Wyoming Chapter
Association of Records Managers and Administrators
Chapter Meeting
September 20, 2004
Hitching Post Inn, Carriage Court Room, 1700 West Lincolnway, Cheyenne, WY

Members Present: Tony Adams, Kristy Anderson, Ramona Christensen, Donna Crock, Wendy Kinkade, Sheri LaPratt, Valerie Roybal, Christina Russell, Paula Sutton (Region Manager), Deanne Widauf and Rich Wilson

Guests: Kerry Beutler, Denise Freeman, Dema Jo Gilbert, Carleen Graves, Debbie Leonard, Pat Newfern, Sally Ann Rigdon

Speaker: David McDermottt, CRM, President of ARMA International

Topic: "The Nuts and Bolts of Retention Scheduling and Records Inventorying"

After enjoying a buffet lunch, Kristy Anderson opened the meeting by welcoming everyone. All members and guests introduced themselves. Kristy introduced our newest ARMA member, Christina Russell, who is the records manager with the Wyoming Board of Parole, and presented her with a copy of our Code of Ethics and By-Laws, as well as a chapter pin. Kristy then introduced the guest speaker, David McDermott. Dave is the Assistant Records Manager for the J.R. Simplot Company in Boise, Idaho. He has been active in the Records and Information Management field for over 20 years. Among the positions he has held include records systems analyst, corporate archivist, and project manager for J.R. Simplot Company Records Department. He was instrumental in re-centralizing the company's records. Dave received a Corporate Achievement Award for outstanding performance for litigation support in 1997.

Dave has been a member of ARMA for over 23 years. He has served as Director, Vice President, and Chapter President at the local chapter level and Association Director for four years. Dave has received the Chapter Member of the Year two times in Boise, Idaho. He has served on various committees including the Financial Planning Committee, Strategic Planning Committee and chaired the ARMA's Communication Task force.

According to Dave, the Records Inventory is the base of a good Records Management Program and there are "22 Million Reasons for Records Inventories and Retention Schedules". A policy should be established to keep records for the shortest possible period. An inventory of the records should be done for several reasons. An inventory provides a complete list of the organization's records, tells where the records are located and in what volume, provides facts which records are based, and provides user assessment for development of a retention schedule. Dave distributed copies of Electronic Records Inventory forms, Hard Copy Records Inventory forms, and Records Retention Schedule Number #125 from his company to show how an inventory and Retention Schedule should be written.

To start the inventory process, first one needs to obtain permission form the department head, determine appropriate department personnel, arrange for a meeting to explain the process to staff, set dates, diagram storage areas including specific locations and storage equipment and reference each site with an alpha/numeric indicator.

The next steps involve examination of each storage unit for content.including identification of records series, not individual files. The scheduling process follows. During this step, one needs to ask questions to the department manager such as who uses the documents in your company, is there more than one copy produced, how long is the record needed, is the record vital or non vital. Next, one must determine where to look for the retention requirements, write the retention schedule, obtain authorization and approval of the retention schedule, implement the authorized retention schedule and prepare the certified records disposal. Finally, Dave noted that Records Inventory and Retention Schedules are not a luxury, they are a necessity.

Dave concluded his presentation and spoke briefly about ARMA International. Dave mentioned ARMA's willingness to be transparent. He encouraged all members to visit ARMA's web site to review the strategic plan and other issues. Dave met with the ICA (International Congress on Archives) for an assembly this summer in Vienna, Austria on various issues of Records Management. The group had members who spoke seven different languages. He found his visit very informative.

Kristy Anderson presented Dave with a small memento after his presentation. Kristy reminded everyone of the next Chapter meeting to be held on Tuesday, October 12, 2004 at the County Building at 11:30am. Debbye Lathrop will speak on the election process. Debbie Leonard received the door prize (a personal organizer). In addition, Kristy reminded everyone to visit our Chapter web site at www.armawyoming.org for information about our local chapter.

Submitted by,

Ramona Christensen
Chapter Secretary