For this installment about the intersections between archivists and records managers, we have a perspective from the business world:

I work for a southeast bank. Upon needing to vacate a building as the lease was ending, we explored the “archives” of the bank. As an archivist by training and records manager by profession this was my dream. We had twenty library style shelves full of stuff – everything from late 1800s bank ledgers and corporate china to newspaper clippings. This was the perfect opportunity to put my RIM and archives skills to the test. Over the course of two days, myself and the corporate librarian took a big bucket records management approach to clean up much of the paper materials. Anything that looked unique or archival we set aside for later assessment. Using the corporate retention schedule we were able to determine much of the paperwork could be trashed. The very unique corporate paintings and old ledgers were donated to the state library so their beauty and worth could be fully utilized. Without records management practices, two days could have easily turned into weeks of work. And without archival principles, much of the gorgeous materials we were able to donate would have been moved to another dusty room and never used.

Shannon Wood

Records Governance Manager