Posts pertaining to local governments (counties, cities, school districts, special districts, etc.)
One of the most common type of questions we receive in the Records Management Assistance Unit is how to classify, find, file, and match records to the local government retention schedules. By definition and use, a records retention schedule is a documented policy that serves to identify the records created or received by an organization…
It is that time of the year again: hurricane season started on June 1 and runs through November 30. Historically, the peak threat for the Texas coast is in August and September. However, hurricanes have struck the Texas coast during every month of hurricane season. Additionally, due to COVID-19, your agency may be reevaluating your…
We live in Texas – the state that can rightfully boast of being susceptible to nearly every kind of extreme weather scenario. In this young century, we’ve endured hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, earthquakes, wildfires, blistering droughts, flooding: you name it – we’ve experienced it. Texas is also not immune from human errors like electrical fires, accidental…
Web archiving involves using software to take periodic snapshots to preserve as much data as you need about your organization’s website, including any associated metadata. These snapshots will allow you to track and to document even the slightest changes made to the website. The benefits are that this practice shows your records management program: is…
These days, the word “telecommunication” or, as it’s more commonly referred, “telecommuting” is something everyone is hearing. But what is telecommuting anyway, and how does it apply to records management? Telecommunication means communication over a distance by telephone, cable, or broadcasting. For most people, this means working from home on a desktop or laptop computer.…
During the course of consulting, we analysts are sometimes asked if TSLAC has a certification program for records management. The answer is that we don’t – we provide training through classes, workshops, and webinars for which you are given a certificate of completion, but we do not offer something that would be recognized as a…
By law, any information that an elected official, a government employee, or a state employee handles that correlates with the definitions explained in State Agency Bulletin 4 and in Local Government Bulletin D is a record. In other words, the format that an organization uses to distribute or to collect information does not change the…
Key Terms: Skip to: Case Sampling Main Takeaway Policy Tip Take a moment to think about the business activities of your state or local government. What examples come to mind for times when there might be more than one custodian for the same record? In such a case, what policies and procedures does your government…