[IARA - State Agency Records Managers] February 2024 Monthly Bulletin and Chat Invitation
Indiana Archives and Records Administration sent this bulletin at 02/20/2024 07:59 PM EST
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🐇🦗🦘 Leaping Into February! 🦘🦗🐇
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Happy Leap Month, Records Managers!
Leap Year happens every four years, and gives us one magical extra day in February to keep the calendar from going wonky and exploding. This Leap Year, we'll be holding our Records Manager Chat on that one extra day, February 29th. What else are you going to do with this bonus 24 hours? Personally I plan to The other thing that traditionally happens on February 29th is that it's socially okay for women to propose marriage. ...Thanks, Irish ancestors. I'd take advantage if I hadn't already done that six years ago. (The bachelors would be safe, though.) |
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But if you're planning to pop the question anyway, it's certainly a proposal date that's difficult to forget!
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Last Month on As The Record Turns...
On MS Teams, we had our January State Records Managers Chat on the 25th. We met with 25 Records Managers from 23 agencies. Attending from IARA were Amy Robinson (State Records Analyst), Amy Christiansen (County/Local Records Liaison), and Madison Young (Records Analyst 3). |
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We discussed January's bulletin topics, which were
I've posted a link to the YouTube video of the January 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
Oversight Committee on Public Records Update
The February OCPR meeting is scheduled for the 28th, and on the agenda at this point (we're not quite past the cut-off yet) are updates to the retention schedule for the Secretary of State's Indiana Election Division, as well as potential minor changes to County/Local schedules.
NAGARA 2024: No Sleep Till Atlanta!
Our presentation proposal on the development of the new Critical Records Program has been accepted for the annual meeting of the National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators this July.
Barring the universe being mean, Electronic Records Archivist Anna Lucas, Records Analyst Madison Young, and I will be heading down to Georgia. Anna and I will present, and Madison will get to enjoy attending her first professional Archives and RIM conference without having to stand up in front of strangers and talk.
My name-twin on the County/Local records side, Amy Christiansen, will be helping us develop the presentation, but won't be attending the conference due to some very happy news of her own!
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Due to new requirements in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has been ordered to create a collection of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena.
Those are defined as airborne objects, objects seen to transition between space and the atmosphere or between the atmosphere and bodies of water, or submerged objects that show characteristics of being related to the first two. In other words... All federal agencies are required to collect any and all records of their agency related to such phenomena and prepare them for transfer to the National Archives. You can read a more in-depth article on this part of the NDAA by Adam Mazmanian at NextGov, or check out the full text at Congress.Gov. |
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RIM Topic of the Month:
With our recent updates to OCPR Policy 20-01 and Policy 20-02, and our new Critical Records and Responsible Records Destruction guidance in place, we're ready to start applying that principle in the documents that are the bread and butter of IARA and of agency records managers: records retention schedules.
It sounds like a big change, but in most cases it won't be - some retention language is even already format-neutral. In hopefully all cases, it will be a positive change for state agencies and records managers.
In practice, what this means is that going forward, in new or updated retention schedule drafts, you're going to be seeing more proposed language that doesn't specify a format for the records.
Phrases like "IMAGE according to IARA standards" and "MICROFILM according to 60 IAC 2" will slowly fade from retention language, as well as the familiar follow-up to both, "DESTROY hard copies after verification of images/film for completeness and legibility."
That's because all of these specifications and permissions are already covered by IARA policies, administrative code, and publications; they don't need to take up space in your retention schedule.
You'll simply see instructions for what to do with the records that can apply to any and all formats:
- "DESTROY after seven (7) years" can apply to paper records, electronic records - properly deleting electronic records counts as DESTROY - audiovisual formats, or even microfilm. (In theory - in practice, don't microfilm records that you're going to destroy after 7 years; that would be expensive and silly.)
- "TRANSFER to the INDIANA ARCHIVES for EVALUATION, SAMPLING, or WEEDING pursuant to archival principles one (1) year after file closure" works the same way: it applies to any format.
Both of those are format-agnostic retention instructions that already exist! You're just going to come across more of them, as well as as a lot of notes on drafts that say "No change to retention, just updated for format neutrality."
You'll still see separate instructions for paper vs. other formats if the Records Center is involved, because Records Center storage is only for paper and requires that approval to transfer be included in the retention schedule. The language conventions for that -- and for all of our format-agnostic verbiage -- are still being worked out, but they'll be familiar and as streamlined and unconfusing as possible.
None of this forces a change to what you currently do with the records! It doesn't mean that you can't microfilm, image, have born-digital records, keep everything in paper format, or use a mix of any of the above. It doesn't mean that you can't destroy hard copies after conversion to electronic or microfilm - just the opposite.
It means that we'll no longer be telling you that you must do those things (though we'll always provide advice on the best practices for your record type), or that you need special permission in your retention schedule to do them. Policies 20-01 and 20-02 give you that permission, as well as the choice of which format(s) to use, provided the Electronic Records Guidelines and any other specifications published by IARA for that format-type are followed.
This gives your agency the flexibility to use the format that works best for your programs and for the records, and to change that format as needed without requiring an update to your retention schedule every time.
February Records Managers Chat
Meeting Information
Date: 2024-2-29
Time: 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST
Place: Microsoft Teams
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 (the me one, not the other 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.
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
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Dial 1-317-552-1674 at the designated meeting time, then enter this PIN when prompted:
707 553 068#
- We'll let you into the meeting.
To Join the Meeting by Computer
- Click here at the designated meeting time.
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A new tab or window will open in your default web browser. From there:
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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.
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Choose the option to join on the web if you don't normally use Teams, then click "Join now."
If you have other questions about how to use Teams, or about the meetup, just contact me and we'll figure things out together!
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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