Christina, I can understand how overwhelmed you must feel. However, you may be able to take some short cuts. First, I would suggest that you enlist the help of one person in each departments administrative office, to assist with an inventory of each record series. The key elements in analyzing the inventories are: Who creates the record, Who is responsible for the record, and what does this record do for the University as a whole--what is its function. Second, While the inventory is in progress, refer to some of the college and university schedules that are in place for public institutions. Here are the links to some for Washington colleges and Universities. Washington State University: http://www.wsu.edu/~forms/HTML/BPPM/90_Records/90.01_University_Records--Ret ention_and_Disposition.htm University of Washington: http://www.washington.edu/admin/recmgt/retention.schedule.html Western Washington University: http://www.wwu.edu/depts/recmgmt/univ_retention_sched.shtml Please note: This is not a substitute for doing your own research, but it will however, give you a handle on what record series are generally held by similar institutions, and the retention for similar series of records. You may always contact the office in charge of drafting or approving these schedules for their legal citations to see if they apply to your institution. In short, a jumping off place for you. Good Luck. Elizabeth Fairfax, Island County Records and Information Services -----Original Message----- From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Christina Zamon Sent: Friday, February 01, 2008 6:26 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [RM] Records Management - where do I start? Good Morning, I made my first post on this list about two months ago and as I continue to settle into my new job I'm finding that I'm overwhelmed with RM responsibilities that I never expected. I was hired in October to be in charge of the archives and special collections and my primary training is in archives with very little RIM experience or training. When I first arrived I found out that the college was in the beginning stages of installing a system called Banner to manage and consolidate the records of several departments such as finance, student applications, alumni records, etc. So I began looking into it to see what they were doing as far as retention of those records. A few weeks ago I was called to meet with our legal council who told me that she would like to see a formal records schedule in place for the entire college. I couldn't agree more with her but I'm feeling completely overwhelmed now. I have a multitude of archival projects to handle including two separate archival collections (I'm a one man department) and now the responsibility of developing a whole records management program, including electronic records, from scratch. I know at this point the college won't be hiring anyone to take over this responsibility although I would like to impress upon our legal council that if she really wants this done that they may have to hire someone to handle it. So my question is where do I start? I've been reading all sorts of articles that I found on the ARMA website, looking at various college and university records policies and deciding if I need to take a class or a few. I wouldn't mind taking a course or doing a workshop but there are so many out there and there are so many different parts to RIM that I'm wondering if there is a catch-all type class that I could take rather than travel all over and spend $200 a class. My education budget is limited and is primarily allocated to going to SAA, NEA and other archives related meetings. Help!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Christina J. Zamon Head of Archives and Special Collections Emerson College 120 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02116 Tel: (617) 824-8679 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance To unsubscribe from this list, click the below link. If not already present, place UNSUBSCRIBE RECMGMT-L or UNSUB RECMGMT-L in the body of the message. mailto:[log in to unmask] List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance To unsubscribe from this list, click the below link. If not already present, place UNSUBSCRIBE RECMGMT-L or UNSUB RECMGMT-L in the body of the message. mailto:[log in to unmask]