Adam Herbst asked:

"I am involved in a project to consolidate many (many) retention
schedules.
As part of that project, similar records series are being consolidated,
as
well.  I'm interested in hearing from folks who have done something
similar
and specifically, if when consolidating records series, you consolidated
based on similar *subject matter* or similar *retention periods* (e.g.,
all
IP records series with the same retention period get one records series
after consolidation)."

Both areas should be considered when combining records series.  I'd
never advise combining records series based solely on retention period.
There's too much risk that a subsequent change in retention requirement
would impact one of the categories but not the other.  (Example: You
wouldn't want to combine personnel records and tax records under a
single series, even if their retention period was currently the same.)

Combining records series is an admirable and noble effort!  (Yes, I've
previously worked on reducing the quantity from 10,000 to 2,500 ... but
that's still too large.)  It really can't be done without fully
understanding the affected records, including some understanding of the
regulating bodies setting retention periods.  (For example, I'd be leery
of combining series if the retention requirements were set in completely
different regulations, e.g., Dept. of Commerce and NASA).

Just my opinion, though.

Pilar C. McAdam, CRM
[log in to unmask]
Los Angeles, CA

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