The First Step: Records Series
- Before records are ready for transfer,
the records files must be broken down into a records
series.
Records series contain records of a particular activity, form, or
subject. The records series is important for arranging your files
and for determining how long to keep them.
- All Berkeley Lab records are retained
or disposed of according to their legal, fiscal, administrative, or
research value, as authorized in records
retention schedules approved by the National
Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
- Your office and the Berkeley Lab Archives
and Records Office staff need to confer about the correct retention
and disposition of the records before the records are packaged and
transferred to the Archives and Records Office. This will save you
the time and work of sending records that should possibly be disposed
of or retained in your office.
The Second Step: Packaging
- Use the proper size box when packing
records. For legal and letter-sized records use standard sized
boxes. For x-rays and magnetic media different sized boxes are required.
Contact the Archives and Records
Office to determine the appropriate
boxes for your records. The boxes (up to 25 in number ordered
at one time) are free as long as they are being used to transfer Laboratory
records to the Archives and Records Office. The boxes will be delivered
by Transportation, usually on the same day.
- To pack the records correctly, treat
the records carton like a filing cabinet. The stapled end is the back
of the box. Letter sized records face the front of the box. Legal
sized files face the side of the box.
- In order to store Laboratory records
for free at NARA's Pacific
Region (San Francisco) Records Services Facility in San Bruno,
they must be processed according to a set of standards.
Before packing the records in the box, make sure you have read the
standards and that your records meet those standards. This is very
important because, once the records have been transported to the Archives
and Records Office, if they are found to be deficient according to
the standards, we will have to reject the records and return them
to you.
- If a customer would prefer to have
all of the processing of their records listed in these instructions
done by a professional Records Analyst, the Archives and Records Office
offers a Records Processing
Recharge Service. Please contact
the Archives and Records Office if you are interested in using this
service.
- Leave approximately 1 inch of
space in each box for working the files. Leave all guides and tabs
in the records if they will help the Records Services Facility personnel
retrieve the records.
Do not over pack the boxes, and do not send records cartons with less
than a filled box. If the last box in a series in not completely filled,
add packing material to the back to keep records upright.
The Third Step: Numbering Boxes for Shipment
- Make numbers on the outside of the
box in pencil only. Number the boxes in the front, upper right
corner. Begin with box number 1 and include the total number in the
series, such as 1 of 10, 2 of 10, etc.
- Do not use glued-on or taped on labels
to supply additional identifying information. No standard method of
affixing labels is effective in long-term records center storage.
Also the contents of the box may be confidential.
The Fourth Step: Preparing the Records
Transmittal Forms
- Download an electronic version of the
Berkeley Lab Records Transmittal.
- Complete all fields on the form, except
the area identified as Archives and Records Office Use Only.
- In the "Brief Description of the Records"
field describe the records in sufficient detail to allow Archives
and Records Office personnel to verify that the right records retention
item has been selected for the records series. Include details about
who created them, how they were used, what they include (memos, photos,
computer printouts, magnetic tape, drawings. . . ) and how they are
arranged (alphabetically, chronologically, by assembly, by magnet
number, by project. . . ). For research and development (R&D) records,
please also describe the project involved and its significance, the
relation of the records to future research, and whether the records
are related to a patent.
- In the "Type of Material" Section,
check all types of materials that apply to this accession. Information
stored on different media requires different preservation techniques.
- Complete the "Records Retention and
Disposition" section by stating if the records are permanent (check
"Historically Valuable Records") or temporary (check "Destroy on a
scheduled basis..."). Archives and Records will fill in the minimum
retention and calculate the disposal date if the records are to be
destroyed.
- On the second and subsequent pages
of the transmittal, give the box number (1 of 10, 2 of 10. . . ),
the folder numbers, and the file folder headings in each box. If an
index of the files already exists it may be used or cut and pasted
into the form. If the existing index is used as it stands, draw a
line across the pages where the list matches each box's contents and
put the box number beside that portion of the list. The order of
the files on the index must match the order of the files in the boxes.
- Each box should have a list of headings
from each file folder in the box.
- Remember, err on the side of too much
information rather than too little.
- Avoid abbreviation or acronyms; or
when used, put complete transliteration in parenthesis after its first
use.
- Download and complete an electronic
copy of the Accession Check List
for quality assurance.
The Fifth Step: Shipping the Records
- Send the completed records transmittal
form and accession check list along with an account number (required
by Transportation in order to pick the records up from your office)
in electronic form (via e-mail) to:
Archives and Records will not accept any records sent
to us unless a transmittal has been sent and approved by our office
first. The Archives and Records Office will review the transmittal and
if it is acceptable, will arrange for the records to be picked up at
your office by Berkeley Lab Transportation.
- Put a copy of the completed records
transmittal form and accession check list in the first box. This
is how we can distinguish your boxes from others, without any labels
on the outside.
- Hold one copy of the completed records
transmittal form and accession check list in your suspense file, in
case you need to recall records before the transfer process is complete.
- Unfortunately, if there are serious
records transfer problems, the Archives and Records Office staff may
have to return the records to your office for the problems to be resolved.
Return to Top of Page
|
