I believe the ARMA initiative called "ELF" (Eliminate legal-size files)
was undertaken about 20 or so years ago.  I know they no longer have the
booklet explaining the program.  It is a cost savings endeavor if and
when you can apply it across the entire organization.  Reducing the use
of letter size paper for most documents will definitely result in cost
savings for square footage ONLY if you reduce the size of the file
cabinets used.  If you are going to purchase legal size file cabinets
anyway, then you do not reduce the square footage.

<Also, remember that paper records produced from information technology
systems will not always reproduce to 8 1/2" x 11" forms and present
additional challenges (in legal as well as storage terms).>
An excellent point - if you are printing electronic produced reports on
11 X 14 paper or large CAD drawings, then you will need somewhere to
house them.

<"Performance Guidelines for the Legal Acceptance of Public Records":
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/bytopic/electronic-records/nmexpg.html>
While an excellent bit of work by my old colleague John Muchmore, the
document at the link was written in 1993 as a proposed rule.  I'm not
sure if the rule was ever adopted by New Mexico, but if so it surely
would have been revised by now.

Ginny Jones
(Virginia A. Jones, CRM, FAI)
Records Manager
Information Technology Division
Newport News Dept. of Public Utilities
Newport News, VA
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