TSLAC Guidance for Records Management During the COVID-19 Pandemic

(Author: Rebecca Hanna, Coauthor: Erica Siegrist) In April 2020, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) released answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Records Management During the COVID-19 Pandemic. This article will answer the same questions to provide Texas-specific guidance for state agencies and local governments. Records Management Related to Teleworking How should Texas…

Creating Records At Home, Part III: Various Devices

Previously, we discussed Creating Records at Home, Part I: Microsoft Teams and Part 2: Zoom. In this article, we’re going to discuss the hypothetical situation of a records manager’s worst nightmare come true: employees creating records outside of the office’s network. A best practice for efficient managers is to analyze hypothetical risk to know how…

What Does the RMA Team Do?

A records management program or question can quickly transform from a minor and simple thought to an overwhelming and large-scale issue. Can this record be destroyed? Does our office comply with the records management rules and laws? How do we implement our records management program? We’re here to assist with those issues. The Records Management…

How to Determine Fiscal Year End Retention Periods

Determining your record’s fiscal year end (FE) date is important for destroying that specific record on schedule. Read TSLAC’s recommendation for keeping a disposition log to understand consequences of destroying a record too early and TSLAC’s thoughts on keeping a record too long. Fiscal year (FY) is a 12-month period office’s use for accounting purposes.…

Off the Record: Cybersecurity and COVID-19

By Rebecca Hanna, Anne Poulos, and Brady Cox 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…

A Day in the SLRM Teleworking Life

Since March 17, 2020, the Records Management Assistance team has been primarily working from home to maximize social distancing measures. We all feel very fortunate for the opportunity and resources to do teleworking. We make appearances at the library once a week or so, but otherwise we spend our time answering consulting questions and developing…

Welcome to Brady Cox and Rebecca Hanna

In the course of a month, RMA welcomed two new Government Information Analysts to the Records Management Assistance Unit. Though they were onboarded during a stay-at-home order, both have been able to make immediate contributions. Brady Cox Brady Cox joins us fresh from receiving his second master’s degree, an MSIS from the University of Texas…