IM and Microsoft Communicator

As you should be aware, emails that you create, send and receive on your city computer are the property of the City and can be requested for legal discovery, litigation and investigation - just the same as any other official city record. Email is subject to the Freedom of Information Act and should be managed in accordance with the Library of Virginia's General Schedules for proper retention and destruction.

You should also be aware by now that as part of the migration to Microsoft Office 2007, we were given a new tool to use in Outlook called Communicator. Communicator is an instant messaging tool to be used to communicate real time with fellow staff members. Among the many functions Communication is capable of doing is conducting “live” meetings and conference calls. You can learn more about Communicator on ComIT's website.

Please be aware that IM Conversation Histories are subject to the same retention and discovery tools as emails. Therefore, if you are conducting city business using Communicator, please ensure that you save these conversation threads properly just as you would any email that can be declared an official record.

Changes to Retention Schedules

The Library of Virginia (LVA) updated five of the general schedules in July as follows:

General Schedule 2, Fiscal Records
Series 10167 (Invoices) and 10217 (Vouchers) are now defunct. Now covered under Series 10143 (Accounts Payable) with a three year retention.

General Schedule 13, Commonwealth Attorney Records
Entire schedule re-formatted to reflect changes to the series numbers.

General Schedule 17, Law Enforcement Records
Series 100771: Investigative Files, Case: Serious Offenses (murder, rape, etc) - retain 75 years.

From LVA: “This series previously included all Investigative Case Files and had a new retention of 75 years per the 2008 update. Now this series has been changed to only apply to Serious Offenses as outlined in the description above. The retention period for this series will remain 75 years.”

Series 000266: Investigative Files, Case: Non-Serious Offenses—retain 10 years after close of investigation.

From LVA: “This is a new series that will address investigations of a non-serious nature, such as trespassing, car-theft and bad checks. These are offense outlined in the VSP's IBR Group B. The retention period is still longer than the original 5-year, but should not pose such a burden to localities.”

General Schedule 19, Administrative Records
Series 286 and 287—New. These cover the use of a unique transfer list (RM-17) used to submit records to the Library of Virginia Archives and the State’s Records Center.

General Schedule 27, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate)
Series 000262: CASA Program Statistical Reports—extends retention to 3 years.

Please contact our office with any questions you might have.

A New Year Starts

Now that we’ve reached the end of our fiscal year, you may be preparing records for shipment to the records center for long-term storage. Here are some helpful reminders for you.

Records may be transferred to the Records Center using only standard 10”H X 12”W X 15”L record storage boxes. Other boxes will be stored only upon special arrangement with the RMO and you must obtain prior approval before using such boxes (i.e., map boxes). Oversized banker’s boxes and overstuffed boxes will be returned to you for proper re-packing. Additionally, please do not place items in the box that extend beyond the top of the box—lids will not fit properly and the box will not fit into the shelving space.

You can call and order boxes from the RMO though you are responsible for picking them up from our office. Currently there is no charge for the boxes, however, this is subject to change with advance notice.

A Records Transfer List should be completed for each series of boxes to be transferred that have the same destruction date. The records must be placed in the box in the same order in which they were filed. This will ensure that the filing arrangement is not disturbed and retrievals will be easier. The standard storage box can accommodate both letter and legal size records. Folders should be arranged in an upright position to ensure that labels are visible for later reference and/or retrieval. Records Transfer Lists are available by calling the RMO and also on our Website. The form may also be retrieved by going to BeachNet → Departments → Libraries → Records Management Information → Forms and Documents.

Be sure to enter accurate information in the boxes numbered 1 through 9 on the Records Transfer List. Ensure the following is included: current date, total numbers of boxes in shipment, your agency name and location, person responsible for the transfer and telephone information.

When completing sections 10 through 14 of your form, please provide an adequate description of the records to be transferred. DO NOT USE ACRONYMS—spell out the name of the records. Ensure that inclusive dates are included on the transfer list. Without these dates, determining destruction eligibility dates will be extremely difficult and could delay the transfer of your boxes. You can have multiple record series types on one transfer list, however, all items on one transfer list MUST have the same destruction date.

An accurate inventory of the records placed in each box packed must be retained by the office of record, but the inventory does not need to be forwarded to the RMO. You do not need to attach it to the Records Transfer List. However, a copy of your completed inventory can be placed in the box for reference as needed. It the responsibility of the agency boxing the records for storage to maintain an accurate inventory of each box for retrieval purposes.

If you have any questions concerning your Records Transfer List—give us a call!

May 2009 - End of Year Preparations

As you can tell by the calendar, the end of the fiscal year is fast approaching. With that in mind, many of you will be preparing records for disposal/destruction. The upcoming months of June and July are one of the busiest times in our offices for processing RM3 forms. To ensure your form is not delayed and is returned to you in a timely manner, be sure your form is properly completed before you submit it to the RMO. Please keep in mind the following items that are often overlooked.

Column a—Schedule and Records Series No. This should be completed according to your individual retention schedule. If you do not have a retention schedule for your agency, please refer to the Library of Virginia General Schedules listing. Include the GS number and the Series No. Example: GS 2, Item 10175.

Column b—Records Series Title. The series title/description needs to be completed according to what is listed on the LVA’s schedule page—not your own abbreviations, internal description or acronyms. Example: Time and Attendance Records or Time Sheets — not PD 269.

Column c - Date Range. Please be sure to indicate whether you are requesting disposal of records for the calendar year or the fiscal year. Example: FY 2003—not just 2003.

Column e—Volume. We are required by the Library of Virginia to report the volume of records being destroyed. Please make sure you include the number of boxes, or in the case of electronic records, the size of the file(s). Example: 3 boxes or 20 MB.

Signatures. Your signature on line 7 indicates that there are no known audits, investigations or ongoing litigation involving the records you wish to destroy. If you’re not certain about whether or not your department/division has a current legal hold on any records in accordance with a lawsuit, please check with your supervisor.

April is Records and Information Management Month

What Is Records and Information Management? According to ARMA, International: “Records and Information Management (RIM) is the field of management responsible for the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use, and disposition of records, including processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and information about business activities and transactions in the form of records. Records, therefore, have value and add to the intrinsic worth of the organization. Records need to be managed in a meaningful way so they can be accessed and used in the course of daily business functions throughout the organizational environment.”

Here are a few interesting tidbits of information about the information we deal with everyday:

Technical Analyst John Gantz in 2007 calculated that 161 exabytes of digital data was generated. So, what does 161 exabytes look like?
· The equivalent of 36 billion digital movies
· 43 trillion digital songs
· 1 million copies of every book in the Library of Congress

In March, 2008, Radicati Group estimated:
· there were 11 billion emails a day in the US alone and more than 57 billion a day world- wide…not including Spam!
· users sent and received an average of 133 messages per day
· active mailboxes will increase from 2 billion in 2008 to over 2.7 billion in 2012.

How much information and email do you deal with on a daily basis? Following proper records management procedures can help you manage the information you get every day. Working together, we can ensure that our records management program has a solid foundation, we are in compliance with stated regulations and will help us provide efficient and effective service for our customers.

Please make note of the following General Schedules that have been revised by the Library of Virginia this month:

GS 19, Administrative Records. Added a new series title, Item 182, Grant Records: Unfunded
GS 33, Information Technology Records. Supersedes GS 23 Electronic Records (complete revision)
GS 15, Social Services Records. Ten new series were added including Adult and Child Protective Services, Benefits and Comprehensive Services