Archives and Records Management Glossary

Accession

Materials physically or digitally transferred at the same time and as a unit to the University Archives or Records Center.

Archival Records

University records having enduring value, typically for historical purposes but also including legal or administrative purposes. When encoded within a state-approved retention schedule, the “archival” designation identifies a legal obligation to retain the records according to archival standards ensuring the records’ authenticity, integrity, preservation, and accessibility.

See also: University Records

Archives

  1. A repository of and for archival records;
  2. The body of records created or received by an entity (person, corporate body, family, conference) that are understood as an organic whole and are preserved due to their ongoing value.

Confidential Information

Subset of protected information specifically protected from disclosure by Washington State law. It may include, but is not limited to, personal information about individuals, information concerning employee personnel records, or information regarding IT infrastructure and security of computer and telecommunications systems. Defined in university policy: POL-U3000.07: Securing Information Systems

See also: Confidential Information Requiring Special Handling, Protected Information, Sensitive Information

Confidential Information Requiring Special Handling

Subset of protected information that is specifically protected from disclosure by law and for which especially strict handling requirements are dictated, such as by statutes, regulations, or agreements, or that serious consequences could arise from unauthorized disclosure, such as threats to health and safety, or legal sanctions. Defined in university policy: POL-U3000.07: Securing Information Systems

See also: Confidential InformationProtected Information, Sensitive Information

Cut-off

An event or date when records become inactive and the retention period begins. This may be an event such as the termination of a contract, or a date such as the end of a fiscal, academic, or calendar year.

Disposition

The legally-authorized actions carried out upon completion of records’ mandated retention periods. Disposition actions may include destruction/deletion or transfer to the Archives for permanent preservation. For WWU, as with all state agencies, the State Records Committee must authorize all disposition actions as stated on approved retention schedules. Disposition instructions for specific records can be found on file plans or the General Records Retention Schedule.

See also: State Records Committee, Disposition Authority Number (DAN), WWU Disposition Authority Reference

Disposition Authority Number (DAN)

The Disposition Authority Number (often referred to as the "DAN") is the State Records Committee’s legal authorization that the records covered by the DAN may be disposed according to the retention and disposition instructions outlined on the records’ governing retention schedule. DANS are referenced on retention schedules approved by the State Records Committee.

At WWU, the state-approved DANs listed on our retention schedules and file plans are expanded to include unique identifiers that allow us to assign state-approved DANs to individual offices. These expanded DANs are referred to as WWU Disposition Authority References. These references are made up of the state DAN, an office identifier, and a unique serial number.

See also: Disposition, State Records Committee, WWU Disposition Authority Reference

Disposition Hold

The suspension of the disposition of records and information because of active, pending, or reasonably foreseeable litigation, public records requests, investigations, audits, or other legal action or reason. May also be referred to as "legal hold" or "litigation hold."

Essential (or Vital) Records

As outlined in RCW 40.10.010, records deemed by the office or university to be essential (or vital) to resume or continue operations of the university, to recreate the university's legal and financial position, and/or to fulfill obligations to the university, its employees, students, and outside interests. Essential records must be identified on a retention schedule and reviewed yearly. State law (RCW 40.10.010) also requires that agencies establish protocols (including duplication/back-up and physical dispersal of those copies) to ensure that essential records are protected and continually accessible in the event of an emergency.

File Plan

A file plan lists an individual office’s records with their retention and disposition instructions. File plans are based on the university’s approved record retention schedules and records series, but are tailored to the office’s unique instances of records. (Previously known as “unique records retention schedules.”)

See also: Retention ScheduleGeneral Records Retention Schedule, Record

General Records Retention Schedule

A retention schedule governing the retention period and disposition of records series that are common to many offices at the university (as compared to a file plan which lists the records unique to a specific office).

See also: Retention Schedule, File Plan

Inventory

A survey of records created and/or maintained by an office. Inventories are used to create file plans for offices.

Legal Hold

See: Disposition Hold

Litigation Hold

See: Disposition Hold

Medium (Media)

The physical material that serves as the carrier for information/records. Anything upon which data is written is a medium. This includes paper, photographic, audiovisual, and digital media, as well as any other physical carrier of information.

Office

Any program unit consisting of one or more employees that exists for a specific purpose. Because an office is purposeful, its activities are necessarily accountable through the records it creates or with which it interacts. Also known as a Recordkeeping Unit.

Office head

The director or top-level administrator for an office or set of offices. Also known as the Recordkeeping Unit Authority.

See also: Office, Recordkeeping Unit, Recordkeeping Unit Authority

Official Record

The copy of a record designated by the unit as the authoritative copy. On an approved records retention schedule, records series apply to the official record, unless otherwise stated. Non-official copies of records are still subject to disposition holds, such as public records requests and litigation holds.

See also: RecordUniversity Records, Public Records

Protected Information

A category of information that includes sensitive information, confidential information, and confidential information requiring special handling. Defined in university policy: POL-U3000.07: Securing Information Systems.

Public Records

As defined in public records statutes RCW 42.56.010 and RCW 40.14.010, any recorded information prepared, owned, used, or retained by any employee, recordkeeping unit/office, or authorized proxy of a state agency relating to the conduct of its affairs or the performance of any institutional or proprietary function, regardless of medium, format, physical characteristics, or subject matter. This definition includes drafts and secondary copies of records (also known as transitory records).

All University Records are “public records” by statute, although this does not automatically mean that all university records can be disclosed to the public. In this case, “public” denotes records as a class of records subject to public ownership and governance, as opposed to records that are not prepared, owned, used, or maintained by a public agency as part of its function. Public records may be exempt from disclosure under RCW 42.56 or other applicable laws. Disclosure of public records at WWU is governed by the Public Records Office.

See also: University Records, Record

Record

An unique instance of a public record at WWU. Generally, records are identified on office-level file plans or on a general records retention schedule.

See the following related definitions to learn more:

Record (As a Concept)

For definition of Record as used at WWU see Record

Broadly-speaking, records are discrete information units whose specific forms are defined by the organizational, legal, political, social, and/or cultural contexts within which they are created and for which they serve a documentary function. Typically, a society needs records in order to help prove or represent past occurrences in a way that can be commonly understood and persistently referenced. The quality of our records thus determines how effectively we can represent those past occurrences. Because of this, records can have a profound impact on the pursuit of important societal or cultural outcomes, such as providing accountability, fostering efficiency, ensuring equity and fairness, supporting memory, and recounting history.

As a public institution, WWU must abide by public record definitions articulated in statutes that govern the activities of state government entities. Virtually all records at WWU are covered by these statutory definitions. For more information about these statutes, see Public Records.

See the following entries for more specific types of records:

Recordkeeping Unit

Any organizational entity consisting of one or more employees whose activities are purposeful and therefore accountable through the records it creates or with which it interacts. Recordkeeping unit includes but is not limited to, departments, offices, programs, centers, institutes, boards, committees, commissions, and task forces. More commonly known as an office.

Recordkeeping Unit Authority

The person organizationally responsible for one or more recordkeeping units. More commonly known as an office head.

Records Center

A low-cost storage facility or centralized location that is used for organized storage of inactive records retained for administrative or operating purposes, usually for a limited period of time. A records center can contain digital or non-digital materials.

Records Coordinator

An office’s designee to act as a liaison with University Archives and Records Management (UARM) for the purpose of aligning the office’s records management practices with the requirements outlined in university policy and law. Appointed by Recordkeeping Unit Authority/Office Head.

Records Management

The field of management responsible for the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use and disposition of records, including processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and information about business activities and transactions in the form of records.

Records Officer

A position required by RCW 40.14.040 and assigned to University Archives and Records Management, whose role is to supervise the institution’s records management activities and to represent the institution in all contacts with the State Records Committee and the Secretary of State’s Division of Archives and Records Management.

Records Retention Schedule

A schedule (list) of records series indicating the retention period, cut-off, and disposition instructions for each. Retention schedules are authorized by the State Records Committee and managed for WWU by University Archives and Records Management.

See also: File Plan, General Records Retention Schedule

Records Series

A group of records, performing a specific function, which is used as a unit, filed as a unit, and may be transferred or destroyed as a unit. A records series may consist of a single type of document or a number of different types of documents that are filed together to document a specific function. Records series are listed and described on a records retention schedule. Records series provide the retention and disposition authority for file plans.

Records System

Any combination of human, digital, and/or nondigital components intended to facilitate the creation, use, access, security, retention, and disposition of records and related metadata through time. A records system can be simple or complex, digital or non-digital. For example, the term applies equally to an individual employee's office file and to an enterprise-level information system.

Records Transmittal

A document or other instrument that facilitates and documents the transfer of records to an archives or records center.

Retention Period

The length of time a record must be retained. The retention period is assigned to a record based on the function of the record and begins once the cut-off event or date has occurred. Retention periods can be found on the records retention schedule and office file plans.

See also: Records Retention Schedule, Records Series, File Plan

Sensitive Information

Subset of protected information that may not be specifically protected from disclosure by law but is for official use only. Defined in university policy: POL-U3000.07: Securing Information Systems

See also: Protected Information, Confidential Information, Confidential Information Requiring Special Handling

State Records Committee

Established by RCW 40.14.050, the State Records Committee reviews and approves the disposition of state government records via the approval of records retention schedules. The State Records Committee is the sole source for approved records retention schedules. It consists of the State Archivist, an appointee of the State Auditor, an appointee of the State Attorney General, and an appointee of the State Director of Financial Management.

See also: Disposition, Records Retention Schedule

Transfer

The act or process of moving records from one location to another, including from one digital storage location to another.

In the case of transferring records to the University Archives after the required retention period has expired, offices also transfer ongoing management and ownership of the records to the Archives, per university policy (POL 4910.01 Managing University Archival Records).

See also: Accession, Records Transmittal

Transitory Records

Routine documents that have temporary usefulness for reference or informational purposes but are not the official record [link] of an action or decision. Transitory records typically do not have any retention requirements. For a list of common transitory records, see the Transitory Records section of the WWU General Records Retention Schedule.

University Records

As defined in public records statutes RCW 42.56.010 and RCW 40.14.010, any recorded information prepared, owned, used, or retained by any employee, recordkeeping unit/office, or authorized proxy of Western Washington University relating to the conduct of its affairs or the performance of any institutional or proprietary function, regardless of medium, format, physical characteristics, or subject matter. This definition includes drafts and secondary copies of records. All University Records are Public Records.

All University Records are “public records” by statute, although this does not automatically mean that all university records can be disclosed to the public. In this case, “public” denotes records as a class of records subject to public ownership and governance, as opposed to records that are not prepared, owned, used, or maintained by a public agency as part of its function. Public records may be exempt from disclosure under RCW 42.56 or other applicable laws. Disclosure of public records at WWU is governed by the Public Records Office.

See also: RecordPublic Records, Official Record, Archival Records, Essential (Vital) Records, and Transitory Records.

WWU Disposition Authority Reference

Unique reference number assigned to records on file plans and general records retention schedules at WWU. The WWU Disposition Authority Reference number is made up of three parts: the disposition authority number (DAN) assigned to the root records series by the State Records Committee, the id number assigned to the office that owns the record instance, and a WWU unique id number assigned to that specific record.