A Records Centre is a facility used for the off-site
storage of inactive records. The Records Centre is located on the 3rd
floor of the General Services Building in the same location as the Archives.
Records in the Records Centre, however, outnumber those in the Archives 4 to 1.
Only those records that are judged to have significant long-term administrative,
legal, fiscal, and/or historical value are kept in the Archives. Records in
the Records Centre that have outlived their administrative and legal value are
destroyed by the archives with the approval of the creating department, the Board
of Governors and the City Council.
Staff may take advantage of storing their inactive files in the
Records Centre, thereby freeing up valuable space in the office and eliminating
the need for extra filing cabinets and related stationary supplies. These files
can be requested and retrieved as needed.
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Records go through different stages and have different
needs throughout their "life cycle":
ACTIVE RECORDS
- These are the records in your office that are your current working files. They may be files that have been created during the current calendar year or are ongoing files that you add to and use on a regular basis.
- Records with private information (e.g. personnel files) need to be filed securely.
INACTIVE RECORDS
- These are records that are no longer required to carry out their original administrative and/or operational function.
- These records are kept in the Records Centre thereby freeing up office space for active records.
- Inactive records can be retrieved with minimal delay.
ARCHIVAL RECORDS
- Archival records are those records that are judged to have significant long-term administrative, legal, fiscal, and/or historical value.
- Archival records may still be consulted and retrieved.
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Please follow these standard procedures when working with the records centre.
TRANSFERRING RECORDS
Records should be transferred to the Records Centre
when they are no longer needed for frequent reference in your office.
Coded Records
- Ensure all the files you want to send are coded -
if you have missed some files, please request file labels before
sending the boxes to the Archives/Records Centre. This applies to files
created in 2000 to the present.
Uncoded Records
- Files created in 1999 and earlier do not need codes but you
must include the following with your files.
- Provide file lists that describe all the records in each box
- Place 2 copies of the file lists in the box with the records
- Finance & Payroll - records that are not maintained in files or
binders such as time cards, cheques, etc. should be described en masse
on the outside of each box.
Do not send the following items to the Archives/Records Centre
- Hanging folders in which the records were maintained in your office
- Non-record materials such as magazines, blank forms, books, newspapers, etc.
Order Records Boxes from Stores
- (Dave Roberts, GS Building, ext. 3648)
Boxing the Records
- Place the files in the records boxes in a way that approximates
how they were organized in your office or division (e.g. alphabetical or numerical order).
- Do not mix the records of one individual with those of another - Please box them separately
- Do not over pack the boxes, make sure the lid closes comfortably and the box is not too heavy to lift.
- Do not tape the boxes shut.
Marking the Boxes
- Mark the outside of each box, using a felt-tipped marker, with the following
information: name of your program/division, brief contents of the box, name
of the individual who maintained the records (if applicable), outside dates
of the records in each box and temporary box number.
- Boxes containing records not maintained in files should be described, en
masse, on the outside of each box (used primarily by Finance and Payroll
to identify time cards, invoices, etc.)
- When assigning temporary box numbers, please follow a logical sequence (e.g.
John Doe's records in boxes 1 to 5, Jane Doe's records in boxes 6 to 11,
general records in boxes 12 to 15).
Sending the Boxes to the Archives/Records Centre
The transfer of boxes to the Records Centre is coordinated by Records & Archives Staff. These transfers are scheduled three times a year with the Labour Division. Staff are notified via email.
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REQUESTING INACTIVE RECORDS
Staff may request their department's records as needed.
Contact Linda (263-3658) or Audrey (263-3659) with the following information:
- Name/Title or Subject of the file
- Year of the file
Staff will receive a copy of the records requested or the
original material. Original material loaned to staff must be returned to
the Records Centre.
If staff are requesting records from a department other
than their own, permission from the creating office will be required to
allow access to the file.
DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS
Staff cannot destroy or dispose of their own records.
The destruction of records can only be carried out with the approval of
the Board of Governors of Exhibition Place, the Council of the City of
Toronto, and the City of Toronto Archivist. Once records have outlived
their usefulness in the office, they must be transferred to the records
centre.
Once records become inactive, they are either destroyed,
i.e. shredded, or kept in the archives for long-term preservation.
Departments are alerted as to which boxes are due for destruction
before they are disposed of.
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