Effective Document / Records management requires clear policies and procedures, especially regarding retention and disposal of records. A retention and disposition policy will define the timeframes during which documents for operational, legal, fiscal or historical value must be maintained. It defines when inactive documents can be transferred to a secondary storage facility, such as offsite storage. The policy specifies the processes for compliance and the methods and schedules for the disposition of documents. Legal and regulatory requirements must be considered when setting up retention schedules.
Records managers or information asset owners provide oversight to ensure that teams account for privacy and data protection requirements, and take actions to prevent in identify theft.
Technological changes as simple as the installation of new software can make documents unreadable or inaccessible. Non-value-added information should be removed from the organization’s holdings and disposed of to avoid wasting physical and electronic space, as well as the cost associated with its maintenance. There is also risk associated with retaining records past their legally required timeframes. This information remains discoverable for litigation.
Still, many organizations do not prioritize removal of non-value added information because:
- Policies are not adequate
- One person’s non-valued-added information is another’s valued information
- Inability to foresee future possible needs for current non-value-added physical and / or electronic records
- There is no buy-in for Records Management
- Inability to decide which records to delete
- Perceived cost of making a decision and removing physical and electronic records
- Electronic space is cheap. Buying more space when required is easier than archiving and removal processes
