How to Develop a Retention Schedule

Citation

Stevenson, K. (2010), "How to Develop a Retention Schedule", Records Management Journal, Vol. 20 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/rmj.2010.28130cae.002

How to Develop a Retention Schedule

How to Develop a Retention Schedule

Article Type: Professional resources From: Records Management Journal, Volume 20, Issue 3

John Montaña,ARMA International,Overland Park, KS,2010,ISBN: 9-781931-786768,165 pp.,

Keywords: Records management, Retention

If ever there was a book for living up to the well-known advertising slogan of doing “exactly what it says on the tin”, then How to Develop a Retention Schedule by John Montaña is it. A book which applies a step-by-step approach to creating retention schedules, taking the reader through the whole process of creating a retention schedule: from understanding why one is required; to providing methods of data collection, how to structure a retention schedule, and how to derive retention periods - all without forgetting the importance of maintenance at the end of that process. Although the book has been published by ARMA International, the target audience is not the trained and experienced records professional who might normally look to ARMA for advice, but “… people with no records management background at all, who have just been appointed the records manager of their organisation … ”

How to Develop a Retention Schedule is a book which sets out to answer key questions such as “What’s a retention schedule? What does it look like? How do I go about creating one?” These questions are all answered logically by Montaña, whilst leaving out “legal jargon, technical terms and citations of authority” which might otherwise be expected in scholarly books on Records Management (there is a list of standards, best practice and suggested readings in the appendix for those who wish to follow up the methodology). This book is about providing straightforward, tried and tested methods on how to create a retention schedule. Montaña does not pretend that his book is, or should be, the authoritative text on developing retention schedules, instead he urges readers to look at other methods and examples from others that may even allow them to come up with their own innovation that “the rest of us haven’t thought of”.

The layout and design of How to Develop a Retention Schedule deserves special praise. Within the first few pages the reader is presented with a helpful flow chart on the task at hand. This is extremely helpful as one can immediately start to visualise how the project of developing a retention schedule will be planned out, and what the key stages will be. While the remainder of the book is mostly text-based, the appendix does include samples of records retention schedules, a records inventory worksheet, a survey worksheet, an interview worksheet, a destruction authorization and a certification of destruction. The language used is entirely appropriate to the target audience, with helpful pulled quotations in the borders of some pages, which even the experienced records professional would find useful when developing training and guidance for their workplace. One final comment to make about the target audience of this book is that Montaña is able to build a relationship with the reader extremely well by demonstrating his understanding of the questions and problems they are likely to experience. Many of the sections will start by asking a question; before the author goes on to answer provide an answer or solution. He also frequently answers the question, “What’s in it for me?” to help him structure his advice suitably for his audience.

This review has already hinted at the chapters in this book, many of which are concerned with the key stages to creating a retention schedule. For example, Montaña begins by providing the evidence for arguing why a retention schedule is required, explaining tricky issues such as legal admissibility and information compliance. There is a chapter dedicated to collection of data suggesting various methods such as pre-existing records listing, conducting a records inventory, survey or questionnaire, interviews. He also outlines clearly the kind of information about a record the data collection should be finding. The structuring of a retention schedule is also dedicated to a whole chapter. Here, Montaña not only manages to coherently explain what a functional retention schedule is to his target audience, but also demonstrates that it is the best type of schedule for organisations which produce vast arrays of records, both in paper and electronic. Within this chapter Montaña also states that the retention schedule should be published in a “format that provides the best display for users”. This is something that the profession is still attempting to resolve – which is the best format for a retention schedule that is aimed at user implementation? Although Montaña does not provide us with the solution, he does nonetheless argue that the structure should not have too many levels causing complexity where the schedule is difficult to fit on paper or computer screen – something he argues can be achieved by limiting retention through the use of “buckets”.

Perhaps unsurprisingly for an ARMA publication the relatively under-discussed topic of “big buckets” is given serious credence. Montaña demonstrates through diagrams how complicated retention schedules could be simplified by allowing for it to be shortened and therefore easier for the user to implement through streamlining records into “buckets”. That said, Montaña does not neglect the shortcomings of big bucket retention schedules recognising that some “buckets” will lead to “a lot of dead wood for a long time, which means a variety of additional costs”. A whole chapter is dedicated to the idea of big buckets, examining how they could be varied, such as having either “big buckets” or “nesting buckets”. Any records management professional would find it a fascinating and convincing read.

A final chapter which I wish to highlight is titled “Electronic repositories and records retention”. This, to me, stood out as a unique and often neglected area of consideration in many records management books concerned with retention schedules. Often, books will make reference to records being electronic, but the practicalities of applying retention are not always explained. This chapter assures the reader that dealing with electronic records “… is not a conceptually different process than when dealing with paper or other media”. Whilst Montaña explains the differences which occur due to the format of electronic records (such as metadata; problems with software permitting retention at a granular level), he also explains that records management software “doesn’t actually manage anything”, but that it helps the user manage records by implementing rules that the records manager creates. This is often a misconception of many implementing records management software. A common question posed at recent conferences and seminars on electronic retention management, has been “what retention period do I apply to case files?” and this chapter provides an answer – using personnel files as the example. Montaña suggests that you assign to case files “the biggest potentially applicable bucket – and longest applicable retention period – to the whole thing”. Whilst this might not be the ideal solution that records managers are looking for, it is nonetheless a solution – and as Montaña admits himself, applying the longest retention period is better than risking legal action if items are disposed of too early.

It is undeniable that Montaña’s book will be of great benefit to non-professional records managers, as is his aim. However I feel that this book could also be the first of many that will introduce new ideas and methodologies for managing the retention of records – something that is long overdue. Montaña’s focus on “Big Buckets” will undoubtedly be too contentious for some, however it is encouraging that he is writing about it as a workable methodology. I am also encouraged to see greater consideration of electronic recordkeeping, as often the practicalities of managing their retention is extremely difficult and rarely mentioned in scholarly texts about producing retention schedules. Overall, this is a book that any records manager will gain something from – whether already qualified or who have “no records management background at all”.

Katharine StevensonParliamentary Archives, Houses of Parliament, London, UK