Consider what records to keep for the organization’s future members.
What may seem unnecessary to current members might prove more useful for new members.
Ask yourself:
What documents might be useful for someone just getting started in the group?
What projects or events could be valuable in planning similar endeavors?
What photographs and videos provide a good reflection of the culture of the group?
Before you go, consider the accessibility of your group's records
If you have digital records that you think would be helpful to incoming group members, make sure that these records are accessible to them before you leave the group. Transfer them to a shared cloud storage drive or put them on a drive or device that will stay with the group after you leave. If any of your group's documents are stored on password-protected media, ensure that there is always someone in the group who knows the password to access these documents.
If your group has records that contain sensitive information, make sure that any members responsible for these records know how to locate them and keep them secure.
Records that aren’t useful to your group but might have historical value to students or researchers can be donated to the University Archives. Even documents that might not seem interesting today can provide researchers with a glimpse into the details of TU's history.
Student groups who maintain websites or social media profiles can also give us permission to keep updated copies of these sites over time.
Once the materials you donate have been processed and cataloged, they will be stored in our facility and can be requested by students and researchers, including future members of your organization.
While not all of our records have been digitized, we are continually making more resources available on our website.
Any documents that contain sensitive or personally identifiable information will not be made public, and we are careful to respect the rights and privacy of our donors and students.
If you have records that you are confident have no value to your group or to the wider Towson University community, these can probably be safely discarded. These can include:
When disposing of records, it is important to do so responsibly and with consideration of any security concerns. If these documents contain sensitive or personally identifiable information, be sure to destroy these completely by shredding physical documents or making sure to completely delete digital files. Ensure that there are no copies of sensitive documents that may not have been disposed of.
One of the most important parts of record keeping is ensuring that the records are protected from destruction or degradation. This applies to both physical and digital records, which each have their own concerns. Think about what factors might put your records at risk and how to best avoid those risks.
Create an organized system that will allow you to find a specific document when you need it. This can be as simple as putting the files in alphabetical or chronological order. The important thing is to make these records usable for your organization. Additionally, having a good organization system allows you to know quickly if a document is missing.
When setting up your digital records, take the time to give files useful names that allow you to locate them and know what is stored in each file without having to open them. Grouping like files together in a labeled folder will make it easier to find related information.
It can be useful to include any additional information that might make it easier to understand the documents outside of their original context. Adding dates to undated documents and labeling photographs with the names of the subjects of the image are ways to add useful information to the records you have.
For records that are particularly important, keep a backup copy in a separate location from the original. This can be a physical copy of the item, or the item can be scanned or photographed to create a digital copy. This ensures that if one copy is destroyed or damaged the other will be safe.
Check on your records periodically, even if you do not refer to them often. Looking over the records is usually enough to catch any damage early enough to prevent it from making the documents unusable.
It is best to store physical records in a place that is:
Avoid storing records in places that are:
There are many easily accessible storage solutions such as binders, file boxes, or bins. The best solution will be one that is manageable and practical for your organization.
Digital records require some special considerations.
It is important to consider how digital records are being stored and how you plan to access them in the future. As digital technology progresses, older files can quickly become inaccessible.
Digital files can be saved a variety of formats, such as:
Common formats change over time, but some remain accessible for longer and on a wider variety of devices. It is best to use file formats that can be accessed by many different programs – if the program you have been using to open a file becomes unusable in the future, you will want to be able to use an alternative.
If you would like to convert a file to a more stable format, remember to save the reformatted version as a new document. This way, you will still have the original file, as well as the reformatted copy.
You also have a choice of where and how these files are stored.
Some storage mediums exist on one physical device, which require you to physically have the storage media, as well as a compatible device, to access the files. Physical storage media include:
Another option is “cloud storage,” where files are stored on drives made accessible through an Internet connection. Examples of cloud storage include Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive.
There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these options – using physical storage gives you complete control over your files, but cloud storage prevents the risks of losing files if a device is lost or damaged.
It is a good idea to have more than one copy of a digital file in separate locations, and you may want to consider using a combination of physical and cloud storage for these duplicates.
Websites and Social Media
Many student organizations have websites or maintain social media profiles. While this data should remain accessible for as long as the hosting site is active, there is the possibility that a site may not be used in the future, or that a social media platform might shut down or an account be abandoned. Many groups who previously maintained Facebook pages, for example, have since switched to Twitter or Instagram, and might change again in the future. If this happens, the information from the previous account or site can be lost. To prevent this, periodically download the group’s data from any platform used, so that it can be stored separately from the original online location. Many social media platforms allow users to download their data and save it.
If you think that future students and researchers would benefit from records of your group's social media accounts, contact SCUA and ask about having your accounts added to our archives.
Check on your digital records periodically. Files can be corrupted, and file formats or programs can become obsolete. When or before a file format becomes obsolete, a file in that format can be re-saved using a more current format. It can also be helpful to consider changing where or how files are stored as new technology develops.
