I have questions about what to do with some records that are not addressed by the retention schedules. What should I do?
Do you manage records for the Peabody Institute?
Do you manage records for the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions?
Do you manage records for the Applied Physics Lab (APL)?
What happens to paper records when they are received in the archives?
What happens to electronic records when they are received in the archives?
Who has access to records transferred to the archives?
Is it OK to scan documents and destroy the originals?
What should I do with financial records?
I have questions about what to do with some records that are not addressed by the retention schedules. What should I do?
The retention schedules are a work in progress and they are not comprehensive. They simply document what proposals and agreements have been made about records with various offices to date. If your office or set of records is not clearly addressed by the current retention schedules, please contact the Records Management Archivist at records-management@lists.jhu.edu for a consultation.
Do you manage records for the Peabody Institute?
No. The Peabody Institute has its own archival program. Please see their website for more information, including current contact information.
Do you manage records for the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions?
No. Records of the School of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins Hospital are administered by the Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives. Please see their website for more information, including current contact information.
Do you manage records for the Applied Physics Lab (APL)?
No. APL has its own archives and records management program. Please contact RecordsRetentionTeam@jhuapl.edu for more information.
What happens to paper records when they are received in the archives?
- Generally speaking, we will keep your materials in the boxes and order in which you send them to us for at least a few years, possibly indefinitely, as long as doing so does not endanger the materials.
- We will enter basic information about the transfer in our internal library and archives databases, barcode the boxes, secure the box lids with straps, and send them to an offsite, secure, climate-controlled facility for storage.
- As the materials approach an age at which they may be accessible to researchers, or at our discretion, the archives may undertake additional “processing” of the materials. This can include re-foldering, re-boxing, creating detailed descriptions of the contents, and integrating the description with existing finding aids or other records.
- Although we endeavor to only accept transfers of materials that we believe to have permanent historical value to the university, we may encounter circumstances where we have misjudged the value of materials and we wish to deaccession them from the archives. In these cases, the archives will contact the office that sent us the materials and any other stakeholders before confidentially destroying or otherwise disposing of records.
What happens to electronic records when they are received in the archives?
- We will transfer the records off of any media (CDs, hard drives, etc.) that you send to us and move them to secure networked storage.
- We will inventory the files and track them along with your paper records in our archival databases.
- We will capture information about the records that will allow us to identify file types and verify that the records have remained unchanged while they are in storage.
- We may perform additional actions such as decrypting files and migrating them to newer or more stable formats in keeping with our digital preservation practices.
- As the materials approach an age at which they may be accessible to researchers, or at our discretion, the archives may undertake additional “processing” of the materials. This can include reorganization of files, creating copies in formats more accessible to most researchers, creating detailed descriptions of the contents and integrating the description with existing finding aids.
Who has access to records transferred to the archives?
- Offices will always have access to the files that they have sent to the archives. Detailed instructions are under Request Records.
- Archives staff must have access to the records in order for us to perform our duties.
- Materials that were public at the time they were created (e.g., brochures, publications, etc.) can be made available to outside researchers immediately.
- 25 years after the date of creation, all materials are available to researchers without restriction, unless those materials are covered by FERPA, HIPAA or a similar privacy law or local decision.
Is it OK to scan documents and destroy the originals?
Yes, in some very specific cases:
- If the records are covered by an existing retention schedule AND they are scheduled for less-than-permanent retention, they may be scanned and the originals destroyed.
- If the records will be retained permanently by the archives, the originals MUST NOT be destroyed without specific approval from he archives
- If you have any questions about whether either of these cases applies, please contact the Records Management Archivist at records-management@lists.jhu.edu
What should I do with financial records?
Some high-level, summary financial records, such as annual departmental budgets or reports from major grants, may be appropriate to send to the archives for permanent retention. Please contact the Records Management Archivist at records-management@lists.jhu.edu if you have records of this type.
All other financial records should be maintained and disposed of in accordance with guidelines from JHU Finance.