In a past life it was part of my job as to work with the head of
manuscripts to implement our Historical Society's records management
program.
Unfortunately, I do not have a schedule to share, however I can state
the following:
A historical society is a business, and as such, has business
obligations that are relatively no different than regular businesses.
HR, facilities, accounting/finance, EHS, Public Relations, (etc.)
records will all have to be managed per the laws, rules, regulations,
best business practices that govern a business in your state and
country.
Where it might be different:
- Particular filings related to your status as a non-profit [501(c)3?]
- Deciding what materials do not go into the source files or lead files
held by your curators. We found the following old (70+ yrs) records in
the society's records and not in the curator's active files:
- Donation Records (Life of Society) including correspondence
- Loan records (Life of Society)
- Accession and Deaccession records (Life of Society)
- Membership rolls (Life of Society)
- Records of dues paid (retain for 2 years)
- Business Papers of the officers and curatorial staff (Life of Society)
(Professional papers should get processed as a collection)
- Friends of the Society Records (Life of Society)
- Attendance Records (Annual report kept for life of society)
- Exhibit (Project) Records (exhibit specific budget, plan, cost,
schedule, photos of exhibit, pr,)
- Publications (Life of Society)
- Galley prints with/without marginalia - pitch - if marginalia is
significant, process as a collection.
Obviously a Historical Society often has a great sense of its own
history (even if poorly kept) and keeping the above for Life of Society
may be prudent for anniversaries, individual recognition, institutional
display and nostalgia, if not for any particular best business practice.
Chuck Piotrowski
CVPS
-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Wright, Tony
Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2005 12:53 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Retention Schedule for Historical Societies
Greetings,
I was wondering if someone on the list would be kind enough to let me
view a records retention schedule for a historical society. My
supervisor and I have been asked to assist a historical society with
their records and archival collections. Any help would be greatly
appreciated.
Sincerely,
Tony Wright
Archivist
The City of Kalamazoo Records Center and Archives
(269) 337-8794
List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
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