Archival Services

Many Organisations fail to undertake any management of information beyond its active use. That is, once the information is no longer used regularly, it is either allowed to accumulate unchecked, or conversely randomly destroyed. The former can and does result in the costly storage of volumes of often time expired records. Whether or not records are stored in commercial facilities or on-site in basements, car parks etc, etc over time the costs of storage and possible retrieval can balloon out to up to two thirds of your company’s administrative budget. In addition to the cost of storage, the retention of time expired records can be potentially contentious to the record owner in the case of litigation. The random unchecked destruction of information can inadvertently imply guilt should the information ever be required as evidence.

Understanding the legal requirements for either the retention or destruction of information can be likened to entering a maze where the walls keep shifting. The ever growing volumes of legislation and conflicting requirements can confuse even the most astute of Managers. Document Management Consultancy has the experience to assist your Company with identifying the most prevailing legislative requirements for recordkeeping, enabling complicity and minimizing the confusion.

The physical process of identifying time expired information from information with long term or enduring value is often daunting due to a number of factors, these include:-

	Volumes of existing information.
	Continuing growth of “older” files as these records just keep “appearing” from nowhere.
	Complexity of legislative requirements governing recordkeeping.
	Information being out of sight and therefore out of mind.

All of these factors can result in an additional cost burden being placed often unnecessarily on the Organisation with regards to the cost of retention, storage, and if required – retrieval of this information.

Document Management Consultancy provides a number of options for dealing with the growing backlog of older records. These range from the provision of specialist project personnel to assist with the identification, appraisal and sentencing of these forgotten records, to the development of strategies and systems to ensure the ongoing and timely management of these. We take into account all available and suitable options for management of these secondary records, including format changes, disposal management, transfer planning, etc.

Although we are vendor neutral, we have enough industry experience and knowledge to know who are the reputable commercial providers and match these to your needs. As such we can act on behalf of the Client or point the client into the right direction to make their own choice of potential service provider.

Specific services provided include: -

	Provision of experienced project personnel.
	Appraisal and identification of secondary and time expired information.
	Development of disposal schedules.
	Development of systematic tools for the management of secondary information.
	Provision of assistance with transfer of records to Government Authorities (e.g.. PROV, NAA etc).
	Provision and assistance with the establishment of in-house facilities.

For further information contact: rkaczynski@documentmanagementconsult.com