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Business Records Archives

[Procedure] Last Updated: September 2013
Prior Manual Number: 20-8

Location

The Business Records Archives, located in the Dorland Building, is administered by the Central Stores area of the Materials Management Department. The Archives is designed for storage of official business records for departments within the Division of Finance and the Division of Administration. These records are archived for future reference until an assigned destroy date is reached.

Requirements

In order to archive records in the Business Records Archives at Central Stores, they must be packed in new archives boxes available through the Central Stores resale program, and approved for this purpose. Other requirements include:

  1. The requesting department must be a part of the Division of Finance or Administration.
  2. There must be a demonstrable need to retain the documents for business purposes.
  3. A specific retention period must be established with an assigned destroy date.
  4. The documents must be uniformly packed in approved cartons designated for records storage.
  5. The records are historical in nature and need not be accessed on a regular basis.

Packaging Documents for Storage

Only approved storage cartons available through Central Stores Resale on-line supply catalog may be used. Two sizes are available as follows:

Catalog #63-3050, Letter Size, 12" x 10 1/2" X 24"

Only new boxes may be used.

Labeling Cartons

The approved storage cartons have a printed label area on one end that must be completed with the requested information before the carton can be accepted into the Business Records Archives. Requested information may include: 

  1. COMPLETE DEPARTMENT NAME (No abbreviations)
  2. CONTENTS DESCRIPTION -- Including starting and ending dates, letters, or names
  3. DESTROY DATE -- Month and year documents may be destroyed according to State Retention guidelines
  4. BOX NO. -- Boxes must be sequentially numbered by the department, using logical tracking system, to facilitate later identification. Use only numbers, and do not repeat box numbers unless the number is preceded by fiscal period designation such as 02-1
  5. FROM -- Beginning date of records or first document identification number
  6. THRU -- Ending date of records or last document identification number

Print information requested on the label neatly. Boxes with writing that cannot be easily read and interpreted will be returned for re-labeling.

Moving Document Storage Cartons

When boxes are packed and labeled, contact Distribution Services and request that cartons be picked up. Materials Management personnel will pick up boxes and take them to the Dorland Building for storage.

Accessing Stored Records

Only designated representatives of the department for whom the records are stored may access documents stored in the Business Records Archives. University identification may be requested on site, or pre-approval requested via email. Access is available during regular business hours, Monday through Friday.

Contact Central Stores a minimum of two business days in advance, so desired boxes can be located and made available.

Individual documents may be removed from the Archives only after signing for specific document removal in the Central Stores main office. Archived boxes will not be delivered back to a department once they are placed in the storage facility.

For procedures concerning storage and access to the Academic Records Archives, contact the Provost's office.

Contact Us

University Business Procedures Directory

eco@niu.edu

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