[IARA - State Agency Records Managers] Monthly Bulletin and Chat Invitation for June 30, 2022

🌙🥄🎈🦝 Happy June, Records Managers! 🦝🎈🥄🌙

T'is the season to hold a balloon as you use a spoon to groom a raccoon and commune with the moon while crooning a tune that lampoons all the terrible rhymes people have come up with for June. (I recommend George and Ira Gershwin's Blah Blah Blah. [lyrics])

 

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Last Month's Chat

On MS Teams, we had our May Records Managers Chat. We met with 20 Records Managers from 20 agencies!

Attending from IARA were Amy Christiansen (County/Local RM Liaison), Amy Robinson (State Records Analyst), and Samantha Putnam (Records Center Supervisor).

We discussed May's bulletin topics, which were our new Records Management YouTube channel, where you can find all past and future RM Chat videos, and the differences between the State Archives and State Records Center.

I've posted a link to the YouTube video of the May chat in our RM Bulletins and Chat Archive, where you can also find all of the previous bulletins we've sent out. 

 

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News You Can Use

Electronic Records Transfer The State has now completed the migration to GoAnywhere, so all agencies will utilize it if they send electronic records over SFTP to the State Archives. If you need to send electronic files to the Archives and have not done so in the past, email erecords@iara.in.gov. IARA's Electronic Records Archivist, Jeannine Roe, will contact the Office of Technology's Data Exchange Team to set you up with a drop folder in the State Archives storage space where you can transfer the records. (Or you can grant Jeannine access to your own folder so she can transfer the records; whichever you prefer).

Agencies can use a desktop client like WinSCP, or the IN.gov Managed File Transfer portal.

 

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News You Can't Use

This 1990 poster from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is currently framed on my office wall. I'm pretty sure we've had it since the original print run. When I was in high school. You can see the archival version of it in (where else) the National Archives, here.  The copy in the National Archives? A record that NARA is responsible for retaining. The copy on my wall? Not a record, because it's a publication of an entity that's not IARA. I can throw it away anytime I like. (Except I'm not going to because it's been in our office since 1990 and I have fond memories.) Sorry, I think I accidentally put useful information in this section. Oops!

 

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RM Topic of the Month: Records, Non-Records, and Copy of Record

Since we're learning this stuff anyway, let's talk about it!

 

A record is any piece of recorded information that:  

1.  is created or received by your office AND 2.  documents the activities of your office.

This is true no matter what medium it's recorded on (medium: type of container used to store the information, such as paper, microfilm, VHS tape, hard drive) OR format it's recorded in (format: how the information is arranged on that medium, such as text, image, MSWord, database file).

Just as it's important to know what records are, so you can take care of them properly and follow the laws and rules that govern them, it's also important to know what's not a record that your agency is responsible for retaining.

 

A non-record is any piece of recorded information that: 

1.  does NOT document the activities of your office, such as: reference and training materials used by your office but not created by it publications that you did not create, even if they're from another government office (Like my poster!) advertising material you receive, whether in paper or electronic (e-mail) form personal papers or correspondence of someone in your office that don't relate to their government job OR 2.  is a duplicate of information that is a record of your office, such as: a copy of a record in the same format as the original, such as photocopies or duplicate electronic files a copy of the same information in a different format, such as microfilm, scanned images, or a paper printout.

But when it comes to duplicates, which one is which?

 

The Copy of Record is the version that counts as a record for records retention purposes. 

How do you determine which version is the Copy of Record? You'll like this one because it's super-easy: as long as the information is the same, you get to decide. The Copy of Record is simply whichever version of the information your office currently uses to fulfill the legal retention requirements for that type of information. The Copy of Record does not need to be the original. It doesn't even need to remain the same copy over the lifetime of the record: if you duplicate a paper record in microfilm format, you might decide that the microfilm is now the Copy of Record and destroy the paper originals. As long as

the information is an authentic duplicate and the format and medium meet IARA standards (60 IAC 2 for microfilm, and OCPR Policy 20-02 for electronic records)

then any version of the information can be the Copy of Record.

Why is all of this important to you? 

Because non-records may be destroyed at any time - whenever you no longer need them. You don't need to meet a retention period or fill out a State Form 16* because these things are not records. * Unless you're asking the Records Center to destroy them for you, in which case you'd mark it "RS# ____ - Duplicates!" One important thing to remember, though: duplicates of confidential materials are still confidential, so they must be destroyed in a confidential manner.

 

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June Records Managers Chat

Our next Records Managers Chat will be happening on June 30th. 

Meeting Information 

Date: 2022-06-30
Time: 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.  EST
Place: Microsoft Teams

About the Meeting

This 30-minute meetup is an informal setting in which to ask questions or talk about records management concerns; normally I'll begin by introducing any IARA colleagues attending, talk a bit about the topic of the monthly bulletin and make any announcements, then open things up for questions and discussion.

I've included an agenda to help keep me us all on topic, so there'll be plenty of time for your questions and records management discussion once Amy remembers to click Mute!

Adding Yourself to the Meeting Invite List

✉ Desktop Outlook

• Save the attached Monthly State Records Managers Chat.ics file to your desktop.
• Make sure Outlook is open.
  
• Double-click the .ics file.
  
• Outlook will open it up as a traditional meeting invitation.
• Click "Accept" to add it to your calendar.
• Because this meeting is recurring, you should never have to add yourself again.

✉ Outlook on the Web

• Save the attached Monthly State Records Managers Chat.ics file to your desktop.
  
• In your web version of Outlook, go to the Calendar page.
  
• Choose "Add Calendar," then in the left pane, "Upload from file."
  
• Click "Browse" and find the .ics file, then click "Open."
  
• Choose a preferred calendar from the dropdown list. (Even if you only have one.)
• Click "Import."
• Outlook will add the meeting to your calendar.
• Because this meeting is recurring, you should never have to add yourself again.

Meeting-Up in MS Teams

Are you new to using Microsoft Teams? No worries, IARA can help you navigate.

MS Teams is a collaboration app that many state agencies are now using to stay organized and have conversations with colleagues inside and outside of the agency.

But if your agency doesn't use Teams? No worries. You don't need to have the software installed on your computer to participate in a Teams call. 
 

To Join the Meeting By Phone

1. Dial 1-317-552-1674 at the designated meeting time, then enter this PIN when prompted: 
   707 553 068#
   
   
2. We'll let you into the meeting.
    

To Join the Meeting by Computer

1. Click here at the designated meeting time. 
   
   
2. A new tab or window will open in your default web browser. From there:
   
   
   • Choose the option to join on the web if you don't normally use Teams, then click "Join now."
     
     
   • Join through your desktop or mobile application if you're familiar with using Teams and would prefer that to the web version. 
      

If you have other questions about how to use Teams, or about the meetup, just contact me and we'll figure things out together!

. . .

Looking forward to seeing you,

Amy A. Robinson  (CIP) | (she/her)
State Government Records Analyst
Indiana Archives and Records Administration

o: 317-232-3285  |  f: 317-233-1713
e: arobinson@iara.in.gov |  w: www.in.gov/iara
a: 402 W. Washington St., Room W472, Indianapolis, IN 46204

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• Monthly State Records Managers Chat.ics
• StateRMChat-agenda-2022-06.pdf