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Transferring Records to the Archives/Records Center
Records must be transferred to the Archives/Records Center with the Records Transfer Form (form 01-97.doc). This form will be available for download in the very near future. In the meantime, hard copy is available on the Archives/Records Center door or you may print a copy from t:\temp\form01.doc. Please see the Accessioning section of the policies and procedures manual for transfer procedures.
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Retrieving Records from the Archives/Records Center
Please see the Reference section of the policies and procedures manual for complete information on requesting photocopies, photographic, micrographic and digital reproductions. In the near future, an online reference request form will be available. Currently all records requests should be directed to the appropriate department. For department retrieval requests, please email or call 781-270-1604 or 781-270-1660 and the records will be transferred to your office.
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Record Surveys
Town Hall department records were surveyed from December, 1997-March, 1998. Further surveys have been undertaken between October 2002 and February 2005. Going forward this service will be available to other town departments. The final survey report shows the series title; total cubic feet; annual rate of accumulation; how long the record needs to be kept (per the office of the Secretary of State, Supervisor of Public Records); whether or not the records have been microfilmed; identification of permanent record; vital records level; and microfilming recommendation.

The survey of the Town Hall departments--Accounting, Assessor, Building Inspector, Conservation, Engineering, Planning, Public Works Administration, Selectmen, Town Clerk and Treasurer/Collector--included 2300 cubic feet of records. Approximately 59% of this material is permanent record; 60% of these 1350 cubic ft. could be microfilmed and destroyed. Approximately 41% (943 cubic ft.) are records that could be disposed of within 1-7 years.
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Vital Records Management
Vital records are the records you need to continue operations. To grasp what records are vital, ask the question, "What if disaster struck tonight? What records would the town need to continue operations the next morning?"

Vital records are central to municipal operations and contain information that cannot be reconstructed from other sources. Loss of vital records can result in litigation, financial loss, disrupted continuity of operations and damage to the interests of the citizens and employees of the town. Vital records typically constitute 3-5% of the total records volume and are classified into one of four groups:

Class 1 Vital: Class 1 records are essential to the continued life of the organization. They are irreplaceable because they give evidence of legal and financial status and of the rights and obligations of the town. Class 1 records also provide for the interests of the town citizens and employees. Generally housed in active storage. Example: accounts receivable, vital statistics, town meeting records, contracts, charters, minutes, payroll, ordinances and resolutions, documentation needed to run and read electronic records systems.

Class 2 Important: Class 2 records are necessary to the continued life of the organization. While these records can be replaced or reproduced, this can only be done at considerable cost in time and money. May be stored in active or inactive storage. Example: accounts payable, tax lists, directives.

Class 3 Useful: Class 3 records are useful to the continued life of the organization. These records may be replaced, but their loss would cause temporary inconvenience. Example: bank statements, correspondence.

Class 4 Nonessential: Records that have no present value and should be destroyed. Example: requests answered, advertisements, announcements.

Are vital records also permanent/archival records?
It depends: vital records may have a very short lifespan or they may have longterm historical value. Some record series will fall under both categories. For instance, minutes, public land deeds, town meeting records, vital statistics and charters are all archival and vital. Identifying the vital records level helps prioritize what records should be microfilmed first.
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Reformatting--Microfilming and Digitization
The office of the Secretary of State, Supervisor of Public Records (SPR) decides what permanent records can be microfilmed and whether or not they can be destroyed. All microfilming must be done in accordance with the Records Management Unit guidelines; these guidelines are very similar to industry standards such as Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) and Research Library Group (RLG).

The plan for future microfilm is:

• Phase 1 (by the end of FY 1996): microfilm vault records that can be microfilmed and disposed of, with the exception of the Building Department plans (see Phase 2). This will utilize the majority of the available funds.
• Phase 2 Split between: 1) Office records that can be microfilmed and disposed of; 2) records that are permanent and vital records level 1; 3) begin phased microfilming of backlog of Building Department plans. In addition, begin systematically microfilming incoming Building Department plans, with an increase in Building Department fees to cover microfilming.
• Phase 3: Microfilm backups of permanent records or vital records level 1 backup.
• Phase 4: Completion of microfilming process. By this point all records that can be filmed within the Town Hall and Town Hall departments will have been filmed.
• Phase 5: (Ongoing) Microfilming of building department records funded through revolving account.

Record Retention Schedules
The office of the Secretary of State, Supervisor of Public Records publishes records retention schedules and is the ultimate authority on disposal of public record. The schedules cite applicable Massachusetts General Law and note how long the records must be kept. Although the schedules cover many of the record series within a department, many record series are not on the schedules. This means the informational use of the record must be researched before the Records Management Unit can make a decision.
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Filing and Information Access Systems
Efficient filing systems and information access systems are crucial for efficient administration. The system is based on the type of material and how it is received, the storage needs of the material and how the record is used by the staff. If you have a system you would like to improve, we can sit down and find a solution that will increase efficiency and access. We designed an Access database for the Conservation Department to help them track and report their activities; this database will also provide an index to their records. We designed an Access database index for subject, geographic name and personal name indexing of Town Meeting records. Many departments have the same informational needs; a few well-designed information systems can provide better access to the records.
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Electronic Records Management
Preservation, legality, compatibility and access are all major issues for electronic records management--the records that are created in information systems and only exist in electronic format. Some argue that to preserve electronic records, we must preserve:

• Media on which the record is inscribed
• Software with which the record was written
• Hardware on which the software was run
• Operating system controlling the hardware
• Documentation that shows users how to operate the hardware, use the sofware and interpret the records
• Metadata, the data about the data

Arrangement, Description and Cataloging
Archival material is arranged and described by two guiding principles, provenance and original order. Provenance means that the materials are arranged according to the originating location or office i.e., the records of the Town Adminstrator would never be intermingled with the records of the Town Treasurer. Original order means just that: the rationale is that the original order typically holds evidence or information in itself. Rather than rearranging records by another system e.g., a subject-based system, the records are arranged, described and possibly indexed (depending on the anticipated use). The records are left in the original order and the original system is referenced. The rationale is that original order is the most usable system, particularly for the users that created it. Ideally records come to the archives through a records management program.

Records are described in finding aids or inventories. The key parts of the finding aid are a historical/agency note; description of the organization of the records; and an outline of the organization. The level of description and indexing depends on the potential use of the collection and institutional resources. There are times that every item should be described, but most of the time records are described by series e.g. minutes.

Cataloging records are created according to national guidelines. Archivists typically follow Archives, Personal Papers and Manuscripts: A Cataloging Manual for Archival Repositories, Historical Societies and Manuscript Libraries (Steven L. Hensen, compiler. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1989), adapted from a library standard, Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (Chicago: American Library Association, Canadian Library Association, Library Association Publishing Limited, 1988), fondly known in the library world as AACR2. These records can be loaded in a local system and/or submitted to national bibliographic utilities such as RLIN and OCLC. An easy and inexpensive way to cover both bases is to submit the records to National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMUC) at the Library of Congress. This no-charge service will enter the records in RLIN and OCLC and provides a free gateway for searching RLIN manuscript collections. More and more institutions are publishing finding aids on the Web, allowing RLIN to put links between the cataloging record and the finding aid.
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Reference and Access
Accessing Records
Please see the Reference section of the policies and procedures manual for complete information on requesting photocopies, photographic, micrographic and digital reproductions. In the near future, an online reference request form will be available. Currently all records requests should be directed to the appropriate department. For department requests, please email or call 270-1604 or 270-1660 and the records will be transferred to your office.
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Records Online
Going forward, we would like to deliver selected record series electronically. This will provide access to the most commonly accessed records and eliminate duplication across departments. We are currently investigating the cost-effectiveness of vendor-scanned microfilm versus a microfilm reader/printer that scans microfilm. This hybrid solution provides the longetivity of microfilm with the accessibility of digital copy. Research shows that it is also more cost-effective than scanning and outputting the digital copy to microfilm. The first step, however, is to organize and index the records.
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What are Public Records?
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Online Research Tools
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Preservation

Environmental Controls
Temperature and humidity readings have been tracked since September, 1997 with a maximum/minimum hygrometer. Manual controls (dehumidifier and heat) are used to maintain as stable a climate as possible. Avoiding extreme temperature and relative humidity fluctuations are very important for the preservation of paper and magnetic media records. The ideal temperature is 60-70 degrees F + and the ideal relative humidity is 30-50% + 2% within a 24 hour period. Film (including microfilm), photographs and magnetic media (including videotape) have lower requirements, since temperature and relative humidity extremes cause the film and tape emulsions to flake.

Why worry about temperature and relative humidity? Temperature affects chemical reactions--chemical reactions double with each 18 degree increase. Water is a critical factor in acid formation: the higher the moisture level, the faster the rate of damage. Rapid fluctuations in temperature and RH accelerate deterioration and cause the deterioration of paper fibers as they swell and shrink. High RH increases acid formation and low RH embrittles paper, parchment, adhesives, photographic emulsions and other materials.
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Archival-quality Boxes and Folders
A key part of preventive preservation is the use of archival-quality boxes and folders. "Acid-free" is a term frequently used to describe archival-quality papers and materials made of neutral or buffered papers. Neutral enclosures (6.5-7.5 pH) have harmful acids removed; neutral enclosures also prevent the absorption of acids from the environment or from objects stored inside. Even better are buffered paper enclosures (7.5-9.5 pH): buffered paper enclosures contain alkaline material that neutralizes acids as they form. Paper quality is also very important: archival-quality containers should be lignin-free and contain more cotton or linen fiber than wood fiber. Besides protection, these boxes last longer, as the cardboard does not disintegrate as quickly as regular boxes.
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Reformatting
Reformatting records onto microfilm and into electronic format is also a key part of preventive preservation. Reformatting provides a duplicate record--this way the original record is only handled when it is absolutely necessary. Also see Reformatting--Microfilming and Digitization.

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