Comprehensive Study Notes: Records and Archival Management (IMR462 and IMR505)

Lecturer and Course Policies

• Resource Person: Dr. Ezza Rafedziawati Kamal Rafedzi (E.R.K. Rafedzi), Senior Lecturer, Records Management Program, Faculty of Information Science, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM).

• Classroom Rules (Lecturer : DRERKR):

  • Rule $1$: Leave the excuses at the door.

  • Rule $2$: If you didn’t do your homework, just admit it.

  • Rule $3$: If you didn’t understand the assignment, ask for help.

  • Rule $4$: If you didn’t study for the test, accept the grade and resolve to do better next time.

  • Rule $5$: If you refuse to follow the rules, accept the consequences.

• Classroom Philosophy: This is described as a non-democratic classroom environment. The lecturer's stated reason for being there is to teach, inspire, and help students grow. The lecturer performs their part, and the rest is the responsibility of the student.

IMR462: Archival Repository and Disaster Management Assessment

• The Assessment Composition ($100\%$ Total):

  • Article Summary (T$2$): $10\%$

  • Final Project (Phase $1$): Company Profile & Site Selection (T$3$): $20\%$

  • Final Project (Phase $2$): $3D$ Floor Plan (T$1$): $10\%$

  • Final Project (Phase $3$): $3D$ Building (T$4$): $20\%$

  • Poster Presentation (T$5$): $10\%$

  • Test (T$6$): $30\%$

• Administrative Requirements: Students must complete an Entrance and Exit Survey.

• Task $02$ (i) - Company Profile Particulars:

  • Method: Video Recording ($5\,minutes$).

  • Group Size: Groups of five ($5$) students.

  • Required Discussion Elements:

    1. Company/Group Name.

    2. Company missions, visions, and objectives.

    3. Organizational structure (specifically the role and position of each member).

    4. Company logo.

  • Timeline: Progress must be presented in Week $3$.

The Records Life Cycle Concept

• Phase $1$: Active Records Management

  • Creation: The initial generation of the record.

  • Distribution: Sharing the record with internal and external users.

  • Use: Utilizing records for decisions, reference, or legal reasons.

  • Maintenance: Involves storing/filing, retrieval, and protection.

• Phase $2$: Semi-Active Records Management

  • Appraisal: The process of evaluating records to determine their value.

  • Transfer: Moving records from office space to a central repository.

  • Records Centre: The stage where semi-current records are held.

• Phase $3$: Inactive Records Management

  • Disposition (Pelupusan):

    • Transfer: Moving records to an archival repository.

    • Retain: Keeping records for a defined period.

    • Destruction: Permanent elimination of records with no further value.

  • Archives (Permanent Storage): Only records with enduring value are moved here for permanent preservation.

Concepts and Functions of Records Centres

• Definition: A Records Centre (or Records Repository) is a building or part of a building designed or adapted for the low-cost storage, maintenance, and communication of semi-current records pending their ultimate disposal.

• Organizational Responsibility: It is the duty of the government or corporate records and archives institution to control all records created by the organization.

  • Active Status: Records kept in respective departments, maintained by a record officer.

  • Semi-Active Status: Occurs after a period of activity ceases; these must be kept in a records centre.

• Justification for Records Centres (The "Why"):

  • Bulk: Large volumes of semi-active records overwhelm departmental space.

  • Legal Necessity: Requirement to retain records for specialized legal purposes.

  • Cost-Efficiency: Managing records in their original departments (registries) is often too expensive and difficult.

• Types of Records Centres:

  • National.

  • Departmental.

  • Commercial.

• Core Principles/Functions:

  • Acts as an intermediate storage facility between the office and the archival institution.

  • Must be safe, secure, clean, efficient, and economical.

  • Prerequisite for Transfer: No records should be transferred to the records centre unless appraisal has taken place.

  • Fate of Records: Actions (destruction, review, or archival transfer) are determined by the disposal schedule, which is an authoritative official record.

Characteristics of Records Repositories

• Security Structure:

  1. Custodial Security:

     • Must be externally and environmentally secure.

     • Unauthorized access is prohibited; storage conditions should follow regulations for secret or confidential records.

     • Classified records may require separate, locked enclosures with access restricted to authorized staff.

     • Office areas must be staffed during working hours and buildings must be guarded at night.

     • Identity Control: All persons must wear visible identity cards (Photo IDs for staff, temporary IDs for visitors).

     • Key Control: The manager is responsible for numerical keys kept in a locked cabinet. Spare keys should be stored as per the disaster control plan. Security codes for push-button locks must be tightly controlled.

  2. Environmental Security:

     • Isolation from dangers like fire, flood, or natural disasters.

     • Use of automatic alarm systems (smoke, fire, flood, and intruder) connected to police or fire services.

     • Regular testing of alarm systems and staff training on fire extinguishers.

  3. Security \& Access:

     • Random Storage: Boxes are stored in randomly selected locations to prevent easy identification of contents.

     • Marking: Boxes should carry no markings that directly indicate sensitive contents.

     • Issuance: Records are only issued to the office that transferred them or via their direct authority. Supervised conditions are required for consultation.

• Cleanliness \& Order:

  • Protection from damage caused by dirt, insects, rodents, or mold.

  • Prohibitions: No eating, drinking, or smoking allowed in the storage area.

  • Arrangement: Records must be kept in proper order on shelves in clearly labeled containers with reference codes.

• Efficiency \& Economy:

  • The unit cost of space must be lower than active office buildings.

  • Design: Compact or dense storage (high ratio of cubic meters of records per square meter of floor space).

  • Planning: Based on backlog quantities, creation rates, retirement rules, and retention policies.

Archival Repositories and Management

• Definition of Archives:

  • IRMT ($1999$): Records (usually non-current) of enduring value selected for permanent preservation.

  • National Archives Act $2003$: Records preserved for their permanent and enduring national or historical value.

  • Distinction: "Archives are records, but not all records are archives."

• Definition of Archival Repository: A building or part of a building in which archives are preserved and made available for consultation. It includes strong rooms, processing rooms, and facilities for researchers (Alison Turton, $1991$).

• Fundamental Requirements of Archival Buildings:

  1. Preservation: Safety against fire, humidity, light, and pests.

  2. Production: Space for listing, labeling, catalogs, and reading rooms.

  3. Repair: Facilities for restoring damaged documents.

  4. Reproduction: Equipment for microfilming and photocopying (Reprography).

• Basic Functions of Archives Management:

  1. Appraisal: Determining final disposition (temporary vs. permanent).

  2. Accessioning: Legal and physical transfer from office to archives.

  3. Preservation: Maintenance and conservation.

  4. Arrangement \& Description: Organizing records and developing finding aids.

  5. Access \& Use: Implementing policies for researcher usage.

  6. Reference \& Staff Services: Professional assistance and outreach/marketing.

• Archive Value Types (Schelenberg, $1956$):

  • Primary Values: Administrative, fiscal, and legal value to the original creator.

  • Secondary Values: Evidential, informational, historical/cultural/national, and research value to outside parties.

Physical Forms and Acquisition methods

• Forms of Archives: Parchment (leather), vellum (thin leather), paper/manuscripts, microforms (microfilm/microfiche), photographic materials, machine-readable records (CD, flash drive), and magnetic tape (video, audio, cassettes).

• Acquiring Methods:

  1. Donation: Involves small archives from citizens or private groups; requires proactive seeking of materials (not just waiting).

  2. Transfer: Systematic movement from government or corporate agencies via a records management program.

  3. Loan:

     • Temporary: For specific purposes like exhibits (requires loan forms).

     • Indefinite: Generally avoided as it creates administrative problems.

  4. Purchase: Expensive practice involving private collectors or manuscript dealers; items must strictly relate to archive policy.

• Processing Incoming Materials:

  • Records Centre Staff Steps: Tidying, cleaning, boxing, and listing.

  • Archivist Actions: Checking archives, completing accession forms, making entries, acknowledging receipt, labeling, and placement of records.

Building and Planning Roles

• Archivists vs. Architects:

  • Archivist: Familiar with service requirements; prepares the "Architectural Brief"; monitors construction weekly.

  • Architect: Responsible for construction and translating the brief into plans; suggests technical solutions.

• Architectural Brief Content:

  • Background (current situation, budget).

  • General functions (receipt, storage, production).

  • Work flow patterns.

  • Description of parts ($surface\,area$, specific technical features).

  • Technical services (electricity, heating).

• Notable Examples of Archival Buildings:

  • Southbank Centre Archive (London): Features a $1950s$ mid-century shelving system.

  • Evangelical Lutheran Church Archive (Nuremberg, Germany): Features copper walls that change color from dark gray to brown.

  • Britten-Pears Archive (Suffolk, England): Houses music manuscripts in a temperature-controlled concrete chamber.

  • BFI Master Film Store (Warwickshire, England): A concrete/steel bunker archival facility storing $460,000$ film canisters in sub-zero temperatures.