Newsletter: Fall Into Order, Leaf No Record Behind

Live Event: "What's the deal with UW Archives?"

Join us in this virtual event with the UW University Archivist, John Bolcer, to learn how to identify archival records and your role in preserving University history.

RMS staff will start with how to know which records to delete and which to save, and we’ll point out the specific types of records designated as archival. We will clarify the differences between UW Archives and UW Records Management (a topic many people find confusing), and we’ll share time-tested strategies for making sure records designated as archival actually make it there.

Then UW Archives staff will offer useful details about their work, including: how to manage records in your office before transferring them to the Archives, how to transfer records to the Archives, acceptable formats to transfer, and how to access records held by the Archives.

When: October 8, 2024 from 2-3pm

Where: Zoom

Click here to add to your Outlook calendar

Live Event: Halloween Deleting Party

Managing email can be scary! Afraid to delete a substantive record that is past retention? Scared of that item count steadily rising? Terrifyingly full inbox?

Attend the live Halloween Email Deleting Party hosted by Lynn and Emily, the RMS ROT Squad! Get tips and tricks to keep the email monster at bay. Even if we can’t provide garlic wreaths—and to our dismay, there’s no work tag for silver bullets—you’re guaranteed to walk away with a lighter inbox and new skills. Already booked? Check out our recorded deleting party.

When: October 24, 2024 from 2-3pm

Where: Zoom

Click here to add to your Outlook calendar

Trivia question of the month

Going through your office’s or department’s records can be quite the time-consuming adventure. Although we love a good adventure at RMS headquarters, we do understand that the endeavor can be daunting and downright horrifying at times. In that same spirit, we came up with an imaginary scenario for you this month…

You are a dedicated office administrator that scheduled a record clean-up day in an effort to identify what records your office has and to finally have an excuse to go through those filing cabinets nobody's touched in years. As you sift through all kinds of records, you stumble upon a few black-and-white photographs taken at an event that happened in the late 60s.

How do you proceed?

1. You show the photographs to your co-workers to find out if anyone recognizes the people in the photos. After some discussion, the decision is made to add them to the shred pile because they're old and do not seem to have any current value or use to your office.
2. You leave them in the filing cabinet since you're unsure about what to do with them. Someone else down the line may be able to figure that out.
3. After checking the General Records Retention Schedule, you identify that this record is a History File. Even though these photos are long past their legally approved retention period, you learn that the photos may need to be transferred to the UW Archives. As a result you contact the UW Archivist, John Bolcer, to discuss an initial appraisal.
4. You really like these old photos. You determine they aren't much use to anyone in your office but they would go really well with that new midcentury-style furniture you just got for your living room.

Want to challenge your co-workers? Feel free to forward this email to them and see if they know the answer. Scroll down to see the answer below…

FETCH THE FUTURE...GO DIGITAL
Click here to watch the video on this University-wide initiative.