Records and Information Management

Records and information management provides for the efficient and economical creation, use, storage and maintenance, and disposition of Medical Center and University records in any and all formats. Maintaining physical and intellectual control over records and information throughout their entire life cycle has many benefits. It improves efficiency in the management of information, permits the timely destruction of nonpermanent or transitory records, reduces the need for on-site records storage, and identifies permanently valuable records that should one day be preserved in the Medical Center Archives.

Records retention guidelines can be used by administrative offices, departments, centers, or programs to dispose of inactive records and information routinely and consistently. The Compliance Office of the Duke University Health System, Inc. has developed a schedule for the proper disposition of records maintained by DUHS and its Affiliates, DUHS Stat 2004.62. Offices outside of DUHS, including the Schools of Medicine and Nursing, may access retention guidelines at http://www.lib.duke.edu/archives/rm/rm_page3.htm.

If you have questions about the proper disposition of records or the value of records in your care, you may contact the Medical Center Archives at (919) 383-2653, or view the Recommended Retention & Disposition Guidelines. No Medical Center records should be destroyed or otherwise disposed of without first contacting the Medical Center Archivist.

Records, both paper and electronic, are created daily in Medical Center offices and departments. The majority of these records are intended for a specific purpose and are only needed for a short period of time. Other records, such as files on grants or extended projects, may be active for longer periods. Within both types of records, some files will continue to have legal and historical value for documenting the activities of the Medical Center beyond their original purpose. Please consult the Medical Center Archives' Records Retention and Disposition Recommendations Guidelines for retention and disposition periods of individual record types.

Records of permanent historical and archival value to the Medical Center include:

1.) Papers of the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellors, and Deans' offices. These records include all statements of policy, reports, correspondence, speeches, committee minutes, publicity materials, business files, and memoranda (including email as appropriate ).

2.) Records from administrative and academic offices: correspondence, annual reports, final grant reports, self-study reports, policy statements and planning documents, symposium or colloquium files, newsletters and publications.

3.) Faculty meeting minutes.

4.) Medical Center publications - Catalogs, newspaper, yearbooks, research magazines, newsletters, brochures, programs, posters.

5.) Films, recordings, tapes, and photographs produced by the Medical Center, including samplings of such records done as part of teaching programs.

6.) Course syllabi.

7.) Student organization records: minutes, publications, photographs.

If you have any questions concerning the permanence of records, contact the Medical Center Archives.