On Fri, Mar 20, 2015 at 9:40 AM, Laurie Sletten <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> Hi, Earl,
> I think this is what you are thinking about:
>
> Robek, Brown & Stephens, Information and Records Management, 4th edition,
> 1996. page 43:
> "The volume of records in prime floor space can often be reduced by at
> least 40 percent, if no retention schedule has ever been in effect, or by
> up to 30 percent if an organization's retention schedule has not been
> properly maintained."
>


I'd put very little credence in this.

First, it's from something published in 1996 and it may not have even been
revised form earlier editions.... at that time (20 years ago) there were a
LOT MORE physical format records being created and retained than there are
today in most industries.   The vast majority of things generated in
many/most businesses over the past decade have been created and are
maintained in electronic formats... and while some of these MAY be getting
printed and filed, for the most part, those are 'convenience copies' used
for reference and they have no required retention period.

Second, if you're in legal, education or medical... this number is
preposterous.  And the same could be said for a lot of R&D and technical
settings, seeing as your records are the life blood of much of your future
business.

"Prime floor space" is another term that raises a lot of questions... how
many of your organizations actually maintain large volumes of your records
in common work areas?  Most of the time, they are either moved to bulk
filing areas designed specifically for dense storage of records, stored in
'record centers', or offsite.  Typically, only the most actively accessed
records are kept in the work area.

Lastly, the concept of throwing a number (40%, 30%, whatever) at an
unevaluated collection of information is a bit ludicrous.  If you haven't
assessed the records, why would you do that?

It's nothing more than a SWAG....

If you're hired as a consultant, then you profess this type of reduction in
volume and start going through the 'collection', only to find that the
number is more like 10-15%, how much of the rest of what you've told the
client will come into question?

1) look at the retention schedule, even if it isn't "fresh", depending on
the industry, it MAY be accurate
2) if they don't have a retention schedule, reducing the volume isn't their
biggest problem
3) evaluate a sample of the records to determine what is there...THEN make
an estimate

It's not rocket science, it's PROCESS.

-- 
Larry
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*----Lawrence J. MedinaDanville, CARIM Professional since 1972*

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