Records and Information Management FAQs

Why should I be concerned about Records and Information Management?

You should be concerned about records and information management because it:

• Improves Operational Efficiencies: Poorly managed records are often retained longer than necessary and can take up valuable space and resources in the event of a FOIA request. Good recordkeeping reduces unnecessary duplication, makes records easier to locate, and supports streamlined use of existing systems.
• Promotes Accountability: Proper records and information management complies with State law and University policy, which ensures that your unit and the University can properly account for their actions.
• Protects Vital Records: Effective records management plans facilitate secure records storage and identification of materials with long-term retention requirements.
• Fosters Scholarship and Teaching Excellence: Proper recordkeeping ensures that vital information will be available to faculty and staff when needed.

Does the University have any records-related policies or guidelines that I should follow or be aware of?

Yes. Please consult Article IV, Section 3 of “The General Rules Concerning University Organization and Procedure”.

What are the most common laws associated with Records Management?

State of Illinois

• The Illinois State Records Act (5 ILCS 160/ ) outlines procedures for records handling and disposal and establishes that University records are State Records.
• The Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (815 ILCS 333/ ) explains that, when "a law requires that a record be retained," this requirement is satisfied by "retaining an electronic record of the information in the record."

Federal Government

• The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 protects access to student records.
• The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 protects access to individual medical records.

Additional state and federal laws and codes make other records confidential. This includes donor information, personal identification information, and the storage and use of Social Security numbers.

Is there a glossary of records management terminology?

Yes.  Please see the RIMS Glossary KnowledgeBase article.

Does RIMS offer training on records management concepts?

Yes!  We have a variety of guides and self-paced video modules on our Practical Guidance, Templates, and Training page.  Additionally, RIMS staff can conduct customized training sessions focusing on your unit’s specific needs.

Where can I learn more?

Explore the RIMS website or contact the RIMS team!  We are pleased to assist with whatever questions you might have.

How do I know if something is a record?

If you are unsure of whether something is a record, please consult the Is It A Record? flowchart, the “What is Records and Information Management?” KnowledgeBase document, or RIMS Communication 003: Identification of University Records versus Non-Record Materials.  Then, consult with your unit’s records management plan. If you are still unsure (or do not currently have such a plan), contact the RIMS team.

How long do I need to keep records?

Consult the State-approved Records Retention Schedules to learn about record types, retention trigger dates, and retention periods.  Each record type listing on the Schedules includes examples, which should line up with many commonly used types of information. 

Retention periods begin after a “retention trigger date,” which can vary from record type to record type.  For example, with Promotion and Tenure Files, which are Human Resources Records, the retention period is six years after a trigger date of “separation from employment.”  Hence, if a faculty member received tenure in the early 1990s, but retired in 2015, the six-year retention period would begin in 2015 even though the documents date to the early ‘90s.

If your unit has an operational need to retain materials longer than the periods specified in the Schedules, or if you are having trouble classifying your records, please contact the RIMS team.

How long do I need to keep non-records?

Consider how long the material (drafts, copies, reference materials, etc.) is needed for operational purposes, and establish a workflow to dispose when no longer needed.

Usually, one to three years past the completion of a final document is the longest anyone might keep drafts or copies. For reference materials, a period of retention could be indefinite with a plan to periodically review and purge documents that were not used in five or more years. All units should establish procedures to routinely purge non-record materials.

Remember that you do not need State approval to dispose of non-records, except in the rare case of paper originals of scanned documents with permanent retention requirements.

What if the records I have are not listed on a State-approved Records Retention Schedule, or if my unit needs to keep them longer than the required retention period?

Please contact the RIMS team.  We can help classify your records and/or consider an update to the Schedules to reflect current uses of the material.

How do I organize University Records? 

Effective organization depends heavily on the records' format, use, and nature of the activity or function they support.  Arrangement and organization of University Records should be established through guidelines and procedures created by your unit.

How do I keep records secure and accessible?

Keeping records secure and accessible means storing them in a way that minimizes the likelihood of accidental (or intentional) destruction, corruption, misplacement, or inappropriate access and meets University risk management expectations. Consult the RIMS Guide to Organizing Physical Records for Storage for more information and recommendations.

How do I determine who has primary responsibility for the record and/or its various parts?

The “Office of Record” is the unit which maintains the official version of a record.  To determine this for a given record type, you may need to consult other staff in your unit, subject matter experts, the RIMS team, or even University Counsel. 

Do I need to keep all versions of a record or only the final version?

Unit-specific records management plans should indicate any locally determined requirements for retention of copies and drafts.  Drafts of a document often become non-records when a newer version is created.

Where should I store inactive physical records?

Inactive records need to be stored in an environment that is appropriate to their format and organized in a way to aid retrieval. For example, paper records need a stable temperature, and should be stored in a secure area, in sturdy archival boxes and on shelving to prevent damage.  Access to the records should be monitored and properly controlled.  For units with space constraints, there are off-site storage options available on campus or with a commercial vendor.  Contact RIMS or view our Records Storage Guide for more information.

How do I view materials that I sent to the Archives?

Contact the University Archives on your campus for information about viewing records.

What do I do with my records in case of disaster like a fire or flood?

Secure the area and keep everyone out until the fire department or other safety professionals allow entry. Then contact us for advice on how to handle damaged records. RIMS, along with the University Archives, can assist you in appraising the records that have been damaged so that your resources (and especially time) are not spent on records with little or no value.

What are electronic records?

Electronic records are, per ARMA International, digital versions of “any recorded information, regardless of medium or characteristics, made or received and retained by an organization in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business.”

These can be born digital, the result of inputs into an electronic system, or scans of physical records retained in digital format.

What do I do with my electronic records?

University electronic records must be retained, destroyed, or transferred to University Archives in accordance with the rules and guidelines set out by the State Records Commission. All University records – regardless of format – are subject to these rules.

How long do I need to keep my electronic records? 

See the State-approved Records Retention Schedules for information about retention periods and final dispositions.  Contact Records and Information Management Services (RIMS) with any questions.

What should I do when my electronic records have reached their retention requirements? 

You should either:

• If the records must be disposed per the Records Retention Schedules, contact Records and Information Management Services (RIMS) to request State disposal approval.
• If the records are archival, contact the University Archives at your campus to arrange a transfer.

What are some challenges in dealing with electronic records? 

Electronic records introduce a host of challenges to records management. For instance, if managed improperly, some files may not be legible or otherwise functional due to hardware and software obsolescence. Other challenges include the possibility of security breaches, file corruption, metadata loss, and accidental overwriting of files.

How can I address these challenges?

• Actively maintain your files. If you update software or hardware, ensure that your old files can still be stored and rendered properly or can be migrated into a usable format.
• Back up your files. For assistance in ensuring your files are adequately backed up, contact your campus IT department with any questions.
• Use file-naming conventions. Include the date, appropriate descriptors, and versions, and use underscores instead of spaces and periods. Ensure that names are consistent and logical.  Refer to RIMS’ File Naming Standards guide for assistance.
• Use University and personal resources wisely. Avoid using University resources, such as file-storage, for personal business, and avoid using your personal computer, cloud storage, or other media, for University business.
• Use standard and widely recognized file types. Some examples are those of Microsoft Office, Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format), and TIFF (Tagged Image File Format).
• Keep as much metadata as possible (creator, creation date, last date modified, revision history, formula data, originating system, etc.) associated with files.  Avoid printing out digital records to create authoritative physical versions, as much of the associated metadata is lost in the process.

If I scan a document and keep an electronic copy, should I keep the original hard copy?

Your department must have a digitization process that is compliant with the requirements put forth by the State Records Commission prior to destroying original hard copies.  Contact RIMS for assistance.

Are email messages records? 

Some e-mail messages, or information contained within them, are considered records and need to be identifiable as such. Email messages may be considered records if they verify, authenticate or otherwise support other significant documents or transactions. Attachments sent with e-mail messages are generally assumed to be duplicates or working drafts of documents and therefore not considered records. This assumption also assumes each person sending attachments has a departmentally identified electronic storage area for their records and the authoritative version of the attachment has been stored there. Because e-mail systems are generally not acceptable primary storage systems for University records, e-mail messages considered to be University records must be identified and stored in a system compliant with the requirements established by the State Records Act and the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.

What is the exact length of time for retention of an e-mail?

There is no exact length of time for the retention of an e-mail. Retention depends on the purpose of the e-mail and the information it contains. The electronic format itself is not a decisive factor in the length of retention. If the e-mail is a record, the retention will follow the period set down in the applicable Records Retention Schedule. If the e-mail is a non-record, it should be disposed of as soon as possible after its primary usefulness has expired.

Is there a quick guide or document that explains the entire records disposal process?

Yes!  Please consult our Materials and Data Disposal Guide. 

How do I dispose of my files, papers, digital content, or other materials?

• First, assess whether the material is a State record, a non-record copy of a State record, or another type of non-record.  Please consult our Guide for the Clarification of Non-Record Materials for more information.
• Each State record category listed in the State-approved Records Retention Schedules has its own retention period, which is how long it be kept after creation or another date.  After records have met their retention requirements, they may be eligible for destruction or transfer to the University Archives.
• To destroy records, approval from the State of Illinois is required.  Units can request approval via our Records Disposal Request Form or contacting the RIMS team.  All disposal requests from a given month are sent to the State at the end of that month or the beginning of the next.
• Approval is anticipated between 30-45 days from when requests are sent to the State.  RIMS will notify you when you may dispose of your records. 
• Records and non-records containing sensitive information may require secure disposal methods.  For details, please view our Guide to Materials Destruction.
• Non-records do not require State approval for disposal, and may be appropriately disposed of at your convenience.

Who has the authority to dispose of records?

The University has been granted the authority to dispose of records by the State Records Commission through the University Archives and the RIMS office. Disposal approval requests are submitted to the State on behalf of units by RIMS at the end of each month.

Once I’m notified that my disposal request was approved, how do I dispose of records?

Please consult our Guide to Materials Destruction or contact the RIMS team.  In the Guide, you’ll find best practices for disposal of records with different security levels as well as information about disposal procedures, vendors, and facilities at each campus.

Do I need to keep a record of the disposal?

No. The RIMS staff will keep copies of all approved disposal requests and the State Records Commission keeps the original records of these requests. If your supervisor insists they need a document as a “receipt” RIMS can provide one if requested.

Can I destroy records that have been scanned?

Records that have been scanned can be destroyed provided that your department has a documented digitization process that is compliant with the requirements put forth by the State Records Commission and you have been trained and authorized to digitize and destroy source records under that process. There are several requirements that must be met in order for a scanned reproduction to be used as the official record and permit the destruction of the original.

Additionally, paper original copies of scanned records with permanent retention require State approval for disposal.

For details, please refer to our Scanning Records Guide.