The words "You Ask, We Answer" over two puzzle pieces labeled "Q" and "A" as well as the TSLAC logo.

The Records Management Team: Who Are You?

The RMA team works with local governments, state agencies, and universities of all shapes and sizes throughout Texas. While resources and staff are applied differently in each records management program, there is a common idea of the Records Management Team. The Records Management Team is an effort to ensure records management knowledge, procedure, and training reaches all the staff in an organization.     Records Management Officer The administration of the…

Are Notes Records?

Throughout the typical workday, it is easy to jot down reminders, take notes during a department meeting, or write down some ideas inspired by a conference presentation or training. Because notes sometimes have a sense of documenting government business and are useful for creating a potential record, you might wonder if what you just scribbled…

A hand places a coral colored binder on a shelf full of light blue binders. Below are the words Remarkable Records and the TSLAC logo.

Remarkable Records: Drafts vs Working Files

Have you ever saved drafts of a record like correspondence, a publication, or report to prepare it for its final form? Suddenly you’re left with edited, superseded copies that were saved in an effort to reach its finalized version. So, what happens to these lingering copies? If you have ever skimmed the retention schedules for…

A vinyl record on a blue background with the words Off the Record and the TSLAC logo in white.

Off the Record: Film

Welcome back to our occasional series “Off the Record,” a curated collection of articles we found interesting on a broad range of topics, some which are directly related to records management and others which might share common themes. No, we didn’t write these articles—hence the name of this series, “Off the Record”— but, fortunately, we…

The words "You Ask, We Answer" over two puzzle pieces labeled "Q" and "A" as well as the TSLAC logo.

Rube Goldberg Reports and Investigations

Classifying local government records can feel like a Rube Goldberg machine. A light marble (Outlook meeting notice) will float over a weighted ramp, launching itself through the funnel of GR1000-26c, Routine Correspondence. Let’s switch the marble to a metal ball (regular operational correspondence). The metal ball doesn’t weigh the ramp down, but its weight pulls…

A hand places a coral colored binder on a shelf full of light blue binders. Below are the words Remarkable Records and the TSLAC logo.

Remarkable Records: Complaints

The Remarkable Records Series was created to highlight our favorite, weird, and wacky record series found in the retention schedules. We’ve covered the quirky and funny, but it’s time to complain contribute a lesser favorite: Complaints. Recently we received a record clarification question from a Local Government (LG) that seemed to fit under the umbrella…

The words "You Ask, We Answer" over two puzzle pieces labeled "Q" and "A" as well as the TSLAC logo.

AV and Me

Administratively Valuable (AV) is a retention code that stirs a lot of questions. How long is AV? What even is AV? Can you say “Administratively Valuable” five times fast? While we analysts at TSLAC can point out best practices and strategies regarding this retention code, we can only speculate so much. To offer a different…