What is Records Management?
Records management is the "field of management responsible for the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use and disposition of records, including processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and information about business activities and transactions in the form of records." (Information and Documentation -- Records Management -- Part 1: General. ISO 15489-1:2001, Clause 3.16)
Records management begins when records are created or captured and continues as records are used, retrieved, updated, and referenced. All records at the University have a recommended retention period, which sets forth how long the record must be kept. After the retention period is over, the record enters its final disposition, which is usually either destruction or permanent retention.
The principles of records management apply to both electronic and physical records, though electronic records are not always as fixed, enduring, and discrete as physical records. Electronic systems are capable of automating many records management processes, so that the retention period and disposition can be automatically set for electronic records when the record is placed in a folder on a networked server or in an email application.
What is a record?
A record at the University of Denver is evidence, regardless of its format, of the University’s business transactions, activities, organization, or history that is created, received, recorded, or legally filed in the course of fulfilling the University’s mission.
The University Records Management Program will work with units to create records retention schedules defining what types of information are considered University records.