Taina Makinen wrote:

" But "tax roll" is the title of a record series, not a function. As such,
I'd think that the tax roll would belong to different functions in the
schedule, according to how it is used."

Yes, this is precisely the point. However it's function changes by virtue of
its placement in the organization not because the title changes, or what is
in the record. It's function changes because of the way the same record is
used by various offices, and in terms of what information in the record is
most important to that office. 

Barbara Wyton wrote:" Isn't that the purpose of a Functional Schedule, to
concentrate on the documents rather than the name of the department that is
responsible for 
them?      Department names change.   Reporting structures change. Would 
you not have to update your schedule every time one of these changes occur?"

 I guess I should have made clear that many people inaccurately use the term
"functional schedule" to mean that the title of a record series is often
taken to mean that it reflects function instead of analyzing the function as
it relates specifically to a given office.  Even if the series is called the
same thing wherever it is held in the organization, so-called "functional
record series," as referred to in the original question, are often
identified by title, and not by function.  The purpose of a functional
schedule is not to focus on the documents, but to focus on the function,
which should be reflected there anyway.

The original purpose of a record schedule was to reflect the purpose and
function of the schedule by office and its level of responsibility, making
the use of the word "functional" redundant.

Barbara's comment that "department names change" shows that, to her, title
seems to matter.  It doesn't. What matters is whether, if the name changes
it also reflects a change in the function of a) the department and b) the
relationship to records it deals with both internally, and externally as it
relates to the organization as whole. 

Barbara wrote: "reporting structures change. Would you not have to update
your schedule every time one of these changes occur(ed)?"  The answer is
yes.  If the reporting structure changes, the functions may well change in
the way information in the office functions for both that office, and for
the organization in relation to that office. This needs to be reflected on
the schedule.

Take something more general, such a "purchase order."  It may commonly be
held by almost any office in an organization as either a copy or as an
original.  The accountability changes for this type of record depending on
who has responsibility for it's final accounting, and where in the
organization it is held. A purchases order can be more or less than a
purchase order depending on who uses it and how it is used.  In this case a
functional schedule might still have to describe it separately for each
office because the function may well vary, defeating the intent of trying to
reduce the number of entries in the schedule.  

  If you identify by function the same record series, whether it is called
by the same title or not, it must be explained in relation to the office in
which it is held, making a generalized functional schedule almost useless,
since it still requires a separate description.  When the office of record
and any other offices carrying the same title, such as "purchase orders" one
must describe what that series does within that office, relative to the
organization as a whole, in order to have a schedule which functions
adequately. The schedule should be developed on the basis of function,
regardless of what the record series is called, the same or different in
each office, but most so-called functional schedules are used to reduce the
number of series reflected, when in fact, a true functional schedule
generally increases a)the number of series or b) the number of times it is
described separately by function on the schedule. 

Sorry to sound long-winded about this.  Hope that explains my meaning a bit
better.  

Elizabeth

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