Topical posts. Only applied to articles that appear on the FAQ page.
Updated February 2025 When you read TSLAC’s local government retention schedules (“local schedules”), you may notice the word “obsolete” pops up in lots of different places. Some folks ask us what we mean when we say obsolete. Obsolete generally refers to a record that is no longer active. How your records management program must treat…
I am not a naturally organized person. Last weekend, my husband watched me paw through a laundry basket of essentially all black clothes looking for a black tank top and the two I came up with weren’t the right one. But I have to be organized at work, because others need to find things quickly…
It’s been almost 6 years since we addressed this question originally. In that time, the popularity of text messaging (“texting”) has skyrocketed while awareness that text messages (“texts”) are potentially government records has increased very little. Here we go again! The definition of a government record in Texas is media neutral. A record is defined…
We know how to dispose of paper records. You can either destroy the records by burning or shredding them. Although these methods of destroying records may have been a viable option in the past, these same methods might not be enough to remove all traces of data from records being stored electronically. Before destroying an electronic…
Edited to update hyperlinks on October 5, 2021 Recently, many questions have been raised about how to establish a electronic records (e-records) management policy. One of the main questions we’ve received is what is covered within an e-records management policy. An e-records management policy enhances the organization’s policy on information management and storage. A well-crafted…
Picture this: After a seventh consecutive day of raining, there are flood warnings for the surrounding area—a common problem for central Texas— and your government building is in the flood zone. Does work need to carry on regardless of the conditions? How do you ensure business continues? Imagine your office building has a suspected gas leak…
Updated May 2020 If you work in a county government, you might have heard us use the phrase countywide RMO. Today’s topic is about who the countywide records management officer (RMO) is and what they do. The commissioners court designates an individual to serve as the countywide RMO. That person then serves as the RMO for…
Given the fast-paced nature of technology and how quickly systems and formats can reach obsolescence, inevitably state agencies need to migrate agency information, data, and records to newer systems and devices. Whenever TSLAC receives inquiries on this topic, it’s a Catch-22; the analysts exist to help and guide state agencies on records management, however the…