University Archives
Minnesota State University Moorhead

Records Management: A Manual
for Departments and Offices

Part One: About the Archives

What is the Archives?
The University Archives was created in 1978 to preserve the important historical and administrative records of Minnesota State University Moorhead.  The Archives is located on the fourth floor of the Livingston Lord Library, and currently holds abut 750 feet of records (in other words, about 500 boxes full of materials).

These materials include correspondence, departmental minutes, records of faculty committees and student organizations, papers of MSUM presidents, yearbooks, catalogs, thousands of photographs, and even artifacts.  All of these materials have one thing in common: they have something to do with the history and the operation of Minnesota State University Moorhead over the past 100 years.

Why do we save so many things for the Archives?
In the first place, we are required by law to save certain kinds of records - Chapter 138.17 of the Minnesota State Statutes requires all state institutions, including the University, to "establish and maintain an active, continuing program for the economical and efficient management of the records" of the institution.  Put simply, we must preserve the important records of the University, including the records of each department, each division, and each major office in the University.

By obeying the provisions of this state law, we save important records for two other reasons.  First, we save every kind of material that has enduring administrative value.  The minutes of the Cabinet Meetings, for example, are saved in order for us to have a clear and consistent record of what policies are set forth by the University president and vice-presidents.  Similarly, the records of the Academic Policy Advisory Committee (APAC) are saved to preserve the decisions and suggestions made by this faculty committee concerning course requirements, majors, and other class-related programs.

Other records are saved for their historical value.  As example, we keep files on each building on campus - when it was built, who it was named after, files on each president of Minnesota State University Moorhead and of faculty members, etc.

Summing Up
 These, then, are the reasons we have an Archives: to obey Minnesota law, to preserve important materials that make it easier to get things done at the University, and to save something of our history for the future.  Most of these materials are open to anyone who is interested in looking at them.  Some materials are restricted by privacy laws and are kept only because they are necessary to keep things running smoothly.

A Word About Privacy
Some materials are saved for administrative reasons but cannot be shown to just anybody.  These include any records about an individual, such as a student's grades, a professor's tenure or promotions file, an employee's personnel file, or any disciplinary files.  These types of files are protected by privacy laws in Minnesota.  The Archives cannot show such files to persons other than the individual who is the subject of the file or certain specified supervisors.  In fact, if we did show such materials to unauthorized people, we would, in the words of the law, "be liable to the penalties set forth for the improper disclosure of private, confidential, non-public or protected non-public data."

For an excellent summary of Minnesota's Data Privacy laws and regulations in relation to higher education see MNSCU's Date Privacy information at its web site -- http://www.ogc.mnscu.edu/dataprivacy.html.  Be certain to check the most recent amendments and updates under the "What's New In The World of Data Practices?" section.

Since we cannot show this kind of material to anyone, many records protected by privacy laws are not kept at the Archives.  The microfilmed grade records from the Registrar's Office are one type of private records that we do keep at the Archives. 

Generally, we advise offices to keep private records only as long as they are needed for administrative and legal reasons, then to dispose of them.

THIS IS PARTICULARLY TRUE FOR STUDENT FILES.  Minnesota’s Privacy Laws do not permit state offices to permanently keep student files containing the detailed information.  At best such files would have to be permanently restricted; at worst a former student could threaten us with legal action for maintaining such a file.  The University is adhering to the state legislation by designating the official student file at the Records Office (formerly the Registrar’s Office) as the only permanent file.

As a result individual student files that are sent to the Archives are destroyed in adherence to the Privacy Laws.  We realize this will make it difficult for some former students to document their performance in student teaching, but the University has adopted the policy of urging the student to take responsibility for maintaining his/her own records.  As part of our guidelines on personal files and privacy legislation, the Archives staff urges every faculty member to advise students to begin this practice as soon as possible. 

Part Two: Sending Records to the Archives

The only reason we have a successful Archives program is because the people reading this information have done such a good job in sending materials to us.  In order to keep building on this success, we've devised a two-step process to help you send further records over to the Archives.

Step 1 - The Records Schedule
The first step in sending files of records or other materials to the Archives is to consult your copy of the Records Schedule.

Each department, division and other major office in the University should have their records reviewed periodically by the staff of the Archives.  As a result of these reviews, an updated Records Schedule will be created for that office.  These schedules provide you with five important pieces of information:
    a.    The name of your department or office.
    b.    The types of records produced in your office.
    c.    The length of time that each type of record should be kept in your office.
    d.    What you should do with these records after keeping them in your care the required amount of 
           time.
    e.    Whether or not a particular type of record is available for public inspection because of the 
           Minnesota privacy laws.

If you look at the example below (Illustration 1), you can see how these five things work together on the Records Schedule.

Illustration 1

Records Schedule

Department:  (a)

If you have any questions, or need any advice, just call the Archives at 236-2346.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *    

As you can see, the schedule tells you which department or office that it concerns (a).  Then it lists the types of records that that particular office keeps (b), tells how long each type of record should be kept in the office (c), and whether or not these particular records should ever be sent to the Archives (d).  Finally, if a type of record is protected by privacy law, this is also marked on the schedule (e).

It's really pretty simple, isn't it?  Let's take an example from one of the offices.  Looking at the example below (Illustration 2), you can see that the Administrative Affairs Office keeps a lot of different files of records (over 21 different types in all, from which we've listed a few.)  As you can see, the files on "Building Dedications" should be kept current for two years.  That is, any correspondence, photos or booklets dealing with the dedication of a particular building should be sent to the Archives after two years.

Note, however, that not everything is sent to the Archives.  The files on "Construction and Remodeling," for example, should be kept in the office for 10 years, but then disposed of as the office sees fit; nothing from them is sent to the Archives.

Notice that "Personnel Performance Reviews" are protected by Minnesota's privacy laws.  Two years after the employee leaves the employ of MSUM, his or her file should be disposed of; they are not sent to the Archives.

Finally, notice that the phone number for the Archives is given at the bottom of every page of the schedule.  If there is something the schedule doesn't tell you, you can call us and ask about it.

Illustration 2

Records Schedule

Department:  Administrative Affairs

If you have any questions, or need any advice, just call the Archives at 236-2346.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *    

That's really all there is to the Records Schedule.  With it, you will be able to determine what should eventually be done with most of the records you take care of: what should be sent to the Archives, what should be saved permanently in the office, what should be discarded after a period of time.

Step 2 - Transferring Records to Archives
To send records to the Archives, simply follow the steps:

1. Compare the files in your care to your Records Management Schedule.  This way you can see what needs to be sent to Archives.

2. Pay attention to the dates of the files, and the materials in the files.  For example, let's say that the Records Schedule calls for departmental annual reports to be kept in the department for 5 years, then sent to the Archives.  In that case, in 2002, you would keep in the department the annual reports for 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001.  All earlier reports would go to the Archives.  It works the same way for all other types of records.

3. Please gather all the materials to be sent to the Archives into one batch.  Leave them in the file folders, or create new folders.  We want to preserve the files in the same way you had them organized in your office, for that's the easiest way to find things.  Put the files in one or two campus envelopes. If you have enough files to use a box, place them in a good, sturdy box, like a record carton.  Please, under no circumstances, use an old or damp box - it will ruin the files.

4. Fill out the Transmission Form.  A sample of a completed form follows (Illustration 3).  It tells us who sent the records, what materials we're getting (in general), and what you want us to do with them.  When you have filled it out, put it in the box with the files.  It would be a good idea to keep a copy for yourself.

5. Send the whole thing to us, University Archives, 4th Floor, Livingston Lord Library.  Campus mail will usually take care of this, but if you have several boxes, give us a call.  Together, we can arrange to have the boxes brought over to the Library.

6. That's it!  When we get the files, we will go through them, add them to the appropriate part of the collections, and, for large additions, send you back an up-to-date list of everything we have for your office or department.  You should keep that list with your information on Records Management.

Illustration 3

University Archives
Minnesota State University Moorhead
 
Transmission Form

Department:  Library                                                                                                           Name:  Sherri

Phone Number:  2461                  Date:  6/3/02                  Number of boxes sent to Archives:  1    

Please provide a brief description of records being sent to Archives:

            General Correspondence, 1996
            Library Pictures, 1995
            Livingston Lord Library Newsletter, 1995
            Long Range Planning Report, 1996
            Procedure Handbook, 1995

Special Instructions (check all that apply): 

[   ]    We are not sure what to do with this; please advise.

[ X]    Save in departmental files

[ X]    Discard any unwanted records

[   ]    Return any unwanted records

[ X]    Please send us a listing of all records for our department held in Archives.

[   ]    Other:

Send enclosed records to Archives, Livingston Lord Library, 4^th Floor, Room 409, Phone: 236-2346. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Disposing of Old Files and Records
Now you know what to do with files you keep at the office.  But what about files that you need to throw away?

The Records Schedule recommends how long you keep particular files before disposing of them.  In the example we used (Illustration 2), we recommended that you dispose of an employee's "Personnel Performance Reviews" two years after the employee left MSUM.  You can keep it longer if you choose, depending on what the department head feels is best, but two years is a good minimum.

All we ask is that when you do throw out a lot of old files, you let us know.  In fact, we are all required by law to do this, because we at the Archives have to inform the State government what has been destroyed over a year's time.

When you throw away old files, you have to fill out the Report of Destroyed Records Form.  It is pretty self-explanatory.  Once again, you might want to keep a copy for your office.  For an example, see Illustration 4.

The most important thing about disposing of old files and records is this: if you are not certain you should throw the materials away, if you think it might be important, if the Records Schedule is unclear in this case, call us!  We will take the responsibility of deciding, and if we decide it should be saved, we will bring the material over here to the Archives.  That way we get the material and you get the space the same as if you threw it away.

Illustration 4

University Archives
Minnesota State University Moorhead
 
Report of Destroyed Records

Please submit this report after destroying University records and return it to University Archives, Livingston Lord Library, 4^th Floor, Room 409.  All University records must be scheduled or approved for destruction before they are destroyed.  Call 236-2346 if you have any questions.

Department:  Library                                                                                                        Name:  Sherrie

Phone Number: 2461                                                                                                        Date:   6/3/02

The following records for the above listed department were destroyed:

Description                                                                             Dates                          Cubic Feet

Budget Records                                                                        July 1980-June 1985     1.5

Work Orders                                                                            Jan. 1985-Dec. 1990    .025

General Files - Faculty Comp. Time                                          1985-92                        .025

General Files - Copy Machine Records                                     1985-95

NOTE:  An ordinary file drawer of material is 2 cubic feet of material.  Estimate accordingly.

Signature:                                                                        

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PART THREE: PRESERVING ELECTRONIC RECORDS 
and OTHER RECORDS IN ELECTRONIC FORMAT

A.    Preserving Electronic Records
There’s never enough space – This is probably the greatest truth in records-keeping.  No matter how much hard drive space you have in a computer, it fills up fast with the things you put into it: documents, photographs, files, etc. And it’s often hard to find what you’re looking for, no matter how well you’ve organized it all.

So, what can you do?  Try this: Take your old electronic files, organize them by topics, using the steps below, and save them on CDs.  [NOTE: Electronic text is usually saved as a Microsoft Word document (name.doc) or a Word Perfect document (name.wpd).  If you believe that someone may want to open and read this document in a different word processing package, you could save it as a Text document (name.txt) or as a Rich Text Format document (name.rtf).  Most good word processing packages will open any of these document types.]  To do this you’ll need the following:

1. A CD-rom drive on your computer that can burn CDs as well as read them (good drives today for this are running at about $100-$150, with the higher-priced ones coming with good software to help you organize the things you put on the CDs.)  You will also need CDs, either CD-R which can be “burned” once, or the CD-RW, which can be reused.  Once you have the information burned on the CD, you can make copies of it using equipment in Information Technology (the Computer Center) or at the Instructional Media offices.  Also, you may want to contact Archives for information on what to do with the original documents.

2. A good word processing package (Microsoft Word is used almost everywhere on the MSUM campus and will work well for this).

3. Access to a good document scanner, if you have any paper records you’d like to save on a CD.  Most scanners come with software for making the scans.  The best way to scan is covered in Part B below.

Once you have decided which electronic documents to place on a CD, open your word processor and use it to create a Table of Contents. Just type it out in the same order as you would if you were filing the documents in a computer or paper filing system.  It’s a good idea to give each document an easy-to-remember title, because that will help with the Table of Contents.  Also be certain to place all the documents you plan to put on a CD in the same file in the computer.

Now, you can then use the Table of Contents to link to each document.  Be sure the Table of Contents is in the same computer file as all the documents, as this will make the linking very easy.  Most good word processing packages allow links -- in MS Word you simply do this:

• highlight the title of a document as listed in your Table of Contents. Then use the Insert command and select “hyperlink.”
• in the hyperlink box select “browse for file” – a small window will open to the file you’re using, so pick the right document and make the link.  See Illustration 6 below.
• now, anytime you click on the Table of Contents link, that particular document will open.

Once you have finished the Table of Contents and made the links, it’s time to take the file and the Table of Contents and burn them onto the CD. 

B.    Preserving Paper Records in Electronic Format

Option 1

Using Scans in JPEG Format: 
Using Scanned Images and the Word Processor to Make Electronic Copies of Documents

Step 1 - Scanning documents in jpeg format
Any good PC scanner will make a good jpeg image of a document – I suggest you scan them at 200-300 dpi for best clarity.  This usually means that as you scan you manually select the “resolution: to 200 or 300 dpi.  Save the scan under an easy-to remember name (see next step).

Step 2 - Organizing the jpeg scans

1. This is very simple to do.  The key is to plan ahead and name each individual document in a way that makes it easy to find.  In the example below, a copy of a Course Proposal Form for a Speech Department has been scanned and saved as a jpeg.  NOTE THIS IS JUST A ONE-PAGE DOCUMENT

Click here to enlarge this image

2. Now save this scan under an easy-to-remember name – in this case, “Speech 300 APAC Form” would work. File it in a file you create – “Document Scans” might be a good file name (or create subfiles – “Document Scans – APAC,” “Document Scans – Dept Reports,” etc.

  Illustration 5

Step 3 - Create a Table of Contents for all the scanned documents
Once you have all of your scans made and organized, use the word processor to create a Table of Contents.  The Table of Contents is easy to make, since you have already identified each scanned document with an easy-to-remember title. You can then use the Table of Contents to link to each document.  Once again, using our example from before:

Illustration 6

Once you’ve completed this step, you’re ready to burn the documents and the Table of Contents on the CD.

Option 2 

Using Scans in PDF Format

This requires a copy of Adobe Acrobat; a commercial package that allows you to do many things, including the ability to make scans in Adobe’s pdf format.  The advantage here is that Adobe will scan a multi-page document and keep the individual pages together as one document.  So you do not have to take the extra steps of pasting the scans together, etc.

Once all the scans are made, you simply have to repeat Step 3 above – create a Table of Contents with your word processor, link the entries in this table to the scans and then burn the table and the scanned documents onto a CD.

C.    Burning the CD
Most CD-ROM burner drives come with some software that permits you to organize records and burn them onto the CD (you use either a CD-R, the one-time burnable CD, or a CD-RW which can be used several times).  You can also use commercial software for this purpose – Roxio’s Easy CD-Creator is a good package that can organize music, data or photographs and record them onto a CD-R or CD-RW.

You simply follow the directions of the CD software and burn both the documents and the Table of Contents onto the CD.

Be sure you burn all the documents onto the CD with the Table of Contents.  Then when you place the CD into the CD drive, you simply call up the Table of Contents, click on the link for a particular document and you will have the document to read and print.

Wrapping It Up
That pretty well covers what we want you to know about the Archives, our job, and your responsibilities for records management here at MSUM.  With this information, you can see what needs to be sent to the archives, how to send it to us, and how to contact us if you have any questions.

Remember, if you ever have any questions, call us at 236-2346 or email shoptaug@mnstate.edu or selzler@mnstate.edu.

Thanks, and we'll look forward to hearing from you from time to time.

Terry Shoptaugh, Archivist
Korella Selzler, Assistant
October 2002
Revised December 2005

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