Syllabus

Managing the Organization’s Records

Spring Quarter 2006

TEXT: Judith Read-Smith, Mary Lea Ginn, Norman F. Kallaus. Records Management

Managing the Organization’s Records Course Covenant

 As there are only ten meetings for this class over the quarter, it is expected that students will attend each meeting.  If you are unable to attend due to sickness (yours or a family member’s) please remember to notify the instructors by e-mail or telephone.  You are expected to do your work to the best of your ability, taking sufficient/adequate time to do the exercises and projects assigned.  If you miss a class for any reason it is your responsibility to discover what information you missed from your classmates.  This may require more than just looking at their notes - you may have to impose upon them to explain concepts, update you on activities that took place in class, etc.  This syllabus should provide you with the majority of assignments but we reserve the prerogative to assign additional work as needed to fully engage the participants in this course.

You are expected to complete a personal project involving the management of records.  This can consist of creating records schedules for part or all of your office or agency, a presentation  for upper management in your office or agency to consider the benefits of records management, a forms management project, disaster preparedness, or other inventive ways to make records do what they are intended to do.  The project is due for presentation in week ten.

You are expected to agree to the following learning objectives:

• Understand records management concepts, and the place of records management in risk reduction.
• How to write a records management policy and procedure for your organization.
• Understand filing systems and develop file classification plans.
• How to inventory records or direct the inventory of records and prepare retention schedules.
• How records centers operate and how they are different from and relate to Archives.
• How to conduct a records risk assessment and prepare a disaster preparedness and recovery plan.
• How to design good forms.
• Understand electronic records, knowledge and electronic content management concepts, and the near future course of records and their management.

Readings and assignments are due the week following their assignment.

Faculty:

Schedule:

Week 1: History of Records and Their Management - What are Records

Activities:         

• Lecture on the history, identity, and function of records and evolution of records management principles.
• Workshop - “Data to Knowledge” perceptions

  Assignments:  Read: Chapter 1

Exercise: Write a story showing your understanding of concepts expressed by three of the review questions and using five of the “important terms” on page 22 OR, Along with another student do “Applications” exercise 1-1.  Do “Applications” exercise 1-2 if you are not well acquainted with creating electronic documents.

Week 2: Records VS Archives, Libraries and Other Collections.

Activities:         

• Tour of the Washington State Archives - meet at the State Archives at 5:30 p.m. Click on link for directions and map
• Workshop: Relationship between Records and Archives
• Missions vs Housekeeping discussion
• Vital Records concept presentation and discussion

  Assignments:  Read: Chapter 2 - 4 Filing Rules and Chapter 6.

Exercise: Do the exercises in the chapters read to be sure you are familiar with filing rules.  You do not have to do any of the exercises or applications at the end of the chapters.

Week 3: Philosophies of Records Keeping - why keep and maintain records

Activities:         

• Developing Records Management Practices in Your Institution - role playing
• Structured VS Ad hoc Records Management
• Records Scheduling Introduction

  Assignments: Read: Preface and Chapters 5 and 7-9

       Exercise:  Records Scheduling - try to equate a special schedule prepared specifically for TESC to the State’s General Schedules or Community College Schedules

• Washington State General Records Retention Schedules
• State Community College Records Schedules
• Current Evergreen State College Records Schedules

Week 4: Records Centers and Their Operation

Activities:       *Tour of the Washington State Southwest Region Records Center (Boyd Barber

                        from Washington State’s Records Management Program)

• Assignments:  Read: Chapter 12 and Disaster Preparedness document on reserve.

        Exercise: Based on the “Review and Discussion questions” on page 338-39, write a three page essay on how you would set up and control an institutional/business RM program

Week 5: Forms Management - Analog and Digital : Risk Management & Disaster Preparedness

Activities:         

• Speaker on Forms Management
• Workshop - Disaster Preparedness (State Essential Records Manual)

  Assignments:  Read: Chapter 10 and locate and read 3 resources on electronic document records.

  Exercise: Prepare questions and conduct interviews with a business or agency’s Risk Manager, a conservator or an official responsible for disaster preparedness.

Week 6: Electronic VS Traditional Records Management : Preservation

Activities:         

• Preservation Considerations : State Preservation Manual
• Your knowledge base discussion - digital vs. analog record keeping
• Student Debate: Electronic VS Paper Based Records Keeping
  Preceded by library research to obtain evidence

  Assignments: Read: Chapter 11

• Exercise: Prepare questions and write a two page essay on your conception of the use of electronic records vs. imaged records (be they digital, microfilmed or other).

Week 7: Seminar on Electronic Records

Activities:         

• Seminar on Records Management Readings
• Project free work period and faculty help session

  Assignments: Review what you have learned so far and come prepared to listen and participate in next week’s discussion with the guest speaker.

Week 8: Records Content Management - Virtual and Real World

Activities:         

• Electronic Content - Guest Speaker, Chuck Cary
• Research and Discussion: Legal basis of Records Management - the RCW's and WAC's
  • Public Records Disclosure: Model Rules and Statute Reorganization
  • Public Records Disclosure for Washington Cities and Counties (PDF)

Assignments: Read: Chapter 12 page 317 as introduction then locate one other article on the topic.  

Exercise: Write a three page essay on your thoughts about Content Management

Week 9: Knowledge Management

Resources:

• Knowledge-at-work
  Personal thoughts about learning, community and social affordances for knowledge creation
• The Continuum of Understanding
• Packaging Knowledge: An Information Continuum
• Knowledge Delivery Continuum
• The Data-Information-Knowledge Continuum
  

Activities:         

• Workshop - Information Management
• Workshop - Information Access mechanisms
• Research and Discussion: The Records Management Profession

Assignments:  Read: Review whatever you deem interesting or necessary for your presentations

Finalize your Project for next week’s presentations

Week 10: Student Project Presentations

Activities:         

• Student presentations of their self designed projects
• Food (bring some to share)

Week 11: Evaluations