For immediate release:
August 27, 2008

For more information, contact:
Lee Anne George
Association of Research Libraries
202-296-2296
leeanne@arl.org

Records Management: SPEC Kit 305 Published by ARL

Washington DC—The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has published Records Management, SPEC Kit 305, which explores the state of records management in ARL member institutions. Records management is the field of management responsible for efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use, and disposition of the records of a business or organization.

This SPEC survey was distributed in February 2008 to the 123 ARL member libraries, 62 of which completed the survey for a response rate of 50%. Of those 62, 41 (66%) have records management programs. Three had programs in the past but no longer have them. One of these former programs began at an unknown time and ended in 1993; one existed from 1991 to 1996; a third ended in 2003 after 38 years of operation.

At the majority of responding institutions (25 or 61%), records management duties are located in a library unit: they are the responsibility of special collections in 12 institutions (29%), archives units that are part of the library system but not part of the special collections library or department in 5 cases (12%), and another library unit or department in 10 cases (24%). Records management is the responsibility of an archives unit that is not part of the library system in 5 cases (12%) and of some other non-library unit or department in 11 cases (27%).

The survey results also show which staff manage records and how much time they spend on this activity; how staff are trained; who pays for records management; who makes policy decisions; what types of materials are included; where these materials are stored; procedures for adding and discarding materials; who may retrieve records from storage; and more.

This SPEC Kit includes documentation from respondents in the form of records management unit Web pages, policies, retention schedules, job descriptions, transfer, retrieval, and destruction forms, and management of electronic records.

The table of contents and executive summary from this SPEC Kit are available online at http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/spec305web.pdf.

Ordering Information

SPEC Kit 305, Records Management
Clark E. Center Jr.
August 2008 • ISBN 1-59407-804-1 • 198 pp. • $45 ($35 ARL members)

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SPEC Kits Exchange Information

Designed to examine current research library practices and policies and serve as resource guides for libraries as they face ever-changing management problems, each SPEC Kit contains a summary analysis, survey questions with tallies, pertinent documentation from participating libraries, and a reading list and Web site references for further information on the topic.

Subscribe to SPEC!

2008 SPEC Kit subscription (ISSN 0160-3582): $220 ARL member/$290 nonmember, six issues per year, shipping included (additional postage may apply outside North America).

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 123 research libraries in North America. Its mission is to influence the changing environment of scholarly communication and the public policies that affect research libraries and the diverse communities they serve. ARL pursues this mission by advancing the goals of its member research libraries, providing leadership in public and information policy to the scholarly and higher education communities, fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise, and shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those of allied organizations. ARL is on the Web at http://www.arl.org/.