A List of Archival Series
Beyond the axiom that archival records are most frequently generated
at the executive level in a state agency by those officers who deal with
policy and procedure as opposed to those who are concerned with staff
services, no generalizations about where to look for archival records
can be made. Every agency delegates authority, records decisions,
and reports activities in its own way. However, in order to make
the search for archival records series a little more manageable, the Archives
and Information Services Division has prepared generic descriptions of
records it has most frequently found to be of archival value.
These descriptions apply only to currently created and well-managed records
series. Old, forgotten records discovered during an inventory or
general housekeeping activities may have unique values that can only be
analyzed on a case-by-case basis.
These descriptions also apply only to record copies and not to convenience
or reference copies. Convenience or reference copies are not records
and can be destroyed at the agency’s discretion. However,
care must be taken to correctly identify convenience copies as opposed
to record copies. It is quite possible for exactly the same record
to exist in two or more places and be the record copy in each place.
The test for record copy is if the document serves a different function
in each of its sites. For instance, a letter received by the governor’s
office may require responses from two different agencies; the copy the
governor’s office sends to each agency is a record copy. When
it is difficult to determine whether the files are record or nonrecord
materials, treat them as records.
Records of the same type as those to be described in the following section
but kept as record copies in other filing systems or other records series
have the retention period of that filing system or records series.
For instance, a draft of the narrative portion of the agency’s legislative
appropriation request kept in the author’s personnel file as evidence
for performance appraisal carries the retention period of the personnel
file.
Archival Records Series
Correspondence - Administrative
Administrative correspondence can be incoming or outgoing and also includes
internal correspondence in any format pertaining to the formulation, planning,
implementation, interpretation, modification, or redefinition of the programs,
services, or projects of an agency and the administrative regulations,
policies, and procedures that govern them.
Administrative correspondence is contrasted with General correspondence
in that it excludes routine matters, general inquiries, and requests for
materials.
It is unlikely that administrative correspondence from organizational
levels below that of the executive will be appraised as archival.
However, if the agency's important programs are not documented in correspondence
maintained at this level, similar records created at lower levels must
be designated as archival.
Executive Orders
Executive orders include any document that initiates, rescinds, or amends
a regulation, policy, or procedure that governs the programs, services,
or projects of an agency.
Executive orders are contrasted with Directives that are routine issuances
regarding general administrative and office procedures.
Legal Opinions and Advice
These files typically contain memorandums prepared by the agency's legal
counsel or the Attorney General concerning interpretations of existing
laws and regulations or the effects of proposed laws and regulations that
govern the agency or which have a direct effect on its operations. Included are formal comments on pending
legislation prepared at the request of the Legislature, the Legislative
Council, the Legislative Budget Board, the Governor's Office or others.
Legislative Appropriation Requests
The archival requirement for this series of records is met by sending
the required number of copies of the published appropriation request and
all supporting documentation as submitted to the Legislative Budget Board
to the Texas State Publications Depository Program of the Library and
Archives Commission.
Meeting Agenda, Minutes, and Supporting Documentation
The record copy of official agenda and minutes of state boards, committees,
commissions, etc. that are conducting open meetings as required by Texas
Government Code, Chapter 551 are permanent records of the agency. Copies
of the agenda and minutes are transferred to the Archives and Information
Services Division to meet archival requirements. Meeting supporting documentation
is not a permanent agency record series and should be transferred to the
Archives after the 2-year agency retention period has passed.
Minutes may be literal transcriptions or edited summaries. Audio and
video tapes are not archival media and cannot serve as the agency's or
the Archives' copy.
Records selected for permanent retention to document interagency meetings
will be limited to the records of the agency designated as the group's
secretariat.
Minutes of staff meetings are not archival records.
News or Press Releases
News or press releases issued by the agency announcing high-level appointments,
new programs or functions affecting many Texans, and program terminations
are archival.
Records may be textual, such as a formal press release, or non-textual,
such as film, video or sound recordings.
Organizational/Reorganizational Records
Records in this series include:
Organization charts are graphic illustrations that provide a detailed
description of the arrangement and administrative structure of the functional
units of an agency.
Reorganization studies are conducted to design an efficient organizational
framework most suited to carrying out the agency's programs and include
materials such as final recommendations, proposals, and staff evaluations.
Functional statements are formally prepared descriptions of the responsibilities
assigned to the senior executive officers of an agency at the division
level and above.
Files may also contain administrative maps that show regional boundaries
and headquarters of decentralized agencies or that show the geographic
extent or limits of an agency's programs and projects.
Plans and Planning Records
Plans and planning records relate to the process of planning new or redefined
programs, services or projects of an agency. Planning records can be found
in many record series. Their archival appraisal generally follows
the series they are filed in. Planning records in an independent
series on a high administrative level relating to the administration of
agency programs are archival.
Policies and Procedures Manuals
Manuals, guidelines, administrative rules, or similar records distributed
internally for the use of employees or externally to the public or those
individuals or entities regulated by an agency that set out the significant
rules, policies, and procedures that govern an agency's major programs,
services, or projects are archival.
Procedure manuals or statements regarding the internal operations of
common functions -- e.g., grievance procedures, printing requests, travel
guidelines -- and similar support services, are not archival.
Publication Development Files
Successive and substantive drafts of major publications may be archival.
Major is defined by both the publication's authorship and its impact on
Texas and Texans.
Original artwork including photo prints and negatives that have significant
value as evidence of agency programs as well as the potential for re-use
may be archival.
Reports and Studies (Non-Fiscal)
This record series may include annual, sub-annual, or special reports
or studies on non-fiscal aspects of an agency's programs, services, or
projects compiled by agency personnel, by advisory committees, or by consultants
under contract with an agency that are not included in or directly related
to another records series. The series includes reports distributed
either internally or to other entities. Reports are archival when
they deal with significant aspects of the agency's programs.
Complete sets of studies prepared by oversight agencies are usually designated
as the record copy at the oversight agency.
Reports - Biennial or Annual Agency (Non-Fiscal)
This series encompasses biennial or annual reports to the governor and
legislature as required by an agency's enabling statutes. Archival
responsibility is fulfilled when the required number of copies of these
documents are sent to the Texas State Publications Depository Program,
Texas Library and Archives Commission.
Speeches and Papers
This series includes notes or text of speeches, papers, or reports delivered
in conjunction with agency work. Records in this series are archival
when they are remarks made at formal ceremonies and during interviews
by heads of agencies or their senior assistants concerning the programs
of their agencies. The speeches may be presented to executives from
other state agencies, representatives of federal and local governments,
or private groups, such as college and university students, business associations,
and cultural organizations. Interviews may be granted to radio,
television, or printed news media commentators.
The format may be original notes or text on paper, audio or video tape,
or motion picture film.
Building Records
Building records include planning, design, and construction records;
accepted and rejected bids; correspondence; plans and specifications including
architectural and engineering drawings, profiles, and blueprints; contracts,
surety bonds, and inspection records for major state buildings.
Indexes,
Lists, Registers, and other Finding Aids that provide access
to archival records must be transferred with the records they index.
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Other Filing Schemes
An agency may not necessarily maintain its records in series as they
have been described up to this point. Important factors to keep
in mind when filing records and in describing series for records inventory
and records schedule are
the administrative level of the records,
the amount of evidence of agency functions they provide, and
the quality of the information they contain.
In files
arranged by correspondent or subject, look for:
substantive correspondence with other state agencies, members of the
legislature and its committees, the governor's office, the governor,
private organizations and individuals;
records concerning all substantive and distinctive programs of the
agency including internal agency memorandums, narrative and statistical
reports, budget estimates and justifications, and others;
records documenting the evolution of major policies and procedures
created at the following levels: commissioners; directors; assistant
directors; and administrators, chairs, and directors of administrations,
divisions, and services within an agency.
Files
arranged by case number, person, project, hearing date, etc.,
may include correspondence, memorandums, periodic narrative reports, and
similar materials which relate to a specific action, event, person, place,
project, or other subject and provide complete documentation of an agency's
activities from initiation to conclusion. Although most case files
are disposable at some future date, some portion of a case file series
may be selected for transfer to the Archives and Information Services
Division. Those chosen normally fall under one or more of the following
categories. The case:
1. Established a precedent and therefore
resulted in a major policy or procedural change;
2. was involved in extensive litigation;
3. received widespread attention from
the news media;
4. was widely recognized for its uniqueness
by established authorities outside the government;
5. was reviewed at length in the agency's
annual/biennial report; or
6. was selected to document agency procedures
rather than to capture information relating to the subject of the individual
file.
Categories (1) through (5) establish the exceptional nature of a particular
case file while category (6) relates to routine files chosen because they
exemplify the policies and procedures of the creating agency.
Scientific
and technical data resulting from observations
of natural events or phenomena or from controlled laboratory or field
experiments may be archival. The data are generally created at project
or operating levels rather than at administrative levels. The data
may be recorded in either human-readable or machine-readable format and
be found in laboratory notebooks, completed forms, tabulations and computations,
graphs, microforms, or machine-readable files. (The Library and
Archives Commission lacks the resources to maintain permanent records
in electronic form. If a series of electronic records is permanent,
it must be printed on alkaline paper or microfilmed before transfer to
the Archives and Information Services Division. If it is not possible
or feasible for an agency to output an electronic record to paper or film,
the agency must maintain the records and the hardware and software needed
to access the records as well as migrate the records to new hardware and
software environments to provide continued access in the future.)
Scientific and technical data are selected for permanent preservation
if they are unique, usable, and important. Consider
if these data are accurate, comprehensive, and
complete, if they can and are likely to be applied to a wide variety of
research problems, and if they are usable;
if data that can be recreated because they document
repeatable activities, they may also be considered both unique and usable
if they constitute a definitive, critical, or standard reference data
set.
The cost of data collection is one, but not
the only, measure of its importance. In assessing the importance
of any set of data, consideration is given to its historical as well as
scientific significance.
Socio-economic
micro-level data are collected for input into periodic and
one-time studies and statistical reports including information filed to
comply with government regulations. The information may cover such
subjects as economic and tax information, health care, demographic trends,
education, discrimination, and other comparable social science areas.
Although agency reports and studies, briefing materials, and official
releases frequently summarize these data, the micro-level information,
usually in machine-readable form, can be archival. (The Library
and Archives Commission lacks the resources to maintain archival records
in electronic form. If a series of electronic records is archival
and it can be printed on alkaline paper or output to microfilm without
loss of information, the paper or film can be transferred to the Archives
and Information Services Division. If it is not possible or feasible
for an agency to output an electronic record to paper or film, the agency
must maintain the records and the hardware and software needed to access
the records as well as migrate the records to new hardware and software
environments to provide continued access in the future.)
Indexes, Lists, Registers,
and other Finding Aids that provide access to archival records
must be transferred with the records they index.
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