Previous - Next
Development of records management and archive services within United Nations Agencies
Marie Charlotte Stark
INTRODUCTION
1.2.2 As applied to United Nations agencies, this study with guidelines is intended:
(a) To encourage and assist them in gaining management recognition and staff acceptance of a co-ordinated programme of records management and archives administration with a professional staff responsible for administering records throughout their complete life cycle from creation to disposal.
(b) To emphasise, in planning and budgeting, the practical value of records management as a tool for operational effectiveness through improved quality and usability of records and archives and through avoidance of unnecessary costs due to wasted time, materials and prime space, duplication of effort, and lost records or mislaid files resulting from inadequate practices.
(c) To contribute to the harmonization, insofar as practicable, of records management and archival techniques and procedures among United Nations agencies, particularly with regard to functions common to most or all agencies.
(d) To promote co-operation in matters of common interest, such as exchange of technical expertise; development of training courses for records management and archives professionals and paraprofessionals; and preparation of training materials, including audiovisual aids, for use in indoctrinating programme and operational staff.
(e) To set goals and provide models for the basic components of an integrated records management and archives system.
1.2.3 The application of professional records management and archival principles and techniques, as well as the prevalence of similar types of records, particularly those in the administrative sector in most agencies, point to the feasibility of harmonization of certain types of records and archives systems among United Nations agencies. Agencies with more developed systems can give technical assistance, serve as models for newer or smaller agencies, and bolster efforts to gain management recognition and adequate budgeting, staffing, and facilities. Although attempts to impose uniform procedures on agencies having widely divergent functions, size, operational goals and degrees of openness to public scrutiny would not be feasible across the board, an awareness of the crucial importance of records can be instilled throughout the UN System that can be expected to bring tangible benefits in efficient administration and expanded utilization of those information resources.
1.2.4 The Guidelines will attempt to focus on those elements of records management and archives administration programmer that will encourage and promote improvement in record keeping within agencies in the UN system. The thrust will be on concepts and recommended policies and procedures, with reference to selected practices used in certain agencies or several agencies, so that general principles can be adapted to fit each agency as relevant. The aim will be, as indicated at the Expert Consultation in New York, to set optimum rather than minimum goals and standards so that agencies can proceed as the situation allows step by step toward ultimate goals.
1.3 Procedure
1.3.1 The format for presentation of each topic in Chapters 2 to 5 is as follows: the current situation is described, problems and alternative solutions are discussed, with reference to certain representative agencies consulted for this study, and a number of specific conclusions or recommendations are made. Whenever possible these sub-divisions are designated by topic subnumbers ending in 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The Guidelines in Chapter 6 summarise the conclusions under each topic in the foregoing text and are presented in numerical order, with reference to the relevant numbered section of the text. The Appendices and Figures reproduce directives and forms used in various agencies. Finally, a bibliography, annotated as necessary, is given of publications cited or noted.
Throughout the work, archival and records management terms used and the definitions given them are based upon the draft "International Glossary of Archival Terminology", prepared by ICA in co-operation with Unesco and subsequently published as Dictionary of Archival Terminology (Munich, KG Saur Verlag KG, 1984). Organisational units are referred to by functional names because of the wide differences in structure and titles among UN agencies. Because of possible ambiguities in the concept and use of basic terms, arising from differences between European and American usage in a number of agencies, dual terms have been used throughout this study, i.e., "records management and archives", "records manager/archivist", and "record centre/archives".
GUIDELINES
These Guidelines are essentially a synthesis of the conclusions and recommendations set forth at the end of each topic discussed in the text. They are based for the most part on the general records management principles and on procedures in effect in certain agencies. Since the scope of this study is comprehensive, the Guidelines focus on the dimensions of an integrated records management and archives programme instead of concentrating on definitive standards that would be selective in their applicability to various UN agencies at the present time. Further sources of information with respect to particular standards are indicated in the text and in the bibliography. The Guidelines, which are numbered consecutively within this chapter, refer to relevant numbered sections of the text.
6. Policy and Programme Directives (Section 2.1)
6.1 Each agency and separate body should issue within its formal series of executive orders and/or its Administrative Manual, a directive:
(a) establishing central responsibility for communications and for records management and archives, designating the officers charged with those responsibilities, including the authority of the Records Manager/Archivist to inspect records and other informational material in offices and to institute systems for their maintenance and disposal;
(b) specifying the inviolability of agency records and their mandatory transfer to the record centre/archives when no longer current;
(c) defining the Responsibility of staff for the safekeeping of records and information;
(d) specifying procedures for security classification and declassification (2.1.1).
6.2 Supplementary procedures and instructions should be incorporated in pertinent manuals, including all or some of the following: Correspondence Manual, Secretaries' Handbook, Records Manual, and Field Office Manual (2.1.2 to 4).
6.3 Location of Communications, Records Management and Archives Functions:
The registry/records management and archives function should
be under a single authority and assigned at least comparable
status in the organisational hierarchy (equivalent to Service or
Division) to other major information management services and,
separate from routine administrative services, in order to invoke
the authority necessary to carry out its purposes. When the
Records Management and Archives unit, which is an information
function, is separated organisationally from the Communications
unit, which is an administrative function, both should be under
the same department or sector to ensure smooth and effective
collaboration. If the two functions are joined to reflect
communications continuity in smaller
, agencies, unrelated administrative responsibilities for
telephone, copying and messenger services should not be included
(2.2.1).
6.4 Registry and Archives:
The organisation of the records function according to the Registry traditionally associated with agencies using the European registry system - as the unit that handles current records (sometimes including mail and cable and telex services), and the Archives, as the Unit which handles semi-current and non-current records, is gradually becoming more integrated as records management principles based on the life cycle concept and on a comprehensive records and archives programme are adopted (2.2.2).
6.5 Archives and Libraries:
The distinctive differences between archives and records management, on the one hand, and libraries, on the other, as to the information resources for which each is responsible and the specialised training and techniques required to deal with each, require that the two services should not be merged or integrated but that they should be complementary ( 2.2.3).
6.6 Secretariat Documentation
The official or archival sets of documents and publications of the organisation, in whatever form and including both publicly available and restricted and internal material, should be in the custody of the Archives as evidence of the organisation's existence and existence and activities. In practice, the Library should retain reference copies of agency documentation and publications which are accorded public access on the same basis as other library material. Finding aids should be prepared, as necessary, by the Archives and by the Library according to their respective standards and needs. Library produced bibliographical tools should contain reference only to documents and publications that are publicly available. The Conference Secretariat or Documentation Service should initially hold the official copies of current secretariat documentation until the agreed time for regular transfer to the Archives, and should prepare lists and indexes as necessary, except in those organisations where responsibility for documents distribution, custody of archives copies from time of creation, and indexing are centrally lodged with the Records Management and Archives unit (2.2.4).
6.7 Offices Generating Machine-Readable Records:
The Archivist should co-operate closely with computer systems managers from the choice of systems onwards to ensure the preservation of machine-readable records having potential archival value. Basic information inputted to the computer should be appraised carefully to ensure the preservation of information sources from which data aggregations and extrapolations have been made in order to avoid the inadvertent destruction of comparable data. Thus, there is an urgent need for recruitment in the Archives of technically trained staff to apply archival procedures to computer-generated records (2.2.5).,
6.8 Liaison with Services Having Related Functions:
The Records Management and Archives unit has a vital stake in matters affecting records creation and maintenance, including filing equipment and supplies; the control of forms and establishment of schedules for copies retained for information or record by various offices; the control of directives as regards their identification, source and purpose, their currentness and distribution, and the preservation of record copies with essential background information; the control of reports for similar reasons; environmental factors necessary for physical preservation of records of all types; and security measures for the protection of records and their contents. These interests can be fostered through active collaboration with the services directly charged with those functions. When it appears that there is a lacuna in management that adversely affects records and record-keeping, it is incumbent upon the Records Management and Archives unit to initiate co-operative action, or to intercede, when necessary, to promote and protect its inherent interests in those functions (2.2 .6).
Information Infrastructure: Functional Relationships (Sec. 2.3):
6.9 Organisations which have diverse collections of data separated administratively by type or physical characteristics and by location and technical requirements - photographs, sound recordings, data banks, libraries (general and specialised collections), maps and charts, etc. - should prepare and disseminate widely within the organisation and, as appropriate, outside, a "Guide to Information Sources". The Records Management and Archives unit should act as catalyst and, if feasible, compiler of the Guide, from its vantage point of awareness of the broad spectrum of conventional and non-conventional documentary sources within the agency.
Field Offices (Section 2.4):
6.10 Procedures for maintaining current records, including the central classification plan (if appropriate) and illustrations of pertinent forms and of records equipment and supplies, should be described in detail in the Field Office Manual (see Guideline 6. 2) . The Manual should also contain schedules for recurrent records; instructions for their transfer on becoming semi-current to storage areas as required for continuing Reference for stated periods, and for their destruction as authorized when those periods have expired; as well as the transfer to headquarters after a specified time of records deemed to have permanent value for final appraisal and disposal.
6.11 Headquarters and field office files should follow a common agency classification plan, whenever feasible, to facilitate reference. Alternatively a common classification plan applying to Regional Offices which have similar functions should be established when that would be more relevant to file content and thus facilitate arrangement and reference. Filing procedures should include initial separation of material of continuing reference value from material of transitory interest (2.4.2).
6.12 Regular field inspections to audit procedures and accounts should include records procedures, and the head of the Records Management and Archives unit should receive relevant extracts of the Inspector's report. At the request of a field office or the Inspection Unit, an archivist or records manager from headquarters should be authorised, in conformity with agency policy, to make site surveys and recommendations for improvement of current records practices and for disposal of semi-current and non-current records (2.4.3).
6.13 Appraisal of field office records should take into account those which are duplicated at headquarters and those which are unique. A reporting form should be circulated annually to field offices by the headquarters Records Manager/Archivist requesting a list of record series destroyed under authorisations specificed in the Field Office Manual, and a list of other holdings of semi-current and non-current material that are awaiting appraisal by the Archivist (2.4.3).
Archival Repositories for Abolished and Suppressed Organisations and corporate Bodies (Section 2.5):
6.14 UN agencies having well-established archival facilities are proper repositories for archives of abolished or suppressed organisations within their historical or institutional area of interest, in preference to acquisition by libraries, national archival institutions, or private organisations
6.15 When UN bodies or specialised agencies, which are recipients of or which have been offered such collections, do not have facilities for their proper care, the Chief of the UN Archives in New York should be called upon for advice and assistance. The UN Archives should, in turn, make arrangements for preliminary review and appraisal of the material in order to make recommendations for custody by headquarters Archives or by another UN agency having suitable facilities and which has similar functional interests or is located in an area convenient to potential users. Necessary funding may-be requested from appropriate UN authorities or, if feasible, from foundations and other organisations which may be interested in making the records accessible for historical research.
6.16 The agency assuming custody should make sure that the legal and administrative integrity of the archives is preserved and that existing finding aids and documentation of the administrative history are attached.
6.17 In the event of a disagreement among agencies, the Chief of the UN Archives (or the Chairman of ICA/SAIO if affiliated with a UN agency) should appoint an inter-agency committee of archivists to review the case and recommend a solution.
Staffing, Training and Orientation (Section 2.6)
(a) Recruitment (2.6.1):
6.18 In order to attract staff with the necessary technical skills, broad-based education, and relevant experience, staffing patterns should be graded according to intellectual and technical responsibilities, range of duties, volume and character of the records, and special qualifications required, with allowance for capacity to meet new challenges.
6.19 A professional records manager/archivist should be appointed in each specialised and similar agency and each separate organ having a staff of at least 100 to 200; in larger agencies additional professionals should be appointed as necessary to direct the range of responsibilities, volume of substantive records, and specific technical activities for which professional planning and supervision are required.
6.20 Standard job descriptions for various positions should be made available among agencies and adjusted to meet their specific needs for use as guidelines. When feasible, tests should be developed to assess clerical applicants as to aptitude, analytical ability, judgement, cognative ability, assessment of records, problems and their solution, and, if appropriate, manual dexterity. More complex tests should be prepared for paraprofessionals, and, in some cases, professionals might also be tested as to aptitude, judgment, reference acuity, written and oral expression and negotiating skills, as well as technical proficiency relating to their specific responsibilities.
6.21 In order to develop staff capabilities, to form a career path, and to integrate more effectively functions relating to various stages of the life cycle of records, staff should be rotated between registry and records management and archival duties whenever feasible in order to broaden their insight and experience.
(b) Training (2.6.2):
6.22 Regional or cluster workshops and seminars, held under the auspices of Unesco and ICA/SAIO, should be held for staff at various levels senior administrative and information services officers, together with the heads of Records Management and Archives units, in an awareness and mutual dependency discussion; paraprofessionals, on technical or functional skills - automation, microfilming, preservation and restoration, reprography, accessioning and disposal; clerical, as to filing procedures, subject classification and reference techniques. Courses should be conducted by selected staff from various agencies (not necessarily United Nations) according to expertise in the topics to be discussed. Unesco should be asked to assist in financing the training.
6.23 Inter-agency internships of two weeks to three months, covering single or rotating functions, should be organised for paraprofessionals and sub-unit heads. An inter-agency committee, chaired by the Chairman of ICA/SAIO (or head of the UN Archives if the chairman is not affiliated with a UN agency) and with a rotating membership of no more than four other members, should be established to select applicants. Host organisations should be chosen, with their consent, by the Chairman. Agencies would be expected to bear the expenses of their staff attending; the host agency would not charge for its regular facilities.
6.24 Staff should be trained in needed specialities arising from new technology and also should be encouraged to take advantage of local university or professional training courses, making use of agency incentives of partial reimbursement of costs, if available.
(c) Orientation of Staff (2.6.3):
6.25 All new agency staff should receive regular indoctrination regarding records and archives functions and services as part of the general orientation programme. The head (or a representative) of the Records Management and Archives unit, should give at least one hour's oral presentation to secretarial and clerical staff, using slides and other visual aids if available, followed by a half-hour's tour of the record centre/archives and central registry. A briefer orientation should be addressed to professionals, preferably by the head of the unit, with a suggested tour of central facilities to those interested. When orientation of professionals is given by a senior official, the Records Management and Archives unit should provide a script or background notes. Agency training personnel should be encouraged to schedule courses on a frequent and regular basis in view of their importance to the agency as well as to the individual.
6.26 In offices serviced by a centrally controlled or administered decentralised file station, both professional and secretarial or clerical staff should receive indoctrination in the stations resources, procedures, and services. Emphasis should be on creating a partnership of files staff and clients for their mutual benefit.
6.27 Audiovisual aids should be emploued whenever available for orientation purposes. Exchanges between agencies of relevant slides and drawings, or preparation of a motion picture documentary, by the UN or by ICA/SAIO with Unesco support, on the nature and importance of records should be explored as a means to enliven and popularise orientation sessions.
Reporting and Statistics (section 2.7)
6.28 The basic principles to be followed in collecting statistics are: consistency, clear definitions of terms, regularity, and standard measurements.
6.29 A revised statistical model for measuring records holdings, activities and services of active UN agencies and other international governmental organisations is proposed for development by Unesco, in collaboration with ICA, to collect data on records creation, maintenance of current records, management of semi-current and non-current records, and archives resources and services. The model should also provide data on auxiliary services, such as microfilming, forms control, and automated finding aids. The questionnaire for the proposed model should be initiated as a pilot project and, after revisions, based on experience, should be circulated to UN agencies at intervals of two to five years, as agreed, in order to provide comparable data and analyze trends (2.7.2).
6.30 Printed or mimeographed forms should be used whenever possible to expedite routine compilation of recurrent data on a daily and cumulative basis, such as mailings, postage, correspondence processed, items filed, index entries, etc.
6.31 Workload statistics should place greater emphasis on gathering qualitative data on information services furnished as a means of revealing a more positive image of the Records Management and Archives unit's activities than is shown in exclusively quantitative data (2.7.3).
Records Creation (Section 3.1)
(a) Specifications for Record Material. (3.1.1)
6.32 The Records Management and Archives unit should promote preventive preservation by close collaboration with the Procurement service on purchases of supplies for archival-type records. Technical advice on specific requirements for materials may be secured from relevant ICA committees and from professional literature.
6.33 Approved standards include the use of permanent (100% cotton fibre) grade paper for formal legal instruments and ceremonial documents; encasing unbound ceremonial documents in acid-free polyester sheets or sleeves to eliminate physical contact; encasing photographic negatives and prints individually in similar polyester sleeves or acid-free envelopes; use of silver (halide) microfilm for all archival microforms, with diazo copies for security and reference copies; placement of historical documents and records, if possible, in acid-free file folders or in acid-free documents boxes with metal corners and hinges; selection of appropriate file folders by weight according to function and purpose; use of manifold paper of permanent/durable quality to produce record carbons of potentially archival records.
6.34 The lack of control of paper quality emanating from copiers, word processors and printers, which are usually 100% bleached sulphite, as well as the diminishing quality of ordinary paper, indicating the need to observe closely signs of deterioration so that remedial action, such as microfilming or other types of reprography, can be undertaken before valuable records become brittle or the writing fades.
(b) Procedure for Specific Categories of Paperwork (3.2.2)
6.35 The role of Records Manager/Archivist should be conceived as that of a member of the agency management team committed to facilitating the accumulation and accessing of essential information currently and retrospectively. Thus, the Records Management and Archives unit from its vantage point as the agency's principal information centre should make a conscious effort to contribute its knowledge and services in matters that reflect the many-faceted aspects of paperwork management - mail management, correspondence management, files management, forms management, reports management, and directives management. In addition to those areas where its primary interests are indisputable the unit can also assist in providing and managing systems for the control of forms and of certain aspects of reports and directives that would otherwise be neglected. (See also Guideline 6.8).
(c) Automation (3.1.3)
Automated Registry and Indexing Systems) (3.1.3.1)
6.36 The automation of financial, housekeeping, statistical, personnel and similar data in decentralised files has been in effect for some years, and automation is progressively being applied to records of other functions. In the past archival-type data have been preserved in printed reports of cumulated data produced by the computer, but new technology and the extension of computerisation to substantive material and non-routine activities require that the Records Management and Archives unit be involved at the design stage (see also Guideline 6.7).
6.37 Cumulative reports of automated data should be retained only at the longest period at which full information is recorded (such as annual reports), in order to eliminate unnecessary retention of superseded reports.
6.38 Automated indexing of registry correspondence should be made more selective and perceptive to reduce the expense and frustration resulting from unnecessary and irrelevant entries. Registry indexing should be extended wherever feasible to provide cumulative information on matters of frequent reference, such as missions and conferences.
Source Data Automation (3.1.3.2)
6.39 Accessions of records produced by means of source data automation should be identified, so that the Records Manager/Archivist will be aware that recorded data for verification exists solely on input media, such as punched cards, punched tape, and mark-sensitive forms. Assurances that those media have been fully exploited should be obtained before their destruction is approved.
6.40 Source data automation offers possible applications for records management use in the conduct of record surveys, particularly in field offices, and in compiling data related to holdings, transfer and disposal.
(d) Reprography: Convenience Copying (3.1.4)
6.41 Separation of information copies into temporary files should be encouraged as a deterrent to unnecessary filing (and ultimate weeding) in official files. This should be emphasised in staff manuals and orientation lectures.
6.42 As a means of producing clear copies and discouraging unnecessary use of copying machines, responsibility for the control and monitoring of each copier should be specifically delegated to an individual so that machines will be properly maintained, paper jams reduced and quickly corrected, toner input kept at proper levels, and copyright restrictions observed.
(e) Micrographics (3.1.5)
6.43 The central point for control and co-ordination of microfilming policy and practice throughout an agency should be the Records Management and Archives unit. This will enable it to exercise its responsibility for current, semi-current and non-current records and for making determinations regarding appropriate preservation and accessibility. Arrangements for preparation of COM microforms may be delegated to the offices responsible for computer services, and arrangements for microfilming of printed archives, if appropriate, to the Library or Documents Service responsible. All other microfilming should be centralised within the Records Management and Archives unit. If feasible, an inter-office committee composed of the services concerned would be a useful means for collaboration.
6.44 Careful cost/benefit analyses should precede any decision to microfilm for the purpose of saving space, as previous studies have clearly demonstrated that space saving itself is not a valid reason unless supported by other, more pressing circumstances. Similar analysis should be applied to decisions on whether to set up full or partial microfilming facilities within the organisation or to use contractual services.
6.45 Legal Admissibility of Microforms as Evidence
The legal status of microfilm records should be carefully considered before destruction of the originals they are designed to replace, according to studies made of national legislation in force in many countries. Such decisions should be made with the advice of the organisation's legal counsel, as well as subject and technical specialists (3.1.5.3).
COM Microforms (3.1.5.4)
6.46 The increasing use of COM microforms in lieu of paper printouts requires that the Records Manager/Archivist be able to make a preliminary evaluation of potential archival value of the end product of such systems at the design stage.
6.47 COM microforms of automated financial and administrative records should be utilised for vital records programmes and security copies wherever relevant.
6.48 Retention of COM microforms as a substitute for historical magnetic tapes for archival purposes should be considered because of the ease of handling and superior reference accessibility of the microforms.
Microfilming of Documents and Publications (3.1.5.5)
6.49 Microform sets of secretariat printed documentation - preferably microfiche because of its easy accessibility and superior reprographic quality - should be retained in the agency archives and also in the Library's printed archives collection, where applicable. Duplicate items should be produced on diazo film, except for COM microforms, which should be on vesicular film.
6.50 Filming of printed documentation should be performed in-house, if possible, to promote quality control. Developing of film and copying of roll film is often performed more expeditiously and less expensively by contract services, but archival standards must be met in all details.
6.51 Micropublishing
Publications of small organizations, including publicly available documentation of general interest, are generally reproduced more expeditiously for external distribution in microform (with extracts reconstituted on paper or microform) by a commercial firm with worldwide distribution facilities, rather than by the agency itself. This relieves the agency of the expense and responsibility of producing, stocking, and distributing microform copies for public use, and for having to maintain large quantities of paper stocks to fill retrospective orders. A by-product is that the agency itself receives a complementary copy of the microfilmed works and can order extras relatively inexpensively (3.1.5.6).