Picture this: you’re looking at twenty-years’ worth of overstuffed folders in the file room and wondering how you’ll use your records disposition authority (RDA) to straighten it all out. Good news! Applying an RDA is a lot like checking out your mail. Just like your mailbox commonly features junk mail, coupons, bills, or letters, the … Continue reading Dear Reader: “You’ve got Records”
Category: State Records Management
State Records Center
The Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) is the official repository for Alabama state agencies’ records. The ADAH building across from the State Capitol accepts permanent historic records into its collection to facilitate research and tell the story of Alabama for generations to come; however, the ADAH also operates a second facility dedicated to … Continue reading State Records Center
Assembling an Emergency Response Kit for Your Records Room
Alabama faces natural threats year-round. From flooding to hurricanes to snow and ice, these events can pose a danger to your record storage room. In addition to natural disasters, records storage rooms are subject to more common hazards such as pipes bursting, sewers backing up, or faulty electrical wiring causing smoke or fire damage.
10 Steps to Wrangling Your Records Storage Room
Have you been put in charge of your office or agency’s records and, by extension, the records storage room? This can be an overwhelming experience. You may inherit a space with unmarked boxes, loose materials, ephemera, and decades of records crammed into a tiny space and packed to the ceiling. You’ll need to gain control … Continue reading 10 Steps to Wrangling Your Records Storage Room
Can I Scan and Toss? Six Considerations for a Digitization Project
“If I scan a document, can I toss the paper copy?” This is one of the most common questions that Records Management Section staff hear from state and local government agencies. Perhaps your office wants to migrate records to a document management system or simply wants to move records to a shared drive for easy … Continue reading Can I Scan and Toss? Six Considerations for a Digitization Project
For the Record 