Managing records and information in the office

The information you create and use to carry out your day-to-day business is a University resource.  It is important, therefore, that it is managed appropriately. Each local area should have in place procedures which facilitate the easy management of its information resources.

Not being able to locate accurate, up-to-date information has a negative impact upon your ability to do your job efficiently and effectively. Prolonged periods of time taken to locate records, whether held electronically or even in paper format is very frustrating and takes you away from your day-to-day job. Leaving records in an unsecure environment may also leave you in danger of breaching the Data Protection Legislation. Establishing procedures to manage information and records will ease these problems, allowing you to spend your time more productively.

Filing systems

It is essential that each area has a central shared filing system in place – whether there are five or twenty-five members of staff. The system provides a logical place for the filing of information/records relating to each activity carried out by the area. A robust filing system will ensure that every member of staff requiring access can retrieve accurate and authentic information quickly and efficiently.

Filing systems will only be of value if all staff use them and file information appropriately. All staff should be properly briefed on the filing system, and the usefulness of the system should be monitored.

Filing electronic records

Each department/office should have a shared location in which all electronic records are stored.  The filing system should be set up on this shared location.  All electronic records, including word documents, spreadsheets and business emails, should be saved into this filing system.  Staff should not save business records on personal network drives, personal OneDrive or the computer's own hard drive (known as the H: and C: drives respectively). Records stored on the C: and H: drives are inaccessible to all other staff.

The following guidance should keep an electronic filing system from becoming overloaded:

  • Delete personal documents at the earliest opportunity.
  • Working drafts should be given a version number. When a document is finalised, the working drafts should be deleted (Good Practice Guide: Version control)
  • Templates should be used for routine administrative documents – internal memos, cover letters, etc. Where these are used, they should not be placed on the file unless they contain information not recorded elsewhere in the file.
  • An annual review of electronic records held should be carried out at the same time as the review of paper records. Those which are no longer required should be deleted from the relevant shared or personal location.
  • Emails should be managed appropriately and timeously (Good e-mail management: a checklist for staff).

Naming records

Paper and electronic files, folders and documents should be given meaningful titles to allow easy location and understanding.

  • Titles such as "general", "miscellaneous", and "David's file" are unhelpful and must be avoided.
  • Where possible, a standard vocabulary should be adopted by each local area. This will ensure that all staff refer to the same record by the same title. 

Within an electronic system it is important to title individual documents coherently. The title should consist of a brief description, and the date on which it was created, (e.g., 2020.23.11 Minutes), for the notes of a meeting. The series of minutes would be stored within a folder titled with the name of the group, (e.g., Finance Committee).

Closing files

The key to maintaining a usable, efficient filing scheme is closing files regularly.  In this way, files remain manageable.  Closing a file does not mean that it must be immediately removed from the filing system.  Rather, this removal should be done as part of the annual review of records.  Closing a file does mean that no new papers should be added to it, and that it must only be used for reference.  Files should be closed when:

  • the individual case has been completed;
  • the project has been completed;
  • papers have not been added to it for two years;
  • the contents of the file span more than five years; or
  • if appropriate, at the end of the calendar or financial year.

Reviewing and destroying records

A review of the records held within your office/shared file location should be carried out each year (the calendar or financial year as appropriate to the records).

This is the time to ensure that records of low-value are not being kept, to destroy records which are time-expired and, in extremely limited circumstances and where appropriate, to transfer records to the University Records Centre (URC).

  • When transferring records to the URC, it is essential that the procedures set out by University Archive Services are followed.