Greetings -

 I've just signed up for the list with the primary purpose of asking
this question I posed to the Archives & Archivists listserv this
morning.   I'm an archivist at a small liberal arts college, and the
administration has decided to implement a records management plan very
quickly.  The plan was initially drafted by an attorney, without any
input from the archives or any of the departments on campus (in other
words, no records surveys or conversations - just a retention schedule
of possible documents).    Of course, the archivist (me!) is listed as
the coordinator of the plan, and the archives will (supposedly) accept
all materials when you call us.  The problem with this is that we ran
out of space a few years ago and have important manuscript and rare book
collections stored in less than desirable spaces, and have absolutely no
secure storage for more accessions (especially of the volume we could
expect with mandatory transfers to us).  We also run a successful
instruction program out of Special Collections, and work with over 400
students a year on research papers or personal research.   We truly
don't have the staffing to continue with what we're told is our primary
mission - to support the students and curriculum of the college - and
add records management to the list. 


I've spoken with a few other college archivists who are in charge of RM
and all reported that they do not have 100% compliance on their
campuses, and that with voluntary compliance, RM takes 5 to 50% of their
time.  The college attorney said that our president is serious about RM,
and this isn't just to "check off a box."  Their intention is to monitor
and enforce compliance, which I suspect will be time-consuming.   The
college is, of course, not interested in adding additional staffing, but
did seem open to the services of a consultant. 

 

All that said, here is my query:

"I would like to hear from college and university archivists whose
campuses have active records management programs designed by an outside
consultant, and implemented by existing or newly hired staff.

 

Specifically, for our campus, I'm envisioning that a consultant would
conduct the records surveys with various departments, set up the
retention schedule and  workflow/procedures, and provide the initial
training to a campus RM coordinator who would then monitor compliance
and track records accessions.

 

I'm interested in suggestions/recommendations for selecting and hiring
such a consultant; the length of time such a consultant would need; and
what kind of staffing (half-time, full-time, professional or
para-professional) is necessary to maintain the program."

 

Thanks - and sorry for the long post! 

Jamie

 

 

Jamie Nelson

Special Collections Librarian

Augustana College

639 38th Street

Rock Island, Illinois 61201

309-794-7317

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