General guidance on various subjects in the field of records and information management.
Earlier this year we collected helpful disaster recovery resources for government records. After Tropical Cyclone Francine made landfall in the gulf coast last week, we’d like to shine a spotlight on recovery of another important type of community asset, art and cultural heritage objects. Art and artifacts have special needs when it comes to recovery,…
World-breaking news in my world: Texas state agency and public university Records Management Officers (RMOs) and records liaisons are not skipping happily to their computers to begin working on their quinquennial records retention schedule recertification (recert). Cue the chill vinyl that was playing and is now scratching, my coffee cup dropping, and my heart breaking.…
In the State and Local Records Management Division (SLRM) here at TSLAC, we receive a lot of questions in regard to permanent records. “Why do they need to be saved?” “How should permanent records be stored?” “What do we do if there is any damage?” To begin to answer these questions, it helps to learn…
Those of you who work for state agencies may be familiar with the recertification process, where the Records Management Officer (RMO) submits a records retention schedule of all the records of the agency with instructions on how to manage them. Each state agency must recertify their schedule every five years for review and approval. Recently,…
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…
The auditing process is fundamental to ensuring compliance with the law and best practices. However, many records management officers will get nervous when someone mentions doing an audit. Although it can be daunting to put your program under a microscope, there are many positive things that can come out of doing an audit on your…
There’s no denying that AI (artificial intelligence) is the buzzword du jour. Have you ever wondered how to classify records generated by AI on your retention schedule? Whether or not your government entity is actively using AI, it’s a question worth considering. What is AI and Why Would My Government Entity Use it? According to…
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…