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ultimately, its success. Such support could be in the form of memos to staff on the necessity and importance of the vital records plan, reference to the plan in staff briefings, or by any other means of communication with employees of the institution. Activity 24 Identify who in your institution (by position title, not personal name) should be involved with the development of a vital records programme. Indicate briefly why you selected those positions. The group responsible for actually developing a vital records management programme should include both people responsible for records management and people involved with emergency preparedness. The key users of the records should also be involved in the process of identifying vital records, and legal, financial and technical experts may also be consulted. Senior management should be involved from the beginning of the process to ensure that the programme is established in its entirety and is kept up to date. The archival institution should participate throughout the entire process in order to provide both technical and management input into the decision-making process. Which Records Are Vital? It is not possible to present a pre-determined list of records and say that ‘x type of record is always vital’ and ‘y type of record is never vital’. Each organisation must determine what constitutes a vital record according to its own requirements, jurisdictions and responsibilities. Every organisation will identify different records it believes are vital. The mission statement, legislation and policy documentation of the organisation can provide information that will help define the organisation’s vital services and responsibilities. The determination of those vital services and programmes will then determine which records are vital. However, as a general rule, it is possible to say that vital records will have at least one of the following three qualities. • They will be crucial to the operations of any organisation or • they will be required to protect the rights of individuals or the organisation or • they will be absolutely integral to the reconstruction of the organisation in the event of an interruption or termination of services. EMERGENCY PLANNING FOR RECORDS AND ARCHIVES SERVICES 57
Activity 25 Name three records that you consider absolutely crucial to the operations of your organisation. Name three types of records essential to protecting the rights of individuals involved with your organisation (such as employees, or the general public, or users). Name three types of records that you would have to have access to in order to re-establish your organisation’s operations in the event of an emergency. For each type of record you identified, indicate why you thought it was important. Appraising records in order to determine if they are vital requires a knowledge of the functions of the organisation, the records required to carry out those functions and the life cycle of records. All of those responsible for the information holdings of an organisation should be involved in determining which records are vital. The records manager, librarian, electronic records manager and the emergency planner or security person should work closely with each other and with the users of the information in order to determine which records are vital. Managing Vital Records When identifying and protecting vital records, the following diverse issues must be considered. • In order to determine which records are vital, the roles and responsibilities of the organisation must be clearly defined. Then it is necessary to consider which records are required to ensure the ongoing legal, property and other rights of individuals and corporate bodies. The selection of vital records must also be based on ensuring the continued delivery of the organisation’s programmes and services. • Some vital records keep changing, such as data bases, registration records, and so on. These ‘active’ records must be kept current. If not, the safeguarded records will be of little use in the event of a disaster or emergency. A procedure for consistently updating vital records must be part of the organisation’s records management programme. It is also important to remove records that have been superseded or are no longer applicable, in accordance with a records retention and disposition schedule, in order to keep the vital records programme current and relevant. • Vital records should be kept in a secure location. Ideally the vital records storage site should be geographically separate from the offices of the organisation, in the EMERGENCY PLANNING FOR RECORDS AND ARCHIVES SERVICES 58
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MANAGING PUBLIC SECTOR RECORDS A Tr
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MANAGING PUBLIC SECTOR RECORDS A ST
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MPSR Project Personnel Project Dire
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Donors The International Records Ma
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CONTENTS Introduction 1 Lesson 1 Id
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INTRODUCTION TO EMERGENCY EMERGENCY
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METHOD OF STUDY AND ASSESSMENT This
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EMERGENCY PLANNING FOR RECORDS AND
Page 18 and 19: • environmental, such as an aircr
Page 20 and 21: Conducting a Risk Assessment The be
Page 22 and 23: DETERMINING POTENTIAL IMPACT Once t
Page 24 and 25: Emergencies and disasters can have
Page 26 and 27: When preparing a risk assessment an
Page 28 and 29: very different when staff are not i
Page 30 and 31: METHODS OF CONDUCTING ASSESSMENTS I
Page 32 and 33: 7. Fire suppression systems are in
Page 34 and 35: • Compartmentalise holdings by in
Page 36 and 37: Special precautions should be taken
Page 38 and 39: When constructing a new building, t
Page 40 and 41: STUDY QUESTIONS 1. What types of ri
Page 42 and 43: Activity 7 There are benefits to ea
Page 44 and 45: PREPARING AN EMERGENCY PLAN EMERGEN
Page 46 and 47: The format of the plan should be ea
Page 48 and 49: Preventive Measures This section of
Page 50 and 51: Key people inside and outside the o
Page 52 and 53: List of Emergency Equipment and Sup
Page 54 and 55: atteries for lights or flashlights
Page 56 and 57: OBTAINING APPROVAL In order for the
Page 58 and 59: person who developed the plan. Peop
Page 60 and 61: • Take action to prevent the same
Page 62 and 63: STUDY QUESTIONS 1. What is the purp
Page 64 and 65: Senior approval is critical as is c
Page 66 and 67: Another asset to identify, of cours
Page 70 and 71: event that the building and surroun
Page 72 and 73: Remember, the ‘vital’ nature of
Page 74 and 75: • The records should be at a safe
Page 76 and 77: • Where should duplicates be made
Page 78 and 79: sometimes necessary to enter into c
Page 80 and 81: SUMMARY This lesson has outlined th
Page 82 and 83: ACTIVITIES: COMMENTS Activity 23 In
Page 84 and 85: Activity 33 When storing electronic
Page 86 and 87: It is suggested that an organisatio
Page 88 and 89: International Centre for the Study
Page 90 and 91: taken to prevent emergencies. Much
Page 92 and 93: National Archives and Records Admin
Page 94 and 95: SUMMARY This lesson has provided an
Page 96: ACTIVITIES: COMMENTS Activity 34 Ev
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