Elizabeth, I have been involved in the early stages of a number of
programs over the years, and recognize the realities of such situations.
One reality is that often we enter a situation where previous policies
empowered others to make records management policies, particularly in
the area of retention scheduling. One of the awkward situations I walked
into the county was the fact that managers throughout the county had
actually incorporated "records management" duties into their job
descriptions, in some cases adding to their compensation. This was born
of an earlier effort to eliminate central records management and spread
the duties throughout the departments. Trust me - I got very adept at
telling such individuals that they were in fact clueless about anything
regarding records management, without actually saying that. In fact, one
of my first experiences in the county was facing the demands of a major
department for my dismissal because I refused to destroy a pallet of
unidentified boxes sight unseen on the orders of their "records manager"
(thank goodness I did - as it turned out, the records in question had a
70 year retention!).

Needless to say, the "retention schedules" developed at that time ranged
from the wretched to the non-existent. Developing retention schedules
requires professional records management skills - period. Throughout my
career I have never encountered a retention schedule developed otherwise
that was any good. Some of the worst are the ones developed by
management. Fortunately we now have an executive rule in place which
clearly assigns that duty to our program. If you are at an early stage
of the game, it may be a long range goal, but ultimately the goal of any
records management program should be to professionalize this process at
all of its stages.

I would avoid any system that would allow offices to "submit new
additions/edits to records series in their offices". I could see this
developing into a situation where it becomes a tool to bypass records
management involvement, particularly in the inventory process, which is
where the most important information gets gathered that will result in a
retention schedule that seamlessly incorporates practice, available
tools, management/staff needs, and policy. While such a capability may
make sense now, it could be something you will regret in the long term.

Dwight Wallis, CRM
Records Administrator
Multnomah County Fleet, Records, Electronics, Distribution and Stores
(FREDS)
1620 S.E. 190th Avenue
Portland, OR 97233
Phone: (503)988-3741
Fax: (503)988-3754
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