How the "Clean Up Our Act" Campaign is Implemented

In order to improve record keeping and to accomplish this "clean up" work it will be necessary to commit staff time. In the past, staff of the Archives and Records Management Programme has attempted to assist faculties and departments to inventory and evaluate their records. Using this traditional approach, however, it will take us years to complete the task of inventorying and evaluating all University records unless we hire an army of staff.

As we do not have years and we do not have an army of staff at our disposal, we need to take a different approach to accomplish the work that needs to be done. By harnessing our "people power", that is, by dividing the project work into manageable components. we should be able to accomplish the project work in a relatively short time. Using this approach, each faculty office or department would assign one or more persons, as appropriate, to be Records Management Liaisons. These persons will receive instruction and guidance from the staff of the Archives and Records Management Programme in how to perform the project tasks and be responsible for carrying out these tasks.

The five-step methodology of the "Clean Up Our Act" Campaign is:

• Purging non-record material. This step will result in the release of much needed records storage space and prevent waste of time and effort at subsequent stages of the project.
• Taking stock. As with any resource, it is not possible to gain control of it or properly manage it without first knowing what is there. By analogy, would it be possible to manage the financial resources of the University if we did not keep track of our financial assets, or the physical assets of the University without an assets register? Can we be accountable through our records to contributing territories and donor agencies if we do not even know of the existence or whereabouts of those records?
• Evaluating. Once we know what we have, the next step is to assign a value to it. The evaluation process will allow us to determine which records can be disposed of in short order and which must be retained for longer periods, or perhaps indefinitely. By doing so. We will ensure that we are not wasting resources by keeping records for longer than we need to; or losing valuable information resources by disposing of records prematurely.
• Taking action. After the records have been evaluated, it is possible to dispose of those that are no longer required in order to save space and resources. Likewise, it is possible to take steps to safeguard those records with continuing value, for audit, financial, historical or other purposes. The Archives and Records Management Programme has taken steps to put the necessary infrastructure in place for the off-site storage of records with longer retention periods through its Records Centres.
• Taking a bow. It is important to end the project by acknowledging our achievement, that is, basic control over the University's records, and by planning the next steps to widen and further strengthen our control.