Notes from Presentation by Chris Hives to Advisory Committee Meeting on Archives, Records and Information Management at U.B.C.

The objective of the University Archives Advisory Committee is to secure the authority and resources necessary to collect in the University Archives the permanently valuable records that reflect accurately the full breadth of activities of the university of British Columbia. As with any other large bureaucracy, this would best be accomplished at U.B.C. through the implementation of a comprehensive records management program. Records (or, more broadly, information) management provides a framework for a logical, practical approach to the creation, maintenance, use and disposition of records. Such a program ensures not only the identification and retention of permanently valuable records but also provides for optimum access to the information they contain while still in the office of creation. Lastly, a records management program provides for the disposition of records when they are no longer required.

One of the most interesting aspects of the University Archives Advisory Committee's first meeting was the expressed desire to consider an expanded role for the University Archives to include a comprehensive information management program at the University. The University Archives, because of its vested interest in identifying and preserving permanently valuable records,' is ideally positioned to develop and implement an information management program.

An effective information management system would include most, if not all, of the following elements:

Records Classification System

• we must ensure that standardized records keeping systems are developed across campus as much as possible
• while there are some universal principles which might be applied to most operations there will be unique requirements for some offices which must be taken into consideration
• by ensuring that as much as possible similar records are called the same thing across campus we will ensure that it will be easier to draft retention schedules

Retention Schedules

• once files and series of files have been properly identified then we can determine the length of time records should be retained
• right from the time of creation we know that some records possess permanent value and that these should be "earmarked" and automatically transferred to the Archives after a specified length of time
• scheduling will also allow us to identify that material which has only limited value - e.g. a records schedule will indicate that supply requisitions can be disposed of after 2 years
• simply stated schedules provide a "tracking" and management system for records
• schedules do two things -- they allow for the identification and transfer of permanently valuable records to the archives and also ensure the efficient storage of material

Records Centre

• in order to ensure the most efficient storage of records on campus it is necessary to provide a centralized warehouse
• rather than have individual offices "stash" records in all kinds of nooks and crannies
• for those records which are still semi-active and have not yet reached their time of final disposition (shredding or archives)
• this centralized service will be available to all records creating units whose records have been scheduled

Micrographics

• records may be copied to microform for a number of reasons including security, preservation and space reductions
• large series of textual records may be destroyed after filming

Vital Records Program

• the identification and preservation of the University's vital records is very important - in the event of some catastrophe what records are necessary to allow the University to continue to operate - must identify these records at U.B.C. and make some provision for their storage so that they will be accessible in the event of a catastrophe

These then are some of the more important components in a records/information/archives management program. In that they are inextricably linked there are obvious advantages in having such a program evolve as part of the University Archives.

The bottom line for the University Archives is that the days have passed of attempting to "collect" the University's permanently valuable records on an ad hoc basis. In the past a lack of resources has made it necessary to wait passively for material to find its own way to the Archives. Experience has indicated that this is not only inefficient but also terribly ineffective ~- already we are witnessing significant gaps in the documentation of the University's activities. It is now time for the University Archives to become more proactive in order to develop the systematic acquisition of the University's permanently valuable records. Expanding its mandate to become a part of an integrated system of information management is the most effective manner to ensure that permanently valuable records are identified and transferred to the Archives. This also promotes efficient to the information in active records.

Archives in the Future

One of the most significant resources that is and will continue be available to the University is INFORMATION pertaining to its administrative, legal, fiscal and historical functions. As with any other resource information costs money to create and maintain. The important tasks of MANAGING, ACCESSING and STORING that information will fall to an integrated information/archives management program.

Implementation of Information/Archives Management Program

Recognizing that it is impossible to implement a comprehensive information management program overnight it is necessary to look at its development in increments. The initial stage of the program must include the following two elements in order to succeed.

1. The Board of Governors pass guidelines governing the retention of all University records. Distributed to all records creating units on campus, these guidelines will indicate that materials generated in the course of administrative activities are the property of the University and may not be destroyed without the permission of the University Archivist. The decentralization of the University bureaucracy makes it absolutely essential that some central control and storage of records and information be exercised. This is impossible without the development of an official University policy governing the management of information on campus.
2. Once the policy is passed by the Board of Governors, we will require the personnel to begin the implementation of the program. In the preliminary phase it will be necessary to hire an archivist and a records analyst as described in the 1990 report to Dr. K.D.S. Not only will these individuals be expected to help address the considerable backlog of material already in the Archives but they will also be expected to play significant roles in the drafting and implementation in subsequent phases of the program. This will include developing classification systems, developing records schedules, policies for identifying and acquiring the personal papers of faculty and staff, and devising new systems for processing and describing the non-textual material in the Archives.

These two elements comprise the first phase of providing the University Archives with the capacity to begin to systematically collect this institution's permanently valuable records.

Back to the UARMAC Minutes of 24 April 1991