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3.9 Boxing and Transfer InstructionsThe records schedules contained in ARCS specify the active, semi-active, and inactive phases of the life cycle of the record and provide for the efficient and systematic transfer of semi-active and inactive records to the off-site storage facilities provided by Records Centre Services, CRMB. Each office should document instructions and procedures for the regular boxing and transfer of records to off-site storage. (For further discussion of records scheduling, refer to 2.4 and 2.7.) In some cases the records schedule will provide for the immediate destruction of records when they are no longer active. In this case, contact your Records Officer. The Records Officer can provide you with information about the availability of recycling and/or destruction services. Use appropriate forms and procedures as instructed by your Records Officer and notify your Records Officer before any destruction of records occurs. To identify records suitable for boxing, review the files against the ARCS schedules annually and determine what operational records have become semi-active or inactive during the past year. If your office uses an automated database to track files, it may be possible to generate this list automatically. When the list is ready and records are boxed, contact your Records Officer to report that you have semi-active or inactive scheduled operational records which are ready for transfer. Your Records Officer will then request off-site storage and retrieval services from Records Centre Services. If accumulations of active records produce space problems in office areas before the annual review, contact your Records Officer. 3.9.1Accession NumbersRecords Centre Services issues and tracks all accession numbers. An accession number is a number identifying a group of records to be transferred, and is used to label, transfer and store records. Each box within an accession is given a unique box number by adding sequential numbers, beginning with number one, to the accession number. The full number must appear on the label of each box. For the purposes of illustration, we will use 91-0123 as an example of an accession number. No office should use it to prepare records for transfer! Box Number: 91-0123-01
There are two types of accession numbers: one-time and ongoing. a) One-time Accession NumbersA one-time accession number is used by a single office for a one-time transfer of records to Records Centre Services. For further information about one-time accession numbers, contact your Records Officer. b) Ongoing Accession Numbers (OANs)CRMB may establish ongoing accession numbers for categories of administrative or operational records which can be transferred to off-site storage or archival custody year after year. The purpose of an OAN is to group together the same type of records from the same office, and facilitate transfer of those records. The OAN for a category of records must only be used for future transfers of the same type of records. The "NOTE" format indicated below is used in ORCS to annotate secondary numbers and titles to which an OAN applies. NOTE: The OPR will store [SECONDARY TITLE] under ongoing RCS accession number 91-0123. If 91-0123 were a real OAN, the office to which it was issued would use it for a specific record series or category of records. Accession number 91-0123 is reserved for use by the same office for the same record series until box number 9999 is reached. Then, please ask your Records Officer to obtain a new OAN from Records Centre Services. An ongoing accession number differs from a one-time number in that box numbers within an accession are always consecutive. For example, if box numbers 91-0123-01 to 91-0123-10 were transferred in July 1991 and ten more boxes were ready for transfer in October 1992, the box numbers used in October 1992 would begin with the next unused number (i.e., in October 1992 numbers 91-0123-11 to 91-0123-20 would be used). The OAN uniquely identifies the transferring office and the category of records which may be transferred as part of the accession. If several offices are responsible for transferring records of the same type to semi-active storage or archival custody, each office will be assigned its own OAN. Other special arrangements may be made in consultation with your Records Officer and Records Centre Services. 3.9.2 Transfer of Records to Off-Site StorageRecords Centre Services manages off-site storage for all records having a scheduled semi-active retention period, and for all inactive records scheduled for selective or full retention. Contact your Records Officer if you have concerns about the following:
a) Arranging BoxesOrganize records for transfer as follows: (These guidelines are based on the ARS 517 "Authority to Apply Approved Schedule" Standards and Orientation Guide).
b) Box NumberingArrange and number boxes that have similar classifications, date ranges, retention periods and final dispositions consecutively according to the date range of the records (e.g., accounts payable, fiscal year 1994/95 in boxes 1 & 2; accounts payable, fiscal year 1995/96 in boxes 3 & 4; accounts payable, fiscal year 1996/97 in boxes 5 & 6). c) Boxes With Varied Classifications, Retention Periods And Date RangesPlease consult with your Records Officer when records within a box have varying classifications, retention periods and date ranges. Records Centre Services provides off-site storage for all inactive records scheduled for selective or full retention. If a records schedule does not provide for the archival retention of a record series which does, in your opinion, have historical, archival, or other residual values, contact your Records Officer to propose that the schedule be amended. |
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| Page last updated: January 20, 2009 |