IARA County/Local Records Management - Record Series

Hello Clerks, Recorders, and staff,

Now that we know a little bit more about retention schedules, let's learn about the record series.

Record Series
Often abbreviated to just "RS" for brevity, record series are the categories that make up a retention schedule.

Each record series describes a broad group of records that have the same physical form, are arranged under a single filing system, are related to a particular subject, document a particular transaction, serve the same function, or are produced by the same activity—and so form an identifiable type.

A retention schedule is a collection of record series in much the same way that a dictionary is a collection of definitions, except that a record series both defines a type of record, and tells you what needs to be done with it.

3 Major Pieces of a Record Series
1. Number: The record series number is a unique identifier assigned when the record series is first added to a retention schedule and approved by the Oversight Committee on Public Records. It's also the key piece of identification used when filling out the State Forms required for destroying or transferring records to the Indiana Archives; they can't be approved without it.

2. Title & Description: The Title is a concise, descriptive name for the record series. Unlike the RS Number, it is not always unique; several different offices might have a record series called "Case Files" that contains a completely different type of information from another office's Case Files. Record series titles should, however, be unique within their own retention schedule. The Description is a brief synopsis of the type of information covered by the record series, usually located below the title. (If the title is very, very self-explanatory, there may be no additional description.)

3. Retention Period & Disposition Instructions: This section is the nitty gritty of a record series, and what most readers of retention schedules go there to find: the details on what the government office must do with the covered records. The retention period and instructions are written as briefly and straightforwardly as possible (though specific legal or business phrases are required in certain situations), so that:
• all Records Custodians can understand what they need to do to fulfill their legal requirements toward the records.
• no records are accidentally disposed of improperly, or too soon.

The Disposition Instructions may include format conversion instructions, information on how long the records need to remain, and what finally happens to your records. 

2 Examples of Record Series

Item Number
The item number wasn't listed under the three main parts of a record series, and there's a good reason for that: item numbers are not part of the record series. They're just a changeable, automatically-assigned line number to help you keep track of where you are on the page when you're reading. Each retention schedule consists of a specific collection of record series, regardless of the order in which they're listed on that schedule.

I hope this explains record series a little better. Next week look for information on record series terminology.

 

AMY CHRISTIANSEN JANICKI

Records Management Liaison

Indiana Archives and Records Administration

o: 812-929-3882

e: achristiansenjanicki@iara.in.gov |

w: www.in.gov/iara

a: 402 W Washington St, Room W472, Indianapolis, IN 46204

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