The clean up and rebuild in the areas affected by Harvey is just beginning and will be a long and hard process. A big part of getting things back to some sense of normalcy will be the restoration of utilities, fixing roads, opening courts and schools, and many other state and local government services that…
We are cross-posting an important entry from Texas State Librarian Mark Smith’s blog. The Texas State Library and Archives Commission, in cooperation with the Texas Library Association, has been working to identify disaster recovery resources and options for use by libraries in the Houston and gulf coast area. First, it is important to be aware…
An important element of managing government records is planning for and recovering from natural disasters. In our consulting and training courses we advise securing the safety of personnel first and foremost, and then sorting out any damage to vital records in your office. While we are still waiting for the storm to disappear, recovery efforts…
Frequently Asked Questions, and Some Questions that have never been asked about the State Records Center. Here are the answers to some of the FAQs I get from customers and some others that I just made up. How many records do you store there? This answer changes every time I hear the “Kerplunk” of the…
Tune in monthly for 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 didn’t need to…
Of all the records that your office creates, very few warrant the creation of back-up tapes and those that do will typically be an essential record. In short, essential records are usually records that are necessary to conduct emergency responses, to resume or continue operations,and to protect the safety and rights of residents. Other records…
Torrential rain blanketed your town, the nearby creek quickly swelled beyond its banks, and water seeped into your facility. Maybe you store your records near the restroom (we’ve heard stories) and a plumbing mishap/malfunction flooded your storage area. Perhaps your HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) system failed over the weekend and the humid conditions caused…
Every once in awhile we have the opportunity to explore an area that’s related to, but outside the traditional scope of, records management. As our agency’s Continuity of Operations (COOP) Coordinator, I attended the Emergency Management All Hazards/Stakeholders Summit in Houston 6 December to learn some tidbits to implement or at least consider in our planning efforts. The audience…