I believe the writer meant in "final" form for permanent. Governing
authorities will often have draft minutes, draft audits, and draft
reports that are considered "final" only
upon approval. I suspect this is just a semantical error like when
folks send me records to be "archived" ... which they believe means
forever, some think it means
stored for them, etc. In short keep the records in their permanent
(e.g. final form)
for five years. Historically, of course, you should keep them much
longer--how are
you going to do a 25 or 50 year history of the hospital if you only have
the last five
years of the Board's minutes.
Dean
Dean DeBolt
University Librarian, Special Collections
John C. Pace Library, University of West Florida
11000 University Parkway
Pensacola, FL 32514-5750
850-474-2213
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-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Link, Gary M.
Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 2:16 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [RM] How Many Definitions of "Permanent" Are There?
To records managers and archivists, the word "permanent" means
"forever." But in my years of interviewing records users, I have become
accustomed to the fact that when the general public uses the term
"permanent" regarding their records, it can mean many things. Usually,
it means "As long as I'm here, after that I don't care." Still, this
latest version of the use of "permanent" has me so stumped that I'm
turning to the list for help.
I found a citation for a record series that states "The governing
authority shall record, sign, and retain in the hospital as a permanent
record minutes of all of its meetings and the meetings of all of its
committees, including a record of attendance for a minimum of five (5)
years."
A contacted the governing authority for this hospital for clarification
on the citation: Is it permanent or is it 5 years? Here is the answer I
received:
"it means to keep the minutes in permanent form for 5 years."
Well, I have concluded that they mean a retention of 5 years. But I am
stumped as to what "in permanent form" means. A request for further
clarification has not been answered.
What does "in permanent form" mean? Am I focusing on something
meaningless, now that I have my retention period? Should I let it go?
Should I just move on? How will I sleep at night not knowing?
Thanks,
Gary Link, CRM
Corporate Records Manager
Astorino
227 Fort Pitt Boulevard
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412.765.1700
412.765.1711 Fax
www.astorino.com
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