The Records Management Program can work with departments to help them find appropriate on-site and off-site storage solutions for paper and electronic records. It can also work with departments to determine appropriate reformatting solutions.
On-site Storage
From the Guidelines for Managing University Records Records Storage All departments and offices must store their university records in a safe, stable, and secure manner that supports their timely and accurate retrieval and appropriate controls on their accessibility. To do this departments and offices should: - Develop filing, classification, and/or indexing systems for their records that all of their department or office members understand and follow. These systems need not be complex--they only need to enable people to find the appropriate records quickly.
- Know the location of all of their records.
- Store their records in stable environments. For the physical storage of records this means storing records in dry and clean areas that are protected from the elements and have appropriate temperature and humidity levels. For the electronic storage of records this means ensuring that records are stored on stable media and in readable software formats.
- Periodically check the stability of their physical and electronic storage environments.
- Ensure that their physical and electronic records storage areas are secure. Know who has access to their physical storage areas. Make sure these areas are locked when unattended. For their electronic records storage areas, ensure that they are complying with the University's Information Technology Resource Security Policy.
- Determine the confidentiality and privacy status of all of their records. A variety of internal policies, such as the Digital Collections and Archives' General Policy on Access to University Records, or external laws and regulations, such as FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), may help departments and offices determine the confidentiality and privacy status of their records.
- Know who has the proper authority to view their records.
- Ensure that their records storage security measures meet the confidentiality and privacy needs of their records.
- Periodically review their records storage security measures.
- Document their records organization system, storage locations, and security procedures in their own policies and procedures.
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Off-site Storage
It may be appropriate for some departments and offices to store university records with an off-site records storage vendor. Generally speaking, inactive records that need to be retained for an extended period of time but demand infrequent use are good candidates for offsite storage.
For departments and offices that have Retrievex (formerly ARMS) accounts use the Sending University Records to Off-Site Storage Form to send new records to Retrievex. Use the Retrieve/Return University Records to Off-Site Storage Form to retrieve records from Retrievex or return records to Retrievex.
