager
 Records Center Supervisor
1. Maintain a control card index file to facilitate ready reference to all
records housed in the record center
2. Initiate and maintain reference control forms
3. Analyze rate of reference to records and make recommendations for
changes in retention schedules
4. Make adequate provisions for maintaining and safeguarding all
inactive records
5. Coordinate transfer of records from active records areas to the record
center
6. Arrange for the pickup and transportation of records
7. Supervise the operation of microfilm equipment
8. Arrange for removal and destruction of records from the records
center upon proper authorization
9. Supervise the destruction of obsolete records
 Duties and Responsibilities:
Records Manager
 Operating Personnel
1. Communicate with others orally and in writing
2. Handle and process records
3. Work with names, titles of documents and numbers
4. Operate some type of office machine
 Duties and Responsibilities:
Records Manager
 Records Center Clerk
1. Check in records for inactive storage
2. Check record carton contents against shipping transfer form
3. Verify correct identification and location of inactive records
4. Assign carton location number to records before storing
5. Move records to assigned locations
6. Provide reference information upon request to authorized personnel
7. Maintain reference and control forms
8. Follow up records that have been removed to ensure adequate control
9. Prepare documents for microfilming
10. Operate microfilm equipment
 Commonly repeated Unique titles for
jobs titles archival jobs
 archives and records  conservator,
management specialist,  coordinator of marketing and
 archivist,
promotions,
 assistant archivist,
 curator of collections,
 conservator,
 digital archivist,  genealogist,
 processing archivist,  metadata assistant,
 project archivist,  motion picture preservation
 senior archivist, and
technician, and
 university archivist.
 photograph processor and
 government information
 cataloger.
specialist
 records and information
management specialist
 records and information
manager
[Link]
 records manager
Job title in Records and Common Job title in Documents,
Records and Archive
Data Managers: Managements:
 Records Management Specialist Records Officer
 Records System Administrator
Document Controller
 Data Rankler
 Data Officer
 Record and Information Manager
 Records and Collection Specialist
 Document Control Specialist
 Database Administrator
 Record Management Coordinator

Career Development - Records Management

[Link]
 Position titles for Archives & Information
Management Professionals

Career choices for archivists and information managers: Lessons learned from graduate experiences
[Link]
 PROCEDURES IN
RECORDS REPOSITORY
 PROCEDURES IN RECORDS REPOSITORY
There are a few procedures that should be considered in managing records
in Records centre which:

Transferring records to the

Liaising with records offices records centre and
accessioning records

Disposing of records,
Retrieving and using records including destruction or
held by records centre transfer of records to the
archival institution

Measuring and reporting

performance
 Liaising with records offices

 Records centre staff should be familiar with the records office

officers, it procedures and current situation.

 Active liaison between the two officers is necessary, so that records can
be removed from records office and are deposited to the records centre,
transferred to the archival institution or destroyed as required by the
disposal schedule.
 Transferring and accessioning records

 There are two types of disposal schedule:

 general disposal schedule which covering all administrative records common
to the organization as a whole
 agency disposal schedule which is covering those records specific to particular
agencies.
 Records officer should issue this schedule relating to their own agency as well as
with copies of relevant general schedules.
 They are responsible for seeing that closed files are transferred to the records
centre at proper time.
 Records Supervisor will notify if there are specific reasons why records should be
retains for certain period other than those identified in the disposal schedule.
 Once records have been transferred, records centre will holds copies of
all disposal schedules and records centre staff are responsible for
carrying out all required procedures such retrieving records when it
requested, reviewing files if required, transferring files to archival
institution or destroying obsolete records.

 Some records may be schedules for destruction within one year or less
of their creation. These records should not be transferred to the records
centre. Where else, it should be destroyed by the records office under
the secure condition.
 When records are received at the records centre, records centre staff
should not simply accepts records that are not included on a disposal
schedule.
There are following steps involved in accessioning records in the records
centre:
a) Identification of the Originating Government or Corporate Office
b) Communication and transport
b) Transferring records to records centre
 Checking the records
 Determining the action category
 Preparing the boxes
 Storing the boxes
 Distributing the transfer lists
 Labelling the boxes
 Updating the boxes
 Updating the location register
Accessioning records in the Records center
 done through accession lists or better known as transfer list – list of
records transferred to record center by a transmitting office
 usage of prescribed form to ensure uniformity and completeness
 prepared with a minimum of two copies : one copy sent in advance
to records center and one retained in the office
 a separate form for each records series preferable for easy control
Aspects to be concerned in records transfer
process
1. Transfer List Content
 office identification
 official name of records series
 span of time covered by records – important for identification
and disposal purposes especially financial records to indicate
the age of the records
 temporary number of carton in which records are placed –
identification purposes until carton is assigned permanent
number
 retention schedule number
 destruction date
2. Transfer Approval
 when transfer list is received by records center, it will be
reviewed for completeness, continuity and eligibility
 completeness check will make sure that all items on transfer
list are furnished:
 correct name of records listed
 sub-details is sufficient for retrieval

 continuity check – reviewing past accessions of records series to verify

prior records have been received [oldest records accessioned first]

 eligibility check – checking the items on the transfer list against the
retention schedule to determine if they are eligible for records center
storage
3. Pick-ups
 when transfer list is approved, shipment schedule for pick up
will be determined
 pick-up procedure may vary depending on:
 location of records center – daily basis if located in the
same building or weekly basis or as scheduled if located
distance away
 organizational structure
4. Space Assignment
 when records are received – it is placed in staging or processing
area–check against transfer list for space assignment
 space numbers are assigned and written on carton in processing
area – using complete and current register of space vacancies
5. Indexing Methods
5.1 Control Card System
 consist of ledger sheet or card for every records series held in records
center
 kept in departmental or retention schedule order, alphabetical order by
record series, title or numerical order by title codes
 each transaction is posted to these cards from the transfer list
5.2 Transfer list system
 both department and record center maintain copies of transfer list
 lists are searched to secure the space number assigned to the given records
 system well if transfer list is limited to one series per sheet
5.3 Control Card
 combining the 2 systems involve maintaining an index to the transfer list
which contain multiple series of records
 Retrieving and using records held by records centre

 Basically, records centre facilities is not available to the public. Public

access to documents is provided only by the archival institution,
subject to statutory provisions
 The facilities in records centre is distinguished by two segments:
 Providing access to records
 Issuing a Records by post
 Responding to a telephone or fax request
 In-person request Records
 Retrieval procedures
 Consulting records in the Records centre
 Access to personnel records and other special classes
1. Search and Charge Out Procedures
 records request via telephone, fax, manual (
Records Centre Request Form)
 charge out procedures - making record's loan (
Records Centre Issue Sticker)
 2 purposes - to keep track of the records while it is out - to ensure its
return
 form completely in triplicate containing:
 name, phone number and location of the requestor
 name and full description of records
 space number and date
2. Follow Up 1st copy - replace the record in the file
 Procedures
 
Records 2nd copy be
should - attached
returnedtowithin
records
theasspecific
routingtime
slip after charging out
 Ifnot, 3rd copy -will
reminder placed in suspense
be sent file for
to requestor ( follow up if required
Records Centre Reminder Form)
 If extension needed, charge out form should be refilled and the whole
3. Refillingprocess repeated
 process of filling records that have been charged out
4. Inter-filling
 placing of documents into containers previously sent to records center -
may be new documents required to complete a unit
 Disposal

 Records centre staff facilitate the authorised and timely destruction of

records that are no longer needed for ongoing business and that have
no value

 Staff may also take part in the process of identifying records do have
archival value (appraisal process) and ensure that these are transferred
to the archival institution

 never been destroyed without any written and specific authority that
based upon the procedures laid down on legislation
 In disposing records, there a few process or action that needs to be
taken such:
o Action date and review procedures
o Schedules destruction of records in the records centre
o Transferring records to the archival institution
 
Disposal from Records Center
 records manager is the custodian of records not the owner - final approval from the owner
needed before records are destroyed.

Disposal system
 accession process noted the date of destruction on transfer list
 a copy of list will be file in suspense file by the earliest destruction
date shown
 transcribe to destruction authorization form
 sent to originator for approval and received form
 list space numbers covering records approved for destruction on
cards
 arrange card in numerical order
 removed records from the shelves
 take records to disposal area until scrap or shred
 Measuring and reporting performance

 The records and archives institution must always be able to account for
its operations and their costs
 able to identify measurable benefits to the government
 take care to quantify its work
 compile statistics for each of the following categories of information:
 number of boxes accessioned to the records centre
 number of boxes destroyed by the records centre
 number of scheduled files destroyed in records offices
 number of files transferred to the archival institution
 number of records issued on loan to agencies
 use the figures for monitoring and planning purposes.
 should include the following:
 performance of procedures for the retirement and transfer of semi-
current records from the records office, and their accessioning in the
records centre
 performance of procedures for the retrieval, issue and return, and
provision for use of records or information from the holdings of the
records centre
 performance of procedures for the orderly and appropriate disposal
of records from the records centre, either by destruction or transfer
to the archival institution.
REFERENCE ANALYSIS
 valuable procedure - should be done at least manually
 when there is obvious change in work flow patterns
 analysis enable records manager to know:
 how many reference are made for any given records series
 the age of records being referred
 number of records that cannot be located or charged out
 who uses the records center
 when the records are used
 how old records are when they ceased to be used
 where 'high activity' records are located in records center
REFERENCE ANALYSIS FILE
 designed to accommodate data in functional manner arranged by:
 records series - to determine the number of searches, time
span of records searched, the number of can't find, charge
out and source of request
 user or owner of records - to determine the types of
records used, age of records used, number and frequency
of request and number of follow up required
 date - to determine the source of requests and periods of
high and low activity on a particular records series
 space number - to determine the high and low activity
areas used in records center
EQUIPMENTS
EQUIPMENT
 The most common types of equipment used in records centre are upon
steel shelf and cardboard container
 records centre because of is considered efficient and economy
 It is relatively inexpensive
 It affords excellent use of space
 It does not ordinarily require the unpacking of records before they
are accessioned
 It simplifies disposal

 The systems will work well if the following conditions are prevailing:
 The standard records centre carton can be used for most records
 shelving is standardized
 retrieval rate is low
 Interfiling is minimal
TYPES OF EQUIPMENT: CARTON
 The records centre carton has been standardize so that it
holds letter-size documents placed in one direction and
legal-size document in the other. The carton measures
such:
 on the inside 15 inches deep
 Standard Records Centre Carton with Shoe Box-type
Lid
 12 inches wide 10 inches high
 It occupied 12.5 inches wide by 16.5 inches of shelf
space because
 special of its capcontainers, such designated to
and nonstandard
hold the entire content of one file drawer simplifies
indexing and expedites transfer of records to the records
centre
 For example engineering roll drawings are usually
stored in long. Squared cartons measuring 4 by 4 by 40
inches, with length varying according to the drafting
standards of the organization.
TYPES OF EQUIPMENT: SHELVING
 The type of shelving that most commonly used is fairly standard industrial-
type shelving such:
 Basically each shelving unit consist of four 13-gage round-edge angle-
upright posts, drill with holed every inch so that they can be fastened to
the shelves at the selective interval.
 The 18-gage steel shelves also have a holes drilled on each corner, they are
fastened to the uprights with ½ inch stove bolts and nuts.
 The height of shelving unit can rise to approximately 14 feet without the
need for catwalks, because this height can be safely reached with ladders.
SHELVING SIZE
 The shelving is normally steel, is constructed so that it will
accommodate the standards record centre carton with economy and
fully use the available floor space.
 Shelves of a unit normally measures 30 inches in depth and 42
inches in length, which accommodate 6 standards carton in a single
layer.
 Standard shelf sizes vary in length in 16-inch increments such 24,
30, 36, 42 and 48 inch. The width that vary 3-inch increments, up to
18 inches and 6-inch increments, from 24 to 36 inches such 9, 12,
15, 18, 24, 30 and 36
DRAWER
 As an alternative to the shelf-carton method, the interlocking, drawer-type
transfer case is sometimes used
 This case approximates the size of the standard letter-size file drawer and is in
fact a metal or fiber box with sliding drawer
 The advantage of the transfer case is that can be used in much the same manner
as a file cabinet, while its modular design gives it flexibility and mobility.
 disadvantages are the difficulties in accessions and disposal in the records
centre which cases is very heavy when full
PERIPHERAL EQUIPMENT
 For the process for shelving and transfer cases,
the records centre requires other types of
equipment such as:
a) Ladders
 It is designed like a movable stairway, with
handrails, a platform at the top for placing
carton and spring wheels that make the
ladder stationary when it use.
b) Hydraulic lifts
 Large centre with high stacks may require a mobile
hydraulic lift or fork-lift truck where beneficial in
accession and disposal work. It is used to lift pallet
of records centre carton within the centre and up to
higher shelves.

c) Three-sided stock trucks

 At least one four wheel, three-sided
stock truck is required to push loads of
records cartons from various offices to
the records centre and to various point
in the records centre
d) Cart
 Carts are use for reference and interfile
work in the record centre stack Ares and
are small enough to manoeuvre between
the rows of shelving.

e) Fire Extinguishers and hoses

 Fire extinguishers must be approved by
local code and should be available at
each alarms-striking station and at
reasonable intervals throughout the
stack and staging areas. Interior hose
station should be provided so that a
stream of water can be reaching any
part of the stack areas.
f) Motor truck vehicle
 Truck will require making pick-up and deliveries. The truck must be
covered and should have a cargo area large enough to hold 200
cartons. This vehicle may be used on a pool arrangement