Archives and Special Collections

Every day at Penn Carey Law, records are created. After a record is created, it goes through various stages of use, known as a record's lifecycle. This is known as a process for organizing, storing, and using records. The University Archivists and the Penn Carey Law Archivist help documents through this process.

What is a record lifecycle? 

This model portrays the life of a record as going through various stages or periods, much like a living organism.

• Stage one: 
  • the record is created, presumably for a legitimate reason and according to certain standards.
• Stage two:
  • the record goes through an active period when it has maximum primary value and is used or referred to frequently by the creating office and others involved in decision making. During this time the record is stored on-site in the active or current files of the creating office.
• Stage three:
  • At the end of stage two the record may be reviewed and determined to have no further value, at which point it is destroyed, or the record can enter stage three, where it is relegated to a semi-active status, which means it still has value, but is not needed for day-to-day decision making. Because the record need not be consulted regularly, it is often stored in a off-site storage center.
• Stage four:
  • At the end of stage three, another review occurs, at which point a determination is made to destroy or send the record to stage four, which is reserved for inactive records with long-term, indefinite, archival value. This small percentage of records (normally estimated at approximately five per cent of the total documentation) is sent to an archival repository, where specific activities are undertaken to preserve and describe the records.

The life cycle model not only describes what will happen to a record, it also defines who will manage the record during each stage. During the creation and active periods, the record creators have primary responsibility for managing the record, although records managers may well be involved to various degrees. In the semi-active stage, it is the records manager who takes center stage and assumes major responsibility for managing the records. Finally, in the inactive stage, the archivist takes the lead in preserving, describing, and providing access to the archival record.

Records vs. Archives

Some records become archives at the end of their records lifecycle. Archival records are those records that have permanent value of the following nature:

• legal
• fiscal
• administrative
• historical

A record’s value is defined as: the usefulness, significance, or worth of something to an individual or organization. 

Records with short-term value are saved by departments or stored at the University Records Center. Records with long-term historic value are saved by the Penn Carey Law Archives or the University Archives. Determining a records value can be a subjective exercise, the following questions are designed to assist record creators in evaluating the value of their records:

What were the circumstances of creation?

• What is the position of the record creator to the overall institutional organization?
• Does this record represent principal activities of the department or individual generating the records?
• What is the records significance or function in the department’s activities?

What information does the record contain?

• Are there practical limitations, such as illegible handwriting, that would impede the use of the records?
• Is this information duplicated physically or intellectually within another record?
• Does this record contain relevant topical information, about the department or otherwise?

What was the past use and potential future use of the record?

• How will the Penn Carey Law community and those outside this community use this record?
• Does this record provide obvious or potential research value?
• Does this record need to be restricted?

What are the institutional or political considerations for saving or destroying this record?

• Is this record governed by a specific University retention schedule? 
• Does this record contain information about or provide evidence of Penn Carey Law’s relationship with other universities, departments, persons, donors, researchers, alumni, community members, etc.?
• Has this type of record been saved before?
• Will saving, or choosing not to save, this record maintain a pattern or set a new standard?

What is a retention schedule?

A retention schedule is a list of the the types of records (record series*) created by an office or department. An organization implements a records retention schedule in order to ensure that its records are kept as long as legally and operationally required and that obsolete records are disposed of in a systematic and controlled manner. The records retention schedule is intended to ensure that employees adhere to approved recordkeeping requirements, and that they do so consistently.

The University Archives has created retention schedules to help departments understand what should happen to their records: https://archives.upenn.edu/records-center/resources/retention-schedules

What is an active vs. inactive record? 

Active records are documents which are still actively being used by an office. They are usually referenced on a daily or monthly basis. Often times, if in paper, these records will be located in a handy place within the office since they are used frequently.

Inactive records are documents which are no longer referenced on a regular basis and tend to be stored in a less accessible place since they are not used frequently.  Records retention schedule tell you what to do with inactive records. 

Understanding Penn's retention schedules

Here is an image of Penn's retention schedule for Academic and Student Records:

The column on the left is a list of the types of documents that fall within this records series*. The column on the right tells you how long the record should be kept once it is determined to be inactive. Your office or department should determine if inactive records will be store on-site or at the University Records Center.

NOTE: If the column on the right says permanent, that means the record should be kept indefinitely, and often these records are transferred permanently to the University Archives. 

Records at Penn Carey Law have four different paths they can take. Records can stay in an office or department, be sent to the University Records Center, be sent to the University Archives, or be sent to the Penn Carey Law Archives. Office and departments should consult with the Penn Carey Law Archivist to determine the best course of action for their records.

Office or Departmental storage

Records stored in an office or department are generally records that are still being used on a daily basis. 

University Records Center

Office or departments can chose to send their in-active records to the University Records Center. The purpose of the University Records Center (URC) is to provide records retention and retrieval services that assist faculty and administrative staff in the ongoing operation of the University. Storage is provided for University business, academic, historical and medical records which are generally no longer needed on a daily basis but which must be retained to meet legal, fiscal, administrative or historical requirements. Records sent to the URC are generally governed by a retention schedule and remain under the control of the office or department that sent the records to the URC. Once the time obligation of a records retention schedule has been met, a record may be destroyed, sent to the Penn Carey Law Archives, or sent on to the University Archives. 

Examples: 

• Accounts payable and receivable records
• Payroll records
• Transcript requests

University Archives

The University Archives is the permanent repository for historically significant materials. Records are generally sent to the University Archives once their retention schedules have been met and it has been determined that the records have enduring historic value and become permanent records of the University. However, some records are sent directly to University Archives if it is determined they are historically significant documents or other materials that reflect the University's origins and development and the activities and achievements of its officers, staff, faculty, students, alumni, and benefactors. 

Examples: 

• Dean's papers

Penn Carey Law Archives

Materials sent to the Penn Carey Law Archives are generally materials that do not meet a formal University retention schedule, materials that are outside the purview of the University retention schedules, or it has been agreed upon between Penn Carey Law and University Archives that certain types of records are best kept at Penn Carey Law.

Examples:

• Ephemera (such as buttons, flyers, clothing, pins, memorabilia, etc.)
• Publications (including Faculty publications)
• Alumni papers
• Records pertaining to the legal profession or legal history, particularly of the geographic regions of Philadelphia or Pennsylvania
• Oral histories
• Photographs
• Surveys
• Student organizational records
• Penn Carey Law website materials