Washington State Archives

1. Washington State Archives Public Records Retention Managing Your Records Presented by: Russell Wood – State Records Manager Julie Woods – Local Government Records Specialist

2. Basic Records Retention Requirements Organizing and Managing Electronic Records Retention Schedule Updates Overview

3. Basic Records Retention Requirements

4. For the purposes of retention and destruction, two criteria: Regardless of format; Made or received in connection with the transaction of public business (RCW 40.14). For public disclosure, refer to RCW 42.56. What is a Public Record?

5. No public records shall be destroyed until approved for destruction by the Local Records Committee. (RCW 40.14.070) What needs to be kept?

6. Established under RCW 40.14.070 Comprised of: State Auditor representative Attorney General representative State Archivist Who is the Local Records Committee?

7. Local Records Committee grants approval in the form of records retention schedules. Records retention schedules describe: Type of records approved for destruction; Minimum period for which they need to be retained; and Which records also have archival value. Approval for Destruction

8. Records determined by the State Archivist as having permanent and enduring historical and/or legal value. Typically only 2-5% of records have archival value. Listed on Records Retention Schedules. What are Archival Records?

9. Archival records must not be destroyed. Local Agencies must either: Keep the records themselves indefinitely; OR Transfer the records to Washington State Archives (at no cost). What do Local Agencies do with Archival Records?

10. Retain for the minimum retention; THEN Destroy. Records subject to current public disclosure requests or litigation (current or reasonably anticipated) must not be destroyed. What about Non-Archival Records?

11. Electronic records must be retained in electronic format … for the length of the designated retention period. Printing and retaining a hard copy is not a substitute for the electronic version. (WAC 434-662-040) “Born Digital” Records

12. Metadata associated with “born digital” records establishes and preserves the authenticity of the record which is the evidence of the transaction it documents. Printing electronic records (e.g. emails) preserves the informational content but not the authenticity of the record. Why Printing Doesn’t Work

13. Conversion to an imaging system does not automatically authorize the destruction of the source documents for which images have been created. Requires “Destruction After Digitization (DAD)” approval. (WAC 434-663-600) Digitized Records

14. Agencies need to: Retain all public records for at least the minimum retention period as listed on the approved Records Retention Schedule. Continue to retain, or transfer to Washington State Archives, all archival records. In Summary…

15. Organizing and Managing Electronic Records

16. Local Government Agencies use both: Local Government Common Records Retention Schedule (CORE); AND Sector-specific records retention schedules. www.secstate.wa.gov/archives Which Schedule do I Use?

17. Need to regularly inventory to know where your program’s records are: Which databases hold records? Who has what email records? Where else are my records? (websites, blogs, wikis, twitter, etc) Where are my records?

18. Much of what crosses our screens has little to no retention value. Apply GS50-02 to: Secondary copies; Preliminary drafts; and Informational / transitory material. Work with your Records Manager Get rid of what you don’t need

19. Tips for applying to electronic records: Use email filters; Create more shared folders / spaces; Develop polices re primary & secondary copies. Get rid of what you don’t need

20. Destroy non-archival records at end of their minimum retention period. Document destruction of public records: Work with your Agency’s Records Manager Sample Destruction Logs available at: www.secstate.wa.gov/archives Get rid of what you don’t need

21. Is your agency achieving it’s mission by using resources to preserve and provide access to records indefinitely? Washington State Archives exists to do this on your behalf & save you money. If it is archival and don’t need constant access, then consider transferring. Best care for records and still accessible. Transfer Archival Records

22. Tips for applying to electronic records: Work with your Agency’s Records Officer; Identify your archival electronic records; Consider transferring archival records as part of system migrations / decommissioning; Develop a regular transfer cycle for ongoing archival records (such as minutes, ordinances, etc). Transfer Archival Records

23. Up to 98% of records are non-archival. These records will need to be destroyed someday. It is more efficient (and therefore cheaper) to organize now than putting it off. Organize to Destroy

24. Don’t try and manage each record individually. Group “like” records together into folders and manage retention at the folder level. Applying Retention to Electronic Records

25. Base folder structure on the record types used in the records retention schedules.

26. Retention applies to records within the database, not the database itself. Is the database the primary record or a finding aid to other records? Are updates to database records actually destroying records? Applying Retention to Database Records

27. Retention is based on the content and function of the records not the format. Websites typically comprise many different types of records with different retention requirements. Applying Retention to Websites

28. Some web content may be considered: secondary copies of records held elsewhere (in hardcopy, within databases, etc.). advice relating to the agency’s mission and core business. other records series relating to the core business of the agency. Applying Retention to Websites (cont.)

29. Digital archives will … copy state and local government web sites that are determined to have archival value either annually or more frequently. (WAC 434-662-140) Archival snapshots. May not satisfy all legal and other requirements to retain records of websites. Website Spidering

30. Five key considerations for posts and comments on social networking sites: Is there a transaction of public business? Are these copies of other records? Can the record be kept? Does another record of the transaction need to be created? Is this technology appropriate? Applying Retention to Blogs, Twitter, etc

31. Records Retention Schedules

32. http://www.secstate.wa.gov/archives/RecordsManagement/

33. http://www.secstate.wa.gov/archives/RecordsManagement

34. Database

35. Database

36. Database

37. CORE

38. County Auditors

39. Local Government Listserv

41. NEW Local Government Listserv

42. Training, Classes, Workshops

43. Local Government Listserv

44. Washington State Archives is here to help. For advice and assistance: recordsmanagement@secstate.wa.gov www.secstate.wa.gov/archives You Are Not Alone

45. Thank you! Washington State Archives: Partners in preservation and access