Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
by MORETA FORDE
PRESIDENT, BARIM
FIVE-PAGE FEATURE
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2008.
MORETA FORDE
by CHERRI-ANN BECKLES
BARIM IMMEDIATE
PAST-PRESIDENT (ARCHIVIST)
CHERRI-ANN BECKLES
the Barbadian context. In other
words, a small percentage of
business records are archival,
possessing enduring
administrative, legal, fiscal,
cultural, intrinsic, artifactual or
historical value and thus they
become a vital part of the history
by BRIAN COZIER
BARIM EXECUTIVE/FLOOR MEMBER
ISO 15489 definition of a record: A
record is information created, received,
and maintained as evidence by an
organisation or person in the transaction
of business, or in the pursuance of legal
obligations, regardless of media.
If we look at records and information
management in terms of its value to
business imagine not knowing who your
clients are, who owes you money, or who
your employees are.
It would be impossible today for any
business to survive without accurate
records, stored and maintained in a way to
keep them current and easily accessible.
BRIAN COZIER
well-managed system of identifying on an
ongoing basis what records can be
destroyed without having a negative
impact on business operations.
Of course, I also assume that even after
my death that the information that the
company has gathered concerning me,
would be confidentially disposed of.
In closing, I hope that I have been able
to articulate how important records
management is to us all, as we really take
all of the above for granted, but it does
require people, systems and management
to work, for all businesses to function and,
more importantly, provide a good service.
EMERSON BRYAN
employment of a retention
schedule should provide
evidence that they have
official policies for disposing
of records in compliance with
any legislation affecting the
organisation.
This can help avoid certain
legal problems associated
with illegal and arbitrary
disposal of records.
There are usually many
outside regulations that
oblige records managers to
apply consistent, structured
management to their
organisations documents.
These apply equally to
electronic documents.
A sampling may include:
Government legislation
which may require employers
to destroy sensitive
information (such as personal
employees/data) after a
specified time, or keep certain
legal documents for a
minimum period.
Adhering to a consistent
schedule of retention and
destruction will strengthen
the defence of an
organisations recordskeeping, if required to do so
by any court action.
Courts accept records as
evidence if they are
managed according to
corporately sanctioned
policies and procedures.
Records management
helps identify documents that
Legal Aspects of
should have a formal
Records
certification process applied
Management: The
for destruction.
Records Retention
In some cases, the prior
Schedule
consent of a CEO/permanent
secretary/or archivist may be
A records retention
required.
schedule identifies the
Legislation may require
period a records series
must be retained in active that vital documents
and inactive storage before (essential to continuation of
the business in the event of a
final disposition to
disaster) be properly
permanent storage,
identified, handled, and
archival preservation, or
monitored and properly
destruction.
protected.
When organisations
Access to
sanction the destruction of
information/privacy
records in the normal
legislation may oblige an
course of business, the
organisation to produce
accurate and reliable
information at the right time.
With sound records
management in place, it is
less likely that the
organisation would find itself
unable to supply requested
information.
NB. A major legal objective
and benefit of a retention
scheduling programme is to
serve as evidence to indicate
that the organisation does, in
by JANICE CANDY
BROWNE
FOUNDING MEMBER & FORMER
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY (BARIM)
CAMPUS RECORDS CENTRE,
UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES
JANICE BROWNE
to your records, thus saving much time,
effort, and money.
It is also important that a simple
retention schedule is practiced (for
example, bi-annually) so that records are
not kept longer than are necessary, and are
discarded in an appropriate manner for
example by burning of sensitive/personal
information.
Without the correct management of
records in your home, you lose the identity
and uniqueness of your family.
Records not only reflect what has
happened in the past, but are available
so that planning, decision making,
performance assessments can be done,
and control can be maintained. What
would this world be like if there were
no records within the home?
My favourite book, the Bible, is a
record of several families and how
they managed their lives.
We would not know who we are,
and where we ought to be if God did
not preserve his record, the Bible.
Should you need further advice on
the efficient and effective management
of your home records, you may
contact BARIM, or email me at
janice.browne@cavehill.uwi.edu.
MAIN SUBJECT
HEADINGS
EXPENSES
FINANCE
HEALTH
ASSOCIATIONS
VITAL RECORDS
EDUCATION
Contact Information:
BARIM
c/o The Archives and Records Management Programme
University of the West Indies,
Cave Hill Campus,
Cave Hill, St Michael,
BARBADOS
Telephone Number: 246-417-4052
Email Address: barim2004@yahoo.co.uk
Group: http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/barim2004
Documenting
legal research
From Page 38A.
currently or could potentially be regulated by government
and thus be subject to record-keeping laws and
regulations.
NB. This may be best approached by identifying
which agency (ies) of government oversees the
organisations activities.
Researching the organisations litigation history and
what it suggests in terms of developing future records
retention policies to better protect its interests.
Examining what future roles legal counsel may wish
in the development and operation of the records retention
programme as well as consideration of the geographical
areas that the organisation conducts business.
Documenting the legal research
It is advisable to document results of legal research
because attorneys should be provided with complete
documentation to determine whether the law has been
reasonably and appropriately applied.
It may be necessary in the future, to do a follow-up
exercise, or to provide evidence to regulatory officials or,
in cases of litigation, that the organisation did its best to
comply fully with all legal requirements.
Simple ways of doing this include posting the proper
statutory or regulatory citation of all legal requirements
on record inventory worksheets; making copies of
relevant laws and regulations and filing them as
supporting papers along with inventory worksheets or in
a separate file; or posting a summary of the legal
requirements on the retention schedules themselves or
on separate supporting documentation.