Preparedness Information for Hurricane Isaias
With Hurricane Isaias on the way, here’s information on how to help protect your records and how to contact the State Archives staff if needed.
Records Destruction
Last month we examined the Life Cycle of a Record; now we are going to take a more in depth look at the final step for most records in that journey: Records Destruction. All non-permanent records that have completed their retention periods are eligible to be purged and it is generally best practice to complete…
Managing Texts as Public Records
In recent years, texting has become a de facto part of many jobs. Case workers have to communicate quickly with the central office when out in the field. Co-workers strategize about what they’d like to discuss in meetings. Emergency response teams are able to respond to situations quickly and efficiently. What are some ways to…
Update on 2020 Functional Schedule
Originally, we had planned on releasing the 2020 version of the Functional Schedule for State Agencies on July 1, 2020. The schedule has been completed and is ready for posting but there will be a short delay in releasing it for signature as we will be implementing DocuSign (electronic signatures) into the signature process for…
Proposed Local Schedule Revisions, Part 5: Planning and Regulation of Development & Code Enforcement and Inspection
Continuing the posting of the 2020 Local Program schedule revisions, today’s standards are Planning and Regulation of Development (formerly Planning and Zoning) and Code Enforcement and Inspection (formerly Building Inspection on the Municipal schedule). The former Planning and Zoning standard will now be the Planning and Regulation of Development standard, anticipating changes effective January 1,…
Protecting Records from Digital Decay
Digital preservation can be a scary thing. Many physical storage media, such as CDs, DVDs, hard drives, and flash drives, can decay so that the electronic records stored on them are corrupted and sometimes rendered unreadable. This digital decay is sometimes called bit rot. There are steps you can take to protect records from bit…
The Life Cycle of a Record
When we follow our appropriate retention schedules and plan for the disposition of records, we are interacting with the life cycle of our records. While the ultimate conclusion for most records is often a date with a shredder or another approved means of records destruction, it is important that we understand the stages of a…
New tutorial video: “Confidentiality in Public Records”
The Government Records Section has released a 6 minute video tutorial explaining how to manage documents containing “confidential” information. In the tutorial Whitney Ray and Colin Reeve discuss different types of confidential information that might be found in public records; the steps to take to make such records available for public inspection, including those…
New tutorial video: “Public Records Law”
In this tutorial, records analysts introduce public records laws in North Carolina, including General Statutes 132 (hence our aptly named blog!) and 121. At the end of the video, you will know the definition of public records, how to fulfill public records requests, and how to navigate confidentiality restrictions. Special thanks to Mike Rogers for…
New tutorial video: “Do I Need To Keep This Record?”
Ever felt overwhelmed at the amount of records you manage? It’s possible you could get rid of some of those records without needing to consult the retention schedule. The State Archives is happy to announce a new tutorial video that can help you conduct initial appraisals of your paper and digital records. In this video, records…
COVID-19 and State Agency Records Appraisal
From: Rebecca McGee-Lankford Assistant State Records Administrator Government Records Section The COVID-19 State of Emergency in North Carolina represents an unprecedented event in North Carolina history, and we at the State Archives’ Government Records Section are working to ensure that we capture the public records that will help future North Carolinians understand this difficult and uncertain…
