I agree with what Ginny stated works well for isolated/singular events.
For regional events, I have to respectfully disagree. I realize that
most disasters are not regional, nor on par with what Katrina and Rita
did to Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. However, when a disaster is
regional, the distinction will likely prove short-sighted. Before
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, I would agree that if the records could be
found elsewhere they were not vital. After experiencing Katrina and
Rita, I think the need for businesses, the public and individual
governmental agencies to be a bit more self-reliant is critical.
For the first couple of months after Katrina, the average wait for a
duplicate vehicle title was about 4 weeks (over 350,000 vehicles were
flooded during the storms). Yes, deeds can be found elsewhere. But
if you need it in order to rebuild, secure loans, or file claims and the
wait time to get it from the governmental office is closer to 6 months
(because their employees are gone & the records are in another state
being recovered), the wait for businesses could be the difference
between survival and extinction (especially for small businesses).
Louisiana State University Economic Development Division did a survey of
the businesses in New Orleans and surrounding areas a year after the
storm. In New Orleans, 42% of the businesses with 5 or fewer employees
failed within the first year after the storms. Overall the number were
27% for New Orleans, 13% for Plaquemines Parish (southeast of New
Orleans) and 54% for St. Bernard Parish (next parish to the east from
New Orleans).
After what I have seen for the last twenty two months, my personal
definition of vital record would be any records that I MUST have
(regardless of dispersal elsewhere) in order to resume core operations
and assist with recovery efforts within 1-2 weeks.
(NOTE: These views are mine and mine alone and do not necessarily
reflect the views of my family or my employer.)
Carrie Fager, CRM
Records Management
Louisiana State Archives
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Phone: (225) 925-7552
Fax: (225) 922-1220
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-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Jones, Virginia
Sent: Monday, June 18, 2007 7:31 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [RM] Vital Records
<If the record can be obtained elsewhere (a courthouse, a federal or
state agency where it was sent as a report, etc.) after the event, then
it may be important, but it is not necessarily vital.>
<My question is............. How can you say that?
Imagine all the businesses in London right now that thought that they
had certain records "somewhere else" but now they don't? The Iron
Mountain fire cast thousands of businesses into Disaster Recovery.>
I was not referring to back-ups. I was referring to duplicate records
that exist in another business, branch, government office, etc. (routine
dispersal as defined in ANSI/ARMA 5). For example, deeds to property
also exist in the applicable government office of recording (such as a
County Clerk or County Recorder). Some businesses distribute copies of
certain records to other branches or subsidiaries.
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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