It is not the Archives' decision to set policy on how records should be
organized/arranged/kept. This is a decision that belongs exclusively to the
record creator. I understand why archivists would want to maintain chron
files, but unless the archives has special authority on recordkeeping
practices, it's not their call.

As a former archivist at a university, I cringed every time I came across
chron files, as did most administrators younger than 50 yrs. My
recommendation to the offices was that chron files should only be retained
if the files within are not represented elsewhere. Most administrators
eventually purged their chron files after I gave them the blessing.
Generally those who kept such records were either very high level offices or
individuals who felt the school would crumble without the history of their
transactions.

To summarize, don't let the archivists get in the way. Do what you need to
do so long as it within the law and within the school's policies.

Good luck,
Stephen Cohen
Archivist & Records Manager
New York NY

On 11/9/05, Leslie Knoblauch <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Hello,
> I am the first Records Manager at a small private college. I have been
> conducting preliminary records surveys of the top administrative
> offices. In my interviews/surveys the office staff has told me that they
> want to cut down on the duplication of records stemming from them using
> a chron file to hold correspondence and then also adding copies of this
> same correspondence to the much larger and more heavily used subject
> file. They have let me know that they do not find chron files easy to
> use, especially for new staff, and are looking at phasing them out. My
> initial thought was that they should do away with the chron file and
> stick to using their subject files but the university archives
> disagrees. What would you recommend in this situation? Should I
> recommend that office staff continue to use two systems, one that they
> find very difficult to use efficiently so that the archives can document
> the history of their office more thoroughly or should I support the
> offices transition away from chron files?
>
> Any advice would be appreciated,
> LK
>
> List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
> Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
>



--
<><><><><><><><><><><><>
Stephen E. Cohen, MLIS
Project Manager
Forrest Solutions
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