Transfer of records

If your department has an approved retention schedule in place and you are ready to transfer records to the Records Centre, then you should follow the subsequent steps. Step 1: Obtain standard boxes If you have not already done so, you will need to purchase standard sized bankers boxes to store your records. Standard boxes are required and can be purchased from Office Depot. Please order boxes R-Kive® System Standard Storage Box 10pk, Product Code 538754, from Office Depot well in advance.

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Step 2: Obtain an Accession Number

An accession number is a unique reference number for your deposit and is used to manage your records.

To obtain an accession number, contact the Duty Archivist at Archive Services by either telephone (ext.5515), fax (ext. 2640) or e-mail enquiries@archives.gla.ac.uk

Describe to the Duty Archivist:

• The series of records you are proposing to transfer
• The approximate date range and number of boxes
• Your full name, office and contact number
• Confirm that your department has an agreed records retention schedule.

This information is necessary in order to confirm that the material that you wish to transfer is on the retention schedule. To prevent unnecessary delay, please provide this information at the point of first contact.

Step 3: Pack records in standard boxes

Pack the boxes safely for lifting and write the accession number and individual box number on each side of each box. Due to the Data Protection Act, you are required to not mark any information about your records except the accession number and box number on the exterior of your boxes.

If the volume of records to be deposited is small (30cm) please pack the records in a transfer case rather than the standard 44cm size box.

Please do not overfill boxes. Archive Services reserve the right to return boxes that are overfilled or broken, so please keep this in mind when packing your boxes. Further information on how to safely pack and lift boxes can be found at the Safety and Environmental Protection Services (SEPS) website.

Records to be destroyed at the same time should ideally be grouped together.

Step 4: Complete the transfer of records form

The Records transfer form (Excel 2000) describes the box contents of the records being transferred to the University Records Centre. It assists Records Centre staff in quick and efficient retrieval of records, Data Protection or Freedom of Information requests, timely destruction of confidential files and accurate archival appraisal.

Please list all files on one document. Do not make a separate list for each box.

Do not print off each file list and place it in the box.

If you require assistance in completing the Records Transfer form, check the field details listed below or download our records transfer example form (Excel 2000). If you require further assistance, please contact the Duty Archivist.

The Records Transfer form includes:

• Accession number: A unique reference number for your deposit, provided by the Duty Archivist.
• Box number: Box number of the file.
• File number: File number in the box.
• Previous reference (optional): The file number used by your office (i.e. your current filing system). Providing this information may assist you and your office colleagues with later retrieval from the University Records Centre. List it here to assist you or other people in your office.
• Description:
  • A description of the file contents. Please use the terminology as defined in your retention schedule to describe the file.
  • List individual files on each line. If you have files listed by a person’s name, list each person’s name per line. Please do not send a separate list or spreadsheet.
• Start date: The date the file was opened (usually), or the date of the earliest document in the file.
• End date: Date of the oldest document in the file.
• Action code:
  • There are two action codes: D=Destroy records, A=Archival.
  • Place ‘D’ on the line for which you believe a record can be destroyed sometime in the future. If the record is archival, place ‘A’ on the line.

Step 5: E-mail the transfer of records form to the Duty Archivist

When the Records Transfer form is complete, save it in Excel, and send it in an e–mail attachment to the Duty Archivist. The form will be checked to ensure that all of the data is correct, and you will then receive confirmation that the transfer of your boxes has been authorised.

Please do not send any boxes to the Records Centre unless you have received confirmation of authorisation.

Step 6: Request transfer by Estates and Buildings

Once you have received confirmation, submit a works request to Estates and Buildings to pick up the boxes. Once they have been retrieved from your office please telephone the Duty Archivist (ext. 5515) to let us know that the boxes are being delivered.

Once we have received and processed your boxes we will send you an up–to–date list of all the records your office has deposited with us.

For information on requesting records back from the Records Centre, please see the following section on retrieving records.

Please note: Archive Services reserves the right to return boxes to the sender if the following occur: no accession number; incomplete or absent box listing (we need to verify that the contents match your documentation to ensure that we can provide an efficient retrieval service), or boxes are overfilled.