Records Management

While you may not have access to your physical records while working remotely, you are likely still creating or modifying records digitally. Below are a few notes and pointers about working with records digitally. If you have any questions or concerns about records you are creating or modifying, reach out to the Records Management Department for assistance. 

• Records can and are being created every day no matter where you are working. If you are working remotely, you are still creating and/or modifying records that need to be retained per the New York State Records Retention and Disposition Schedule CO-2. 
• The official copy of a record being created has a designated retention period regardless of the format. While working at home you may me creating or modifying a record that you normally pint or retain in hardcopy form but are now working with the record digitally. This record still holds the same retention period as the hardcopy, and does not change because it is being kept digitally. 
• Please be sure you are saving any digital versions of records you may be creating or modifying to a place you will be able to access them when you return to campus such as the M:Drive. Please avoid using any third-party storage service such as Google Drive to store any official college records. These services are not secure or approved for our use by the New York State Archives. Also these services are not accessible by our computing department in the event of lost records or document that may need to be recovered. Any use of a third party storage vendor must have prior approval from New York State before using their services. 
• Do not use devices such as USB Flash drives to store official college records. These devices are not reliable for continued access to a record, and they are only accessible by the person in possession of the drive. Using devices such as a USB flash drive as a long term solution can lead to access issues, as well as security issues in the future. Any official record must be readable and retrievable for the entire length of the retention period; a record may have a 10 year retention period, but the flash drive may fail before this period is up leaving the record unobtainable.  Try to stick to storage devices, such as the M:Drive, that are offered by the college as they will provide easier access when returning to campus, or for future access of a record. 

• When saving any record you are working on be sure to organize these files in a similar fashion to your paper files. This will help to assist recalling a file you save digitally as you can search for it the same way you search for a paper record. 
• Be sure to maintain the same naming conventions throughout all of your records. When naming a file be sure to include any important identifying information to tell you what the record you are saving is, such as;
  • Record Series
  • Record Name
  • Date Created
  • Retention Length
  • Any other key identifiers that will help to retrieve the record when needed
• If the record contains any specific names or dates, be sure to consistently save them in the same format, and ideally the same format across your department. This will ensure quicker access to all files regarding a specific person or record. Labeling information with name and last 4 of an M number can be helpful. File naming example:
  • Last Name, Last four digits of M#
• Any record that you are saving can be retrieved easier when you use descriptive folders and subfolders. Having a folder with a broad record series name, and folders within your record series folder that contain specific records regarding the series may help to retrieve something specific you are looking for. 
• Maintaining the same, or similar naming conventions as you do with your paper records will make organizing, and retrieval of your digital records easier and more efficient.