MANAGING RECORDS

The sound decision-making depends upon

the accuracy and timeliness of the
relevant information upon which decision
are based.
Having the right information in the right
format at the right time is all you need
to make a sound decision.

 Building and maintaining a records

system that meets this crucial
performance criteria, however, is not
an easy task because information can
be stored in a variety of locations,
formats and media.
Before the Information Revolution,
paper documents were the primary
medium of information, and they were
usually stored on site in filing cabinets.

 Today, information resides not only

on paper but also on diskettes and
tapes, on network data-bases, on CDROM and optical disks, and on any
number of microforms.
With the growth of both the number
of records and the formats and
media in which they are stored
comes a host of problems that
seriously affect office operations and
administrative costs.

 Typical problems include the creation of

unneeded records, overloaded file drawers
and folders, poorly labeled files, misfiles,
and incompatible equipment and software.
These weaknesses are a result of a lack of
understanding of the role of records and
their overall costs and a serious lack of
training in the management of records--often called the anyone can file
syndrome.

 To prevent or solve such problems have

been developed as a vital responsibility
of administrative office management.
All such programs are organized around
the life cycle of records---from their
creation through their destruction or
permanent storage.

THE RECORDS MANAGEMENT

FUNCTION IN THE ORGANIZATION

 A records is written or oral evidence

that information has been collected
and kept for use in making decisions.
The most common records such as
forms, correspondence, reports, and
books are written on paper. Other
records, however, are much less
tangible.

 Oral records capture the human

voice on either magnetic or
electronic media; film, such as
movies, photographs, and microfilm,
store visual images; and computers
store data, images, sound on tapes,
disks, and other storage media.
Each of the major business function
finance, production, marketing, and
human resourcescreates and uses
its own set of records.

 External records are sent to

customers, creditors, and others
outside the organization. Such
records include purchase orders,
sales invoices, billing statements,
checks, and form letters.
Department create internal records
for use solely by employees within
the firm.

 Examples of internal records are

memorandum, requisitions, time cards
and time sheets, journals and ledgers,
and reports used in presenting data
gathered from other records.
Without a proper management the
number of records (especially the
internal ones) becomes excessively
costly and, finally, goes out of control.

 About two-thirds of all records

involve correspondence, reports, and
operating papers used in
administration.
The remaining one-third are forms.
Forms are specially designed
records upon which constant
information is preprinted, with space
for the entry of variable information

 Forms are used to store information

of a recurring nature that may be
used inside or outside the firm.
In service firms or service
departments, the ratio forms to total
records may be much higher.

The Records Management Program

 Records Management is an organization-wide

administrative service responsible for creating
and maintaining systematic procedures and
controls over all phases of the records life cycle.
Records Management is an important
function upon which all departments of the
organization depend. By means of both manual
and automated procedures, the modern records
function has developed into a vital
administrative service.

 The leading professional organization specializing

in the management of business records is the
Association of Records Managers and
Administrators (ARMA). This organization publishes
the Records Management Quarterly; sponsors a
professional certification program called the
Certified Records Manager (C.R.M); and conducts
local, regional, and national conferences.
The General Services Administration of the federal
government has also developed a continuing
education program that emphasizes the
management of correspondence, reports, forms,
directives, and mail as well as records
maintenance, disposition and program evaluation.

Objectives of Records Management

 Like any other administrative

function, records management
should be goal oriented and service
minded. By this we mean that
objectives, or goals, for the program
must be set up as standards against
which the performance of the
program can be measured.
In addition, the program must
provide useful services to all
departments. In order to do so, the
program objectives must include;

1. Providing accurate, timely information as

economically as possible whenever and
wherever it is needed in the firm.
2. Developing and maintaining an efficient
system for the records life cycle
creating, storing, retrieving, maintaining,
and disposing of the firms records.

3. Designing and using effective

standards and evaluation methods
relating to the management of the
records, equipment and procedures.
4. Assisting in educating personnel in
the most effective methods of
controlling and processing the
companys records.

Director,
Administrative Services
Data
Processing
Manager
-Feasibility
studies
-Computer
system
-Systems
installation
-Systems
evaluation

Administrativ
e Systems
Manager
-General
systems and
procedures
studies
-Personnel
training and
utilization
-Standards
development
Telecommunicat
ion

Records
Manager
-Records

creation
-Records
storage
-Records
retrieval
-Records
maintenance
-Records
disposition
-Forms
management
Corresponden
ce and

Office
Services
Manager
-Equipment
and supplies
-Machine
maintenance
and
procurement
Reprographic
s
-Mailing
services
-Text/word
processing

THE RECORDS LIFE CYCLE

A record, like the information system

of which it is a part, follows a set of
steps during the time it is used in the
office.

 These steps or sequential phases in

the life of the record, are called the
records life cycle and are outlined
in figure 19-2.
They include creation, storage,
retrieval, maintenance, and
disposition.

Records Creation
Records creation is a preventive
maintenance program that seeks (1)
to Determine who creates records
and why and (2) to ensure that only
supervisors can authorize the
creation of records in their
department and approve revising old
forms or designing new ones.

Records Storage
The procedures and equipment used
to house physical and electronic
documents are known as records
storage.

We can divide storage media

into two general categories;
physical and electronic.

Physical storage
Encompasses the various types of
cabinets and shelves designed to
store paper documents, as well as
those cabinets designed to house
microfiche film and other nonelectronic media.

 On the contrary, AOMs must carefully

consider many important administrative
factors such as the following;
1. Setting up effective filing systems
2. Organizing the files, and
3. Procuring filing equipment and supplies.
. The effectiveness of the filing
equipment must be evaluated

Electronic storage
Involves the special environment
that contains computer disks and
tapes.
This environment must meet a
double set of standards criteria.

 First, it must meet the physical

requirements of media: flexibility,
easy retrieval, and protection from
unauthorized intrusion.
Additionally, it must protect the
records from any magnetic fields that
may adversely alter the data in the
records.

Records Retrieval
The process of locating stored
information, is a critically important
phase of records management.
An effective records administrator
must design the records system to
align with the various retrieval
speeds necessary to support the
decision-making needs of the
organization.

 Retrieving physical documents

requires locating the area where the
documents resides.
The area may be near the
workstation, in general records,
department several floors away, or in
off-site warehouse.

 Retrieving electronically stored

documents requires the availability
of technology that is compatible with
the records.

Records Maintenance
Records Maintenance refers to the set
of service activities needed to operate
the storage and retrieval systems.
These activities classifying records;
developing efficient procedures for
operating the records system; updating,
purging, and retaining records; and
preserving or protecting the records.

Records Retention
Deciding how long each record
should be kept in the files is a
decision based upon a survey of all
existing records.
From such a survey of the records
needs and uses of all department, a
records retention schedule is
prepared.

 The records retention schedule is

based upon policies of the firm that
relate to (1) microfilming or
electronic-imagining records (2)
transferring materials to inactive
storage (3) protecting the records,
and (4) destroying the records.

 Most companies classify their records

in four ways: vital, important, useful,
or unnecessary.
Records considered vital or important
are retained indefinitely; those
considered useful may be retained
for several years; and unnecessary
are destroyed.

Protection of Vital Records

When accurate operating information
about firms customers, creditors,
inventory, and employees is lost
through theft or some disaster, the
business may be forced to closed.

 To protect against such an occurrence,

business executives insure their
property, including business records
against risk of loss.

Disaster recovery plan

This plan includes information on
activating prearranged sites
temporarily relocating the records
department, establishing alternative
power and communications links,
acquiring compatible equipment, and
implementing other contingency
arrangements such as staffing to
expedite access to vital records.

Records Disposition
The last phase in the records life
cycle.
Records disposition or disposal,
involves two types of records:
inactive records that are transferred
to less accessible, lower-cost storage
and inactive records that must be
destroyed.

RECORD

RETAIN
(YEARS)

Accounts Payable Invoice

Attendance Records
Bank Statements
Check Registers
Checks, Cancelled
Correspondence, General
Depreciation Schedules
Employee Withholding
Statements
Expense reports (employee)
General journal
Income statements
Inventories
Job descriptions
Licenses (federal, state,
etc.)
Mailing list
Office equipment records
Payroll records
Price lists

7
7
3
P
7
2
P
4
7
P
P
7
3 or sup
UT
SUP
6
7
OBS

Record
Production Records
Purchase orders
Sales commission reports
Sales correspondence
Stock certificate, cancelled
Time cards
Work orders: cost $1,000 or less
Work orders: cost more than $1,00

Retain(yea
1
rs
3 AE
3
7
7
7
3
6

Legend
AE: After Expiration
OBS: Until Obsolete
P: Permanently
SUP: Until Superseded
UT: Until Termination

 Several transfer practices are

available, depending upon the nature
of the records operation, but the
following two approaches are most
common.

Periodic Method
Requires filled materials to be
examined at fixed intervals, often
every six months or one year.
Physical materials considered
inactive are place in inexpensive
record boxes and sent to storage.

 Electronically stored records are

transferred, or downloaded, onto less
accessible media.

Continuous Method
Continuous or perpetual method,
records are transferred to inactive
files as they reach a certain age or
when it seems likely they will no
longer be used.

PAPER FORMS AND RECORDS

SYSTEMS
Even in an increasingly automated
world, people need, demand, and use
paper records or electronic records
converted to paper form in order to
perform their responsibilities.

 Paper records continue to serve as

the most basic medium for storing
information, making up 90 to 95
percent of all recorded information.

The Relationship of Records

Management and Forms
Management
Records and forms are closely related
administrative tools
In many service industries, such as
insurance and banking, forms often
comprise as much as 75 percent of
the total number of records in use.

 Forms are used in administrative

systems to simplify and standardize
the recording and use of information in
order to facilitate decision making.
In addition, filled-in forms become
records that assist in the accumulation
and transmission of information for
historical or reference purposes.

Types of Paper Forms in Records

Systems
AOMs also classify physical records
according to the number of copies
made.
Single-copy or single-ply records
refer to records commonly used
within a department solely for its
own needs; multiple-copy records are
composed of an original and one or
more copies.

 Multiple-copy records are used to

transmit information outside the
creating department or to provide
additional information for other
department or for person outside the
firm.
Both types of records are used in
manual and automated system.

Flat Forms
A single sheet of paper often used as
a single-copy recordis the most
common type of record in manual
systems. Examples are sales ticket
and billing form.

 Because of its simplicity, the flat

form is the easiest of all forms to
design and reproduce on
reprographic equipment.
Flat forms that cannot be produced
internally may be purchased from an
office supply dealer or forms
manufacturer.

Specialty Forms
A much broader category of forms in
manual systems is the specialty
form, called because special
equipment is required for its
manufacture or use.

1. Unit-set formsmultiple-sheet
forms that are preassembled with
either carbon or carbonless paper.
Carbonless paper, sometimes called
NCR (no carbon required)
transfers an image from one sheet
to another by using a special
coating on the back.

2. Spot-carbon unit-set forms

forms in which only certain areas of
each copy in the unit set have
carbon coating.
3. Continuous forms, fanfold forms
a series of connected forms folded
in prearranged manner and
perforated for easy separation of
each form.

Machine-Readable Records
Forms
With the steady progress made by
computer technology, many
automated systems use machinereadable printing on specialty forms.

Magnetic In Character Recognition

(MICR)
This is a system used by banks to
interpret and process numeric data
that have been recorded in special
magnetic ink characters on checks
and other business papers.

 Automatic equipment is used to read,

sort and transmit to a computer the
data printed on the business forms
for further processing, such as the
preparation of customer bank
statement.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

This is a scanning system for reading

numeric and alphabetic data that
have been printed in a distinctive
type style on business forms and
records.

 As each character on the business

document is read by an optical
character reader, it is translated into
electrical impulses that are
transmitted to the computer for
processing.

Principle of Paper Forms

Management
The records manager, to be an
effective administrator, must also
apply certain basic principles to
address the wide variety and
complexity of forms and records.

 A sound records management

program is built upon four basic
principles that pertain to forms:

1. The principle of use

2. The principle of standardization
3. The principle of effective form
design, and
4. The centralized control

PRINCIPLE OF USE
Forms should be approved and
made available only when their use
is justified.
This principle is basic. A form should
be created for use only when these
conditions are met:

1. When certain information, such as orders,

requests, and instructions, must be
collected for use in the administrative
system.
2. When the same type of information must
be recorded repeatedly. With the constant
information preprinted on each copy of
the form, time is saved in information
processing.

3. When it is necessary to have all

information recorded in the same
place on each copy of the form, as
in the case of duplicate copies.
4. When it is desirable to fix
responsibility for work done by
providing spaces for signatures of
those responsible for the work.

PRINCIPLE OF
STANDARDIZATION

The physical characteristics of the

paper and printing styles used in all
forms should be standardized to
improve operating efficiency and
reduce costs.
Standardization of forms affects
primarily their physical
characteristicssize, quality of
paper stock, color, and printing
styles.

Size of Forms
The number of approved form sizes
should be kept to a minimum.
Forms are printed on standard-size
sheets of paper stock, such as 17 x
22.

 Odd sizes forms, which cannot be cut

from standard-size sheets without
waste, increase printing costs.

Quality of Paper Stock

A second factor affecting the
standardization of office forms.
The durability and ease of handling
the forms, as well as the length of
time that the forms may be kept, are
determined by the quality of stock.

 Paper stock is sold by the ream

(usually 500 sheets) and in multiple
packages of reams by the carton.
The weight is figured by the ream in
17 x 22 size.

 On the other hand, company stationery, such

as letterhead sheets and matching
envelopes, is usually printed on more
expensive cotton-content bond paper, which
is a hallmark of quality and prestige for the
firm.
Forms completed in ink must be printed on
nonabsorbent paper that withstands erasures
and that prevents the ink from bleeding.

 Commercial writing class of

papers, a group of writing papers
commonly used in ordinary business
transactions and for advertising
purposes.
The types of paper falling under this
heading are bond, copy or onionskin,
ledger, index, and recycled

Colors
Used on office forms should be
standardized
The use of carefully selected colors
expedites the routing, sorting and
filing of forms.

 Forms may be color coded to indicate

departments, branches, or other
divisions to which copies are to be
sent or in which they are to be used.

Printing Styles
Should be standardized since a
uniform typography improves the
appearance and readability of forms,
thus reducing the possibility of error.

PRINCIPLE OF EFFECTIVE
FORMS DESIGN

Sound forms design should be based

upon the use of the form in the
system and should ensure the
effective recording and flow of
information in the firm.

 The designer of forms must know

what information is needed, by
whom, and in what order as well as
the physical requirements of each
form.
Such physical factors as the forms
size, quality and color must be
combined with the functional needs
of the form.

Designing Efficient Forms in the

Records System
The forms designer must have
access to information compiled in
systems studies in order to find
answers to the who, what, when,
how, where, and why questions
concerning a forms use.

A designer must understand the needs

of

1. The person preparing the form

2. The printer or reprographic
department producing the form
3. The personnel and equipment
involved in mailing and filing the
form.

 A well-designed form is easy to fill in

and easy to read.
It clearly defines what information is
needed in its preparation and
simplifies the task of data handling.

PRINCIPLE OF CENTRALIZED
CONTROL

 Too many offices create new forms

and perpetuate all the old forms
without seriously questioning their
need
A procedure for approving request for
new or revised forms should include:

1. A formal written request with

documentation regarding the need
for the form
2. A central control log showing the
date and nature of the request and
the decision made regarding the
request, and
3. Preparation of the approved design
of the form.

MANAGING THE RECORDS

LIFE CYCLE WITH MANUAL
SYSTEMS
Now that we have investigated the
fundamentals of good forms
management, let us examine how
paper forms and other physical
documents progress through the five
steps of the records life cycle in a
manual system.

Creating Physical Records

Physical records are created by just
about every office worker; as
technology such as computers,
facsimile machines, and high-speed
copiers proliferates, the number of
ways physical documents can enter
records system continuous to grow.

There are two possible avenues for

controlling physical document
creation:

1. Increasing worker awareness of the

costs of managing physical
documents through the records life
cycle and
2. Designing and using automated
information systems that minimize
the generation of physical
documents.

Storing Physical Records

Physical documents create a
communications link between
originator and recipient; therefore, it
is important that these documents
be readily accessible whenever they
might needed.

Storage Filing System

Quick access to all types of stored
physical records is assured with an
effective filing system.
The term filing system refers to the
procedures and methods used to
classify, sort, and store records for
fast retrieval.

We use two systems,

alphabetic and numeric, which
we subdivide in this manner:

1. Alphabetic systems
a) Correspondence filing (by name)
b) Geographic filing
c) Subject filing
2. Numeric systems
a) Numeric filing
b) Chronologic filing

Organization of The Files

The requirements for the records
system differ from office, depending
upon the size of the office staff, the
nature of the business operations,
the type of equipment being used,
and such factors as competition and
government regulation and control.

Vertical Files
One two six drawers is the most
common filing cabinet. In it, we store
cards as well as larger documents,
such as letters and reports, on their
edge for easy accessibility.

Lateral (or side) File

Is a vertical file in which the long side
of the cabinet is opens out.
This arrangement requires less depth
and results in savings in floor space.