Active records management

Active records facilities

• About 25% of all records are classified as active
• These records are used in daily operation of the organization and must be organized for rapid retrieval of information
• Fast turnaround time from request to retrieval of information met by having active records housed near people who need it

Distribution of records status

• 10% long term
• 25% active
• 30% inactive
• 35% useless
• 40% of an organization’s records classified as inactive (30% inactive + 10% long term which are usually inactive)

Types of active records storage systems

• Centralized
• Provides for the housing of all active records in one location within the organization
• Decentralized
• Provides for the housing of active records of each major department/office within that area
• Combination
• Allows many departments to maintain their own records under a centralized system of control

Centralized system

• Advantageous in terms of:
• Providing consistency in procedures
• Identifying responsibility and accountability
• Keeping related records together
• Training new clerical personnel
• Providing uniform service to all departments
• Minimizing duplicate records
• Providing better utilization of space, equipment and personnel
• Allowing greater security of records
• Providing one-stop retrieval of records
• Large organizations may find this system inefficient 
• Placing records in a location convenient to all departments virtually impossible
• More appropriate for smaller organizations

Decentralized system

• Provides immediate access for each department
• Managers may prefer because it gives them access and control over their own records
• Problems include:
• Lack of uniformity in total records system
• All related records not housed together
• Duplicated records
• Duplicate or underutilized equipment
• Lack of security

Combination system

• Combines decentralized files under centralized control
• Responsibility is given to Records Manager
• Typical records:
• Personnel and payroll
• Credit and financial and sales
• Uniform system of storage and retrieval
• Minimization of misfiles, lost records
• Minimization of duplicate records
• Provides for centralized purchasing, which results in better cost efficiency
• Facilitates records movement according to records retention and disposition schedules
• Provides the structure to assist managers in administering the records management program
• Problems of not having related records housed together; lack of flexibility resulting from uniform organization-wide procedures
• Combination system now chosen more often than other two
• In general, records storage system selected should be one that most closely fits the needs of the particular organization, its subunits and its personnel

Space planning

• Active records are located in prime office space so area must be planned for maximum efficiency at minimum cost
• Consideration must be given to weight of storage equipment and stress on floor
• Consideration must be given to the layout design of the storage units

Floor load capacity

• Floor load capacity = The weight of the records and equipment that a floor can safely accommodate
• Nonproductive weight: empty weight of equipment
• Productive weight: contents
• To determine floor load capacity, multiply pounds per square foot a floor can stand by square feet of available floor space
• Productive weight calculated as: records weight (capacity x record weight per filing inch) / hardware weight + record weight
• With floor load capacity and productive weight calculated quantity of equipment needed to house records can be determined

Design layout

• Choice of cabinets will depend on organizational needs, storage system, available storage space and floor load capacity
• Typical arrangements for decentralized system are Island, From Wall, Along Wall
• Guidelines for efficient layout include:
• Avoid opening cabinets into traffic isle
• For non traffic aisle allow four feet for each drawer opening and for one records clerk
• Allow four feet for each drawer opening and each records clerk where cabinets on each side of the aisle open facing each other
• Various arrangements for centralized system
• Aisle space
• 3’ minimum, 4’ if open into aisle
• 5.5’ for cabinet opening + passageway
• 8’ if cabinets open face to face and passageway is required
• Cross aisles every 25’ if rows are too long

Equipment selection criteria

• Ergonomic considerations
• Design, lighting, colour, acoustics, security, safety, accessibility
• Storage and retrieval requirements
• Space requirements
• Compare floor space ratio
• Floor space ratios represent the storage capacity per square foot of floor space occupied by the storage equipment
• Security requirements
• Equipment costs
• Operation costs
• Include costs of personnel to store and retrieve information, cost of compatible supplies, maintenance costs, cost of space to house equipment
• Number of people regularly accessing records
• Physical characteristics of records
• Equipment compatibility

Selection criteria for supplies

• Efficiency
• Special features e.g. preprinted folders for alphabetic, numeric or alphanumeric systems
• Colour coded folders, labels, etc.
• Quality
• Determined by weight or type of material used in construction
• Economy
• Purchasing cheapest item not always most economical move
• Environmental considerations
• Barriers to recycling
• Plastic strips, metal reinforcements, certain colours

Active file organization

• Active files in a manual filing system are normally stored in filing cabinets
• The type of filing cabinet chosen is important
• Lateral
• Require less aisle space (c. 13”) than vertical (c. 25”)
• Most new equipment purchases are lateral cabinets
• Vertical (conventional)
• Recommended for personal use, paper files in smaller work spaces
• Fire-Proof cabinets may be considered
• Certain components must be used to organize these filing cabinets
• Guides
• File folders
• Guides
• Heavy pressboard or cardboard used to separate the file drawer into sections, act as guideposts
• Primary
• Used to begin major divisions
• Special
• Highlight frequently used sections
• Tab
• A projection used to identify contents
• Caption
• Part of the tab that identifies range of records to be stored behind guide
• Label
• Self-adhesive strip affixed to tab of guide

File folders

• Containers used to store correspondence in the files
• General
• Used to store all documents in that division of the file for which there is no other folder to store the document
• Individual
• Used to store correspondence to and from or about one individual person or company
• Special
• Used to store correspondence concerning a special subject or topic