ARCHIVAL RECORDS AND RECORDS TRANSFERS

Guidelines for the Retention And Disposition of Archival Material

Transferring Records to the Archives

Archives and Records Management Frequently Asked Questions

Guidelines for the Retention And Disposition of Archival Material

The following guidelines apply to all administrative officers of the College, as well as faculty whose performance of administrative duties (e.g., committee positions or chairs of academic departments) put them in possession of files, records, or documents concerning their official duties:

1. All records of official activities of College officers, offices, and committees are the property of Bates College and constitute archival material.  Once inactive, these records should be transferred to the College Archives.
2. Archival material in College offices may not be discarded or destroyed without the approval of (a) the departmental supervisor or records creator, and (b) the professional staff of the College Archives.
3. The officer in charge of the department where the records accumulate, or the officer in charge a committee's records, in consultation with the Archives staff, and in compliance with state and federal laws, is responsible for deciding how long inactive papers are to be retained in and under direct control of the office, prior to disposition (i.e., destruction or transfer to the Archives).  Material selected for preservation shall be sent to the College Archives in accordance with a records schedule developed by the Archives staff, in consultation with the officer in charge of the department where the records accumulate.
4. The professional staff of the Archives shall consult with appropriate administrative officers regarding conditions of access which may be placed on any category of records.  It is understood that in the absence of specific restrictions, all materials transferred to the Archives will be open to researchers on a non-discriminatory basis.
5. Please consult the Archives and Records Management FAQ for more information regarding records management at Bates.

Transferring Records to the Archives

Please make use of the following guidelines when ready to transfer records to the Archives.  Contact the Archives if you have any questions about these guidelines.

Once you have read the following, please download and fill out the records transmittal form (MS Word form), and send to the Archives when completed.

1. Remove records from filing cabinets by series or category.  One file drawer generally equals two bankers boxes.  You may include more than one category of records per box. Separate different series with a sheet of paper. Please do not separate the categories into their own boxes.  We have limited storage space, so each box should be filled.
2. Office files should be transferred to the Archives as they have been arranged in use, since their organization reflects the functions and activities of the office that created the records.
3. Do not remove records from the folders in which they were placed in your filing cabinet unless you are using hanging files with metal hooks.  Replace hanging folders with standard file folders before placing them in the box.
4. Remove any duplicate material from the records to be transferred.
5. Place the records in cartons that have the following dimensions: W=12" X L=15" X H=10"; standard bankers boxes are the correct size.  Boxes must have lids and handles.  Do not use other sizes or types of boxes as they may not fit on our shelving and may be too heavy and awkward for staff to lift.  If you have odd size items that do not fit into the cartons, contact Archives staff.  A limited number of boxes are available from the College Archives.
6. Label the boxes consecutively on the front of the box, and include the total number of boxes transferred in the label (e.g., “Box 1 of 5,” etc).  Write the name of the transferring office on the box as well.  Do not use acronyms.  Please write in pencil on the boxes, or, if you prefer, write or type label information on a piece of paper and tape it to the front or lid of each box.  In addition, provide a folder list of the items being transferred to the Archives; this will aid in retrieval of folders for future use.  You may email a copy of this list to the Archives.
7. Contact Physical Plant to pick up the boxes for delivery to the Muskie Archives.  In addition, contact the Archives when the boxes are ready to be transferred so we know to expect them.

Please note the following:

Do not send records in envelopes or send one or two random files at a time, without first consulting Archives staff.  Exceptions to this include publications or material for which the Archives is on a distribution list.

Send only Bates-produced materials and not magazines, books, newspapers, etc. which were not produced by Bates College, its personnel, or students unless these comprise an integral and necessary part of the collection.

Do not overstuff boxes or send damaged or lidless boxes to the Archives.  Records can be easily lost or destroyed in transit this way.

Archives and Records Management Frequently Asked Questions

The following serves as a general introduction to the Bates College Archives and the records services it provides to all college offices.  It is not intended as a final policy statement (although some policies are described herein), but rather as an aid to guide the development of the College’s records management and campus-wide retention and disposition (R&D) schedules.  The development of R&D schedules at Bates will be a lengthy and on-going task, and persons reading the information below are encouraged to contact Archives staff for the most up-to-date information.

What is the Archives and what does it do?

The Archives is mandated by the Board of Trustees to be the official repository for items pertaining to the history and administration of Bates College.  These are records and other materials that document the history and development of the College from its inception to the present and that have permanent administrative, legal, fiscal or historical value.  The Archives ensures the proper long-term preservation and storage of these records, and makes them available for research.

Why should I transfer my records to the Archives?

The Archives can provide the proper and stable physical climate for the records – no records of enduring value should ever be stored in basements, attics, closets, or other environmentally unstable or physically unsecured areas.  The Archives also provides the expertise and equipment to ensure the long-term survival of material through preservation and conservation techniques, such as migration of media from one format to the next to prevent obsolescence.  In addition, proper archival description helps to make records readily and quickly accessible to researchers and staff.

What will happen to the records I transfer? Can I see them again? Can anyone or everyone?

Records transferred to the Archives are housed in our closed stacks – no one has access to the stacks except the Archives staff.  Records which are available for public research are described (processed) and displayed via indexes (finding aids) on the Archives web page. Records which are designated as closed or restricted by the transferring department are not open for research except to the record creator(s) until the agreed upon time period has elapsed.  Some records, such as student transcripts, will never be open for public research but should still be transferred to the Archives because of their permanent value.  All records transferred to the Archives are available for viewing by the transferring office, and even restricted records can be made available for research by allowance of the records creator.  The Archives does not make decisions about opening records for research on its own.  Archival records are not loaned to patrons, and research materials do not leave the Archives public reading room.

What is records management? Why do we need it?

Records management (RM) can perhaps be best defined as the “systematic control of records throughout their life cycle,” from creation/receipt, through maintenance and use, to final disposition.  Records management ensures the identification of long-term or permanent records and their efficient transfer to the archives, the scheduled destruction of non-permanent records, and a more efficient use of storage space, both in administrative offices as well as in the Archives.  Efficient RM can also promote increased office productivity – for example, a recent study showed that computer users spend 7.5 percent of their time looking for misplaced electronic files – save money, and help avoid any legal issues arising out of improperly deleted or maintained files.  The Archives offers several records management services to the Bates community.  These include temporary storage for non-permanent records that must be maintained for a discrete number of years, the confidential destruction of records, and records retention and disposition schedules.

Why do we need records retention and disposition schedules?

Retention and disposition (R&D) schedules provide a systematic way to allow staff to ensure that records are being saved or disposed of in a regular manner.  Systematic development of campus-wide R&D schedules, as opposed to ones created ad hoc by individual offices, help eliminate duplication of effort and inefficiency.