Records retention is simply a practice by which an organization maintains their records for set lengths of time, and systems in which they use to either redirect, store, or dispose of those records. The records retention schedule is the policy which guides this practice, by clearly defining how long a record must be kept and the guidelines for how records …
Preparing to Set Out On the Records Management Trail
Howdy! Looks like you are getting ready to depart on a records management journey. The road to a good records management program will require endurance, patience and perseverance. Here are 5 things to prepare for before you hit the trail: 1. Determine your destination: You will want to determine your destination by setting records management goals. Do you want to …
ARO Spotlight: Mandy McClellan – Central Utah Water Conservancy District
The Central Utah Water Conservancy District manages a vast network of water facilities in eight Utah counties. Recordkeeping for this vital resource is of the utmost importance to the organization. Records Manager Mandy McClellan offers up some insight into her role and advice for other recordkeepers. Tell us how you got your start in records management? Is this a career …
2022 Legislative Updates to GRAMA
In the 2022 session, the Utah Legislature made several updates to the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA). Here are the highlights. Representative Dan Johnson sponsored House Bill 96 which contains two significant changes. First, it defines a media representative as “a person who requests a record to obtain information for a story or report for publication or broadcast …
ARO Spotlight: Brooke Smith and the Murray City Records Clean Up Project
Here at the Utah Division of Archives and Records Service we seek to support government agencies throughout the whole records lifecycle: from records creation, through use and access, from records storage, to destruction and preservation. So when we see a great records management project, we want to celebrate! Murray City recently shared news of their latest records clean-up project with …
Preserving Utah State Prison Records
Our State Government Team has been providing assistance to the Department of Corrections as they work to move the State Prison from its current site in Draper to the newly constructed site west of the Salt Lake International Airport in 2022. With so much history, and lots of official records, this is a massive project that we are excited to …
Insights from Heber’s Sexton Report
In March 2019, Heber City transferred a large batch of historical records to the State Archives. Although we were able to fully process and create finding aids for the bulk of the transfer that same year, the subsequent coronavirus pandemic interrupted our project. We are now eagerly wrapping up the final pieces, most of which are records from the Heber …
2021 Year in Review
As we end another year, we wanted to take a moment to reflect and share some of the good work that our team at the Utah State Archives and Records Service did in the past twelve months to ensure the ongoing care and management of the public records that we hold in trust for the citizens of Utah. In 2021… …
State Records Committee Year in Review
As 2021 comes to a close, we wanted to share what the State Records Committee (SRC) has been up to this year. The Committee met electronically through May. In June, we started meeting in person again at the Taylorsville State Office Building, but virtual attendance was still an option for anyone attending. Going forward, meetings will always have an option …
Highlights with Heidi: Authority to Weed
Weeding is used to get rid of non-records (binders, folders, post-it notes, etc.), redundant records (i.e. form letters where we only need to preserve one), and misidentified records in archival collections. Archivists use their authority to weed as a collection management tool to best utilize resources, particularly physical storage and digital space. Archives RIM specialists add the phrase “with authority …