The following guidelines are offered to all departments on campus that are currently storing semi-active or inactive records on campus for either eventual destruction or transfer to the Archives Department in the UWM Libraries.
Labeling
When you label your boxes of records, please write clearly and legibly using permanent marker. Place all information on the outward facing of the storage carton, rather than on the top of the carton. If you are using a printed label, be sure to select a font and size appropriate for ease of readability.
Labels should include the following information:
- Name of the creating department or responsible academic unit
- Name or title of the record series
- Date span of the record series
- Disposition (if known)
Examples:
Personnel Department (creating or responsible department)
Student payroll records (what these records are)
2000 – 2003 (date span of records stored in this box)
Destroy 2008 (optional, list if known)
L&S – History Department
Office of the Dean – Correspondence
2004 – 2005
Transfer to Archives 2008
Storage
Documents should be stored properly and, when at all possible, in standard record center cartons. Contact UWM Records Management for help in obtaining these cartons.
Proper storage includes the following steps:
- Do not overpack storage container boxes
- Store in an appropriate location
- Do not leave on the floor
- Do not stack cartons too high
- Avoid obvious hazards (water and fire)
- Keep record series separate
- Examples: Payroll 2001 – 2002 can be stored with other payroll records from successive years (e.g., Payroll 2002 – 2003 and 2003 – 2004). Do not place similar or related record series in the same records carton. For example, Payroll 2001 – 2002, Time off Requests 2001 – 2002, and Accounting Summary Reports 2001 – 2002 should all be stored as separate record series.