Records Retention and Disposition Schedule - 12-15-2015

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Permanent records must have a security preservation copy as defined by State Archives of North Carolina's Human-Readable Preservation Duplicate Policy(G.S. §132-8.2): Preservation duplicates shall be durable,accurate,complete and clear,and such duplicates made by a photographic, photo static, microfilm, micro card, miniature photographic,or other process which accurately reproduces and forms a durable medium for so reproducing the original shall have the same force and effect for all purposes as the original record whether the original record is in existence or not. ... Such preservation duplicates shall be preserved in the place and manner of safekeeping prescribed by the Department of Cultural Resources. The preservation duplicate of permanent records must be either on paper or microfilm. Non-permanent records may be retained in any format. You will have to take precautions with records that you must keep more than about 5 years. Computer systems do not have long life cycles. Each time you change computer systems,you will have to convert all records to the new system so that you can assure their preservation and provide access. Q. Computer storage is cheap. I'll just keep my computer records. A. The best practice is to destroy all records that have met their retention requirements at the same time, regardless of format. Q. What are the guidelines regarding the creation and handling of electronic public records? A. The following documents are available on the State Archives of North Carolina website: • Best Practices for Cloud Computing: Records Management Considerations • Best Practices for Electronic Communication Usage in North Carolina:Text and Instant Message • Best Practices for Electronic Communication Usage in North Carolina: Guidelines for Implementing a Strategy for Text and Instant Messages • Best Practices for File Naming • Best Practices for Social Media Usage in North Carolina • Guidelines for Digital Imaging Systems • Metadata as a Public Record in North Carolina: Best Practices Guidelines for Its Retention and Disposition • Security Backup Files as Public Records in North Carolina:Guidelines for Recycling, Destruction, Erasure,and Re-Use of Security Backup Files GEOSPATIAL RECORDS Q. Why should GIS datasets be retained and preserved? A. Geospatial records are public records and need to be retained and preserved based on their legal,fiscal, evidential and/or historical value according to an established retention schedule. Local agencies involved in GIS operations should work with the State Archives of North Carolina in order to appraise, inventory, and preserve their geospatial records according to established best practices and standards to insure both their short-and long-term accessibility. ix