Electronic Records Management Forums and Information at UW-Madison

425 Steenbock Library
550 Babcock Drive
Madison, WI 53706-1201
Phone: (608) 262-5629
FAX: (608) 262-8899
Email: Records Management 

© 1996-2007 by the Regents of the University of Wisconsin.

Last updated:
September 15, 2006

Originally published:
August 6, 2003

Record keeping is a fundamental practice in any organization. It provides an organization with evidence as to its accountability, supports rights and benefits of employees, clients, and members of the public; protects the organization from liability claims, and is the source of historical documentation. Like many fundamental good business practices, record keeping has substantially changed. The creation, management, retention and preservation of paper documents is no longer adequate in most organizations. Record keeping is now intertwined with an organization's information technology structures and systems. Evidence is now produced, recorded, stored in and managed using a variety of digital technologies. While organizations still need to do record keeping, it must now incorporate electronic records in order to have complete and accurate evidence of its activities.

Email Management Information

The University Archives and Records Management Services (ARMS) and the Office of the Provost have created a brochure entitled How To Handle Your University Email. This brochure is a helpful guide to understanding how to manage your university email.

• Brochure: How To Handle Your University Email (Read)

Electronic Records Management Forums

Recognizing that electronic records have become an integral part of the operation of the University, the Archives and Records Management Service, together with the Division of Information Technology and the Office of the Provost developed a series of informational and educational forums. These forums are designed to introduce the University community to the issues surrounding electronic records management and to provide practical guidance to departments and units so that they can meet their record keeping obligations.

Participants have requested that materials from these forums be made available via the Web. It is recognized that the campus community may need a variety of resources and training tools as offices adjust to meet their record keeping mandates. As much as is possible given current resource limitations, appropriate guidance documents, best practices and other references will be added to this web site.

We encourage University departments to visit this web site frequently. We also want to hear from you as to your record keeping needs and what you would like to see added to this site. Your suggestions and comments are most welcome.

ARMS, the University Archives and Records Management Service, has many other resources available to you online. Please visit those pages as well.

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