There are several tasks for you, as an Authorized User, to understand and do in order to manage your boxes stored at the State Records Center (SRC) appropriately. This includes:  

• Packing boxes to be stored at the SRC and adding those boxes to Versatile, the SRC’s inventory management system
• Managing existing inventory
• Participating in the biannual disposition process

Packing & Submitting Inventory

The information you document and provide for each box sent to the SRC is very important. It is used to determine how long the box needs to be retained, how it will be handled at the end of its retention period, and how useful that description will be for unit staff throughout the box’s retention period.

Remember:

• All records in a box must fall under the same records retention schedule. The SRC’s inventory system software, called Versatile, calculates a box’s retention based on that schedule. If records in a box fall under multiple records schedules, records may be destroyed or transferred to the Archives before they’ve met their retention period or stay around longer than they should.
• Create clear descriptions of the records in each box when submitting it to the SRC. Anyone should be able to understand what kind of records are in the box based on your description. Descriptions such as “Things found in a file cabinet,” “Misc,” or “Found under Bob’s desk” are not helpful to understanding the contents. Imagine you move on to a new job and pass your Authorized User role on to someone else—describe the contents in a way that someone completely new to this role could understand.
• If you are unsure about what information you need to include or which records retention schedule to use for your box, please contact the Records Management Program.

Information about how to purchase boxes that can be used to send inventory to the SRC can be found on the UW Archives and Records Management website.

Managing Existing Inventory

Even though your records are being stored offsite, your unit is still the official owner of those records. There are several recommended best practices for managing your unit’s records throughout its retention period.

Recommendations:

• Keep internal documentation for each box of records sent to the SRC in a central location that is accessible by everyone in your unit. This documentation should contain detailed descriptions about the records that are being stored and will be critical in identifying the contents should your unit need to locate records in the future.
  
  There have been many cases where poor descriptions and changing staff over time have resulted in a unit needing to request all records back from the SRC to determine “what’s in the box.” Keeping internal documentation will save time and effort.
• Authorized Users should periodically review their unit’s inventory to ensure that boxes are being stored appropriately. Versatile allows Authorized Users to review and run reports on the records stored at the SRC as well as see the details for individual boxes.  

• It is possible that you will need to request a box back from the SRC for review at some point during its retention period. This process operates much like checking a book out of the library. If your unit checks out boxes, be sure to track their location in the office and return them promptly back to the SRC when finished. Even though a box is checked out, the empty space where that box was located at the SRC is held and the University will continue to be charged for that space.

• If you need to update the description or dates for a box being stored at the SRC, you can fill out a DOA-3803 Inventory Change Request form and send it to the Records Management program email. 

• If your department decides that offsite storage is no longer needed and you want to manage your records onsite (e.g. in a storage space in your office), you can fill out a DOA-3804 Inventory Delete Request form and send it to the Records Management Program email. This form is also used to delete extra box labels that may be created when submitting new inventory.  

Note

Additional training for preparing and managing inventory and information about the various forms used to manage your inventory can be found on the Using the State Records Center for Offsite Storage webpage on the Records Management Program website.

Biannual Disposition

Twice a year, the State Record Center (SRC) conducts a disposal (or disposition) of records. The SRC disposes of any records that are eligible for destruction or transfer to University Archives according to their records schedules. The disposition process is an important and necessary part of records management at UW-Madison.

During this process, the University Records Officer receives a report from the SRC. That report contains all of the UW-Madison inventory that is eligible for disposition. The Records Officer then will send out disposition reports to Authorized Users for each unit with eligible boxes. It is up to the Authorized Users to determine if records need to be held or can be destroyed or transferred to UW Archives. 

Units must “Hold” records that are part of an open or pending records request, audit, or litigation process.  Records also need to be held from disposition if they were stored under an incorrect records retention schedule or if corrections need to be made to the box’s information that would lengthen the time the box would be held.

Disposition reports are due back to the SRC within the month, so it is extremely important that you respond to the University Records Officer when you receive your list. Communication is especially important if there are any issues with your records.

Any records approved to be destroyed are confidentially destroyed at the SRC.