Records Management Proposal for Indian Libraries

AKHTAR ARVEZ 15
DOI:P10.5958/0976-2469.2017.00002.1
LIBRARY HERALD
Vol 55 No 1
March 2017
Records Standardization, Retention Schedule

and Weeding Out of Documents: A Proposal for
Indian Libraries
AKHTAR PARVEZ*
Efficient record management practice is an integral part of every organization in

performing their day-to-day functions. Though libraries follow best practices in
managing user-centric records, it is observed that most of the libraries are not
Downloaded From IP - 210.212.129.125 on dated 24-Apr-2017
following any standard policy for administrative records retention or their weeding
out. The paper argues that record retention policy will help librarians in taking an
informed decision concerning the retention period of different type of records. The
Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale
author opines that records retention schedule is fundamental to efficient records

www.IndianJournals.com
management of any organization. The paper also discusses various government

guidelines in managing records and suggests a model record retention policy for
libraries.
Keywords: Record Management, Record Retention Policy, Record Retention Schedule,

Record Weeding Out.
0 INTRODUCTION
Records management is an essential function of an organization and
every organization, irrespective of its size, has records and organizations
can’t function without referring to their records for their day-to-day
functions. Records can be defined as any recorded information or data in
any physical format or media created or received by an organization during
its course of official business and kept as evidence of polices, decisions,
procedures, functions, activities and transactions1. The volume of records
in any organization is directly linked to the age of the institution.
Information is everywhere and the amount of data and information that is
created every minute multiplies as the years go by2. Due to prevalent laws
in different countries, it becomes mandatory, especially for government/
public sector enterprise to ensure that records are retained/maintained as
per the guidelines prescribed by the regulatory agencies. And, as paper
* Indian Institute of Management Indore, Prabandh Shikhar, Pithampur Road,

Indore-453 556. e-mail: akhtaronline@gmail.com
Vol 55 No 1, March 2017

16 WEEDING OUT OF DOCUMENTS
record increases, space in any organization decreases. Each year, the world
produces more than 300 million tons of paper, and in the last 20 years, the
usage of paper products has increased from 92 million tons to 208 million in
the United States, which is a growth of 126%3. With regard to the electronic
mails, in 2015, the number of emails sent and received per day was over 205
billion. This figure is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 3% over
the next four years, reaching over 246 billion by the end of 20194. In such a
scenario, where records are created every minute, the organizations have to
get rid of some documents which are of ephemeral nature or retain/protect
those which are required to be maintained or preserved for longer duration.
Since libraries space is shrinking with the passage of time and in order to
bring the economy of space and efficiency in retrieval of documents, every
library must develop a policy for retaining and discarding of library records.
The policy should aim at ensuring that physical records and documents are
protected and well maintained. At the same time, the policy should ensure
that records that are no longer needed or are of ephemeral nature, are
discarded in time bound manner. Utmost care should be taken in developing

the policy to ensure that records are neither prematurely destroyed nor kept
for period longer than required. One of the important objectives of the
Policy should be to help library staff in understanding their duties in
retaining physical documents in desired formats. This paper aims at
providing guidelines to organizations and their staff to evaluate the way in
which they are currently managing different types of records and to suggest
good record management practices.
1 LIMITATION
The readers may note that this paper is restricted to the discussion of
retaining/weeding out of physical documents only and does not address
issues involved in the retention of electronic or digital documents.
Similarly, issues related to security & safety, training of staff, storage
media, record preservation methods etc. have not been discussed in this
paper.
2 NEED FOR A RECORD RETENTION POLICY
Most of the organizations are in the habit of keeping/preserving
documents forever and hesitate taking a decision about discarding of
documents. During the discussion with some of the premier institutions’
librarians, it was revealed that though they have a large number of files and
documents occupying thousands of square feet of space, they do not have
any policy guiding them on the retention period of physical documents.
LIBRARY HERALD
AKHTAR PARVEZ 17
Some of the librarians even indicated that though they keep weeding out
documents periodically, there is no formal document suggesting record
retention schedule. The author opines that records retention schedule is
fundamental to efficient records management of any organization.
Despite the established record retention schedule of the Government of
India5, we hardly witness any formal policy in most of the government
organizations. Organizations maintain records for long periods of time
because some individuals want the records available “just in case”6. An
established Record Retention Policy may lead to a uniform retention
guidelines within libraries and may provide confidence to such institutions
that records are preserved long enough to meet minimum government
guidelines and documents which are of ephemeral nature are weeded out in
time bound manner.
A formal record retention policy will be useful for organizations having

a large volume of files/papers and wanting to dispose of some records.
Montana states that bigger the organization, the more helpful the policy will
be for such organizations7. He also suggests that having a formal schedule

for retaining/discarding of documents will reduce dependence on the
memory of employee in managing records. Though instructions may be
given to staff to keep the files for six years or five years, in the absence of
these written instructions, people may not keep this record for six years and
that one for ten years. The written policy or retention schedule will help the
staff in taking an informed decision in retention or disposal of records.
DeSilva and Vednere opine that anything and everything that is defined by
the organization to be a record, irrespective of type, format, or media,
should have a corresponding mapping to the retention schedule8.
Besides the issues discussed above, the cost of space is a major factor
that needs to be considered in preserving documents forever. More space
for records will attract more cost to organizations. Moreover, keeping
records indefinitely may even consume more time of the workforce in
locating required documents. Unless you have a great deal of space and a
great deal of money, you can delay the day when something must be done;
but you probably cannot avoid it7. Hence, sooner or later, it becomes
essential to have a written document guiding organizations about the record
retention schedule. Destruction of records without having a written order or
policy may lead to confusion and legal complications.
In the context of retention schedule, all organizations must comply with
legal requirements related to their general business records9. In an order

issued by the Central Information Commission (CIC) in 2014,

Madabhushi Sridhar, Central Information Commissioner stated that
“unless proved that record was destroyed as per the prescribed rules of
destruction/retention policy, it is deemed that record continues to be held by
the public authority” i.e. government organization. The CIC further stated
that “it amounts to breach of Public Records Act, 1993 and punishable with
imprisonment up to a term of five years or with fine or both’ and directed the
Public Information Officer (PIO) to show cause why maximum penalty
can’t be imposed against him10. The issue was widely reported by several
newspapers including the national daily, The Hindu11. In a similar case12,
the PIO informed the CIC that some of the old records have been damaged
and eaten by termite. The Commissioner observed that destruction of
records by termite action is not a defense under the RTI Act and imposed a
penalty of Rs. 25000/- on the concerned PIO. Hence, a well-documented
schedule will not only guide organizations in record retention schedule but
also provide legitimacy to the destruction of records in cases of legal or any
other interventions. In other words, one may safely destroy records (as per
the policy) without getting into any kind of trouble in the future either under
the Public Records Act, 1993 of Government of India13or the RTI Act,
200514. A record retention schedule also acts as an organization’s safe
harbor during litigation8.
3 DEVELOPING A RECORD RETENTION POLICY
Destructing of records is probably more complex than creating records
as the most obvious reason is that someone in the organization might still
need some of the records you were tempted to toss7. Organizations which
have several sub-organizations find it more difficult and sometimes even
hire a consulting company or a law firm to help them create a retention
programme8. Because a large number of documents an organization creates
over the years, compiling a detailed list of records and its review may assist
in developing an exhaustive policy. The policy should define the broad
classification of documents within which sub-sections of records should be
clearly mentioned to the minutest level of document categorization.
Required indexes and classification will lead to easy retrieval of
documents. The list of documents should also contain additional
information viz. location, record owner and medium on which the records
are stored.
The policy must contain necessary justification for each retention period
that has been chosen for various types of organizational documents. The
policy must ensure that legal compliance on the minimum period of
LIBRARY HERALD
AKHTAR PARVEZ 19
retention is strictly maintained and at the same time customization may be

done as per local needs of any organization. Records retention is a complex
subject and records retention periods must be customized to meet the
unique needs of each organization6. Setting up of records retention schedule
facilitates identification of records which may have archival value.
Organizations should carefully assess their regulatory environment before
drafting a policy for record retention. As records and the law keep changing,
it is important that the policy is regularly reviewed and updated as per the
needs of both, organizations and law. While developing the policy, one
must ensure that all the stakeholders or record owners starting from lower
level record keeping clerks to the auditors of the organization are on the
same page for the schedule to be followed for record retention. It would be
the responsibility of the administrator of the record retention schedule to
obtain necessary approval from the competent authority for smooth
implementation of the policy.

The Public Records Act of 1993 states that every record creating agency
shall nominate one of its officers as Records Officer to discharge the

functions under the Act who shall be responsible for periodic review of all
records and weeding out records of ephemeral value; and, who shall also
ensure that destruction of public records is performed as per norms
prescribed under sub-section (1) of section 8 of the Act13. Various
suggestions mentioned above are summarized below:
(a) Record Retention Policy must be in complete compliance with the
prevailing law or relevant Act;
(b) While preparing a policy, detailed list of documents an organization
must be clearly defined along with its sub-sets;
(c) The policy must contain justification for each retention period;
(d) Necessary customization of the policy may be considered while
developing the policy;
(e) Every government department must have a Records Officer for the
entire organization;
(f) The role and responsibilities for records management of different
employees should be clearly defined and communicated;
(g) A responsible staff may control the creating, naming and coding of new
and existing files for easy retrieval;
(h) Utmost care should be taken to ensure that records are not destructed
prematurely;

(i) The policy is periodically reviewed and updated as and when required;
(j) The organizations may keep a minimum of three-year retention period
for all types of library documents; and,
(k) Necessary approvals have been obtained for policy implementation.
A. ADMINISTRATION
The Librarian/HoD, Library may be designated as Administrator for all
library records who shall be responsible for implementation of processes
and procedures laid out in the policy. The Administrator should ensure that:
(a) Standard nomenclature in naming the files has been maintained for easy
retrieval of documents;
(b) Location and ownership of every file is defined;
(c) If necessary, modifications are carried out in the records retention
schedule;
(d) Necessary approval has been obtained from the Library Committee or
the competent authority to implement the policy;

(e) He/she reviews the policy once in five years or before the expiry of five
years, if deemed necessary;
(f) Monitor policy compliance;
(g) Each of the Library staff members and other staff members who report
to the Librarian shall take backup of all the official electronic
documents (for the purpose of future use) residing on his/her computer
on a fortnightly basis on external storage device; and, ?
In the year 2012, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public
Grievances, Government of India5, released a record retention schedule in
respect of records common to all ministries/departments. The record
retention schedule issued by the Department suggested that if a record is
related to two or more subjects for which different retention periods have
been prescribed, such records should be retained for the highest period
mentioned in the schedule.
The record retention schedule concerning the library records, following
classification, has been followed by the Department of Administrative
Reforms & Public Grievances using categorization prescribed under
Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure12:
• Ordering and receipt of books (otherthan government publications);
• Ordering and receipt of periodicals;
LIBRARY HERALD
AKHTAR PARVEZ 21
• Purchase of government publications;

• Lending, transfer (requisition, reminder, etc.);
• Binding of books;
• Selection Committee for books;
• Write off of books;
• Auction Newspapers/journals; and,
• Membership of Library Association.
The above categorization and retention schedule is summarized in
Table-1 below:
Though the records retention schedule of the Government of India5
prescribes for a minimum retention period like 1 year in some cases (like
lending of books, constitution of book selection committee, purchase of
books etc.), the minimum retention period for all types of library records
may be fixed as 3 years.
Keeping in view the types of records a library may possess and in

agreement with the provisions of Government of India guidelines5
following record retention schedule is proposed for library records:
4 CONCLUSION
The libraries world over follow best practices in managing their records
concerning acquisition, classification, circulation of library material and so
on. However, most of the libraries do not have an established system of
maintaining administrative records concerning subscriptions, payments
and general library administration. In such a situation, libraries have been
storing each and every administrative record forever resulting in the waste
of precious library space. Despite the established record retention schedule
of the Government of India, we hardly witness any formal policy in our
libraries and information centres.
As records are an integral part of any organization, it is important for
every library to follow good practices in managing such records. An
established and well-administered record retention policy will lead to a
uniform retention guidelines within libraries and may provide confidence to
such institutions that records are preserved long enough to meet minimum
legal requirement and documents which are of ephemeral nature are weeded
out in time bound manner. However, in case of any legal dispute related to
any record or set of records, the libraries must ensure that such files/papers
are retained for longer duration than what has been proposed above.

TABLE-1
Records Classification prescribed under Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure
Main Head Sub-Head Retention Period1 Remarks
Library Ordering and C-3 (3 years) or one

receipt of books year after completion
(other than of an audit, whichever
government is later.
publications)
Ordering and
receipt of
periodicals
Purchase of
government
publications
Lending, transfer (a) Lending: C-1 (1 year) Subject to suitable

(requisition, (b) Transfer: C-3 (3 years) entries being made
reminders etc.) or one year in the accession

after completion register.

of an audit
whichever is
later.
Binding of books C-3 (3 years)
Selection (a)Constitution One year after Subject to receipt
Committee of new selection completion of an of intimation
for books committee: audit C-1 (1 year) regarding debit
(b)Agenda One year after having been raised.
meetings completion of
Proceedings etc.audit
(c)Purchase of
books
Write off of books Permanent
Auction One year after the completion of an audit
Newspapers/
journals
Membership of One year after the completion of an audit
Library
Association
1
Record Retention Schedule in Respect of Records Common to all Ministries/Departmentsissued
by the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances, Government of India in the
year 2012 has categorized physical records as A, B and C. Category A means ‘keep and
microfilm; Category B means ‘keep but do not microfilm’ and Category C means ‘keep for
specified period only’. C-3, C-5, and C-10 means Category ‘C’ files should be kept for 3, 5 and
10 years respectively.
LIBRARY HERALD
AKHTAR PARVEZ 23
TABLE-2
Record Retention Schedule Proposed for Library Records
S.N. Sections Particulars Discard After*
1 Acquisition Book Exhibitions, Book Recommendations, 3 Years

Audio-Video Purchase, Books Purchase for
Courses, Book Committee Approvals,
Director Approval, Price Proofs of Books,
Challans/Invoices/Payments, Correspondence
with Vendors, Any other Acquisition Related file
2 Technical Section Accession Registers Permanent
Binding of Books and Journals 3 Years
3 Circulation Membership, Lending, No Dues, Recovery, 3 Years
Inter-Library Loan, etc.
4 E-Resources Subscription, Library Consortia, Misc. Papers 5 Years
related to e-resources
5 Serial Control Periodicals Entry etc., Reminders to Vendors 5 Years
(including for non-receipt of periodicals, etc.
newspapers)
6 General Stock Verification Report and Paper Related to Permanent

Administration Writing Off (books)**, Audit/CAG Queries &
and Misc. Responses**, Library Committee Minutes**,
Library Software, Library Projects, Infrastructure,
Furniture, Maps, Renovation, etc., Communication
with Director**
Communication with other Departments, Deans, etc.,5 Years
Staff (Regular & Outsourced) 5 Years
Social Media, Website, etc. 5 Years
Training Programmes, Conferences, Seminars, 3 Years
Workshops, Official Language Implementation
Committee Papers, Library Trainees Report,
Newspaper Clippings**, Dispatch, Acknowled-
gements for Receipt of Books, etc.
Hardware (Computers, Servers, CD Servers, 10 Years
Accessories, etc.) and Softwares
External Agencies: INFLIBNET, DELNET, NDL,
MANLIBNET, Library Associations 10 Years
7 Registers Air Conditioning Plant, Housekeeping, Issue/ 5 Years
Receipt of Capital Items, Handover Record of
Lost Items, Defaulters Register, Record of Books
received from other departments/sections
*To be discarded after three years from the date of closing the file after obtaining necessary
approval from the competent authority. Files should be closed (preferably on March 31 every
year) after obtaining necessary approval from the Librarian; ** files/records may be weeded out
after converting them into digital/electronic format for the purpose of permanent e-preservation.

REFERENCES
1 HONG KONG (Government of - ) (2011). Good Records Management Practices.
2 TULL (M) (2016, March). Practical Considerations for Implementing a Record
Retention Policy.: IIM INDORE Learning Centre. Virginia Banking, 10–11. Retrieved
from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=5&sid=34ea1ee5-
b5e1-4926-a296-61cf0d45d518%40sessionmgr 4006&hid=4203
3 FACTS ABOUT paper. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.thepaperless
project.com/facts-about-paper-the-impact-of-consumption/
4 EMAIL STATISTICS report, 2015-2019. (2015). London. Retrieved from http://
www.radicati.com
5 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS & PUBLIC GRIEVANCES (De. OF. (2012).
Government of India Record Retention Schedule in Respect of Records Common to All
Ministries/Departments. New Delhi.
6 SKUPSKY (DS) (1991a). Records Retention Guidelines: A Contrary View. Records

Management Quarterly, 25(4), 38.
7 MONTANA (JC) (2016). What a Records Retention Schedule is and Why You Need
One. Information Management, 50(2), B1–B6.

8 DESILVA (Nishan) and VEDNERE (G) (2008). The Foundation of Records
Management. EDOC Magazine, (May/June), 27–31.
9 SKUPSKY (DS) (1991b). Records Retention Requirements for Law Firms and Legal
Departments. Records Management Quarterly, 25(2), 34. Retrieved from http://
eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=8&sid=34ea1ee5-b5e1-4926-a2 96-61cf0d
45d518%40sessionmgr4006&hid=4203&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLGF0aGV
ucyxjb29raWUsdWlkLHVybCZzaXRlPWVkcy1saXZl#AN=9705310998&db=bth
10 INFORMATION COMMISSION, C. Om Prakash Vs Land & Building Depart-
ment, GNCTD (2014). Retrieved from http://www.rti.india.gov.in/cic_decisions/
CIC_DS_A_2013_001788-SA_M_138483.pdf
11 MISSING FILES NO EXCUSE FOR DENYING INFORMATION. (2014,
September 2). The Hindu. New Delhi. Retrieved from http://www.thehindu.com/news/
national/missing-files-no-excuse-for-denying-information-cic/article6373052.ece
12 INFORMATION COMMISSION, C. Nand Lal v/s Department of Legar Affairs
(2016). Retrieved from http://www.rti.india.gov.in/cic_decisions/
CIC_SA_A_2015_001769_T_184552.pdf
13 THE PUBLIC RECORDS ACT. (1993). Retrieved October 24, 2016, from http://
nationalarchives.nic.in/writereaddata/html_en_files/html/Public_Records93.html
14 LAW AND JUSTICE, M. of. RTI Act (2005). Retrieved from http://
righttoinformation.gov.in/rti-act.pdf
15 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS & PUBLIC GRIEVANCES, D. OF. (2015).
Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure.
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AKHTAR ARVEZ 15

Records Standardization, Retention Schedule

Efficient record management practice is an integral part of every organization in

author opines that records retention schedule is fundamental to efficient records

management of any organization. The paper also discusses various government

Keywords: Record Management, Record Retention Policy, Record Retention Schedule,

* Indian Institute of Management Indore, Prabandh Shikhar, Pithampur Road,

Vol 55 No 1, March 2017

discarded in time bound manner. Utmost care should be taken in developing

A formal record retention policy will be useful for organizations having

be for such organizations7. He also suggests that having a formal schedule

Vol 55 No 1, March 2017

issued by the Central Information Commission (CIC) in 2014,

retention is strictly maintained and at the same time customization may be

implementation of the policy.

shall nominate one of its officers as Records Officer to discharge the

Vol 55 No 1, March 2017

the competent authority to implement the policy;

• Purchase of government publications;

Keeping in view the types of records a library may possess and in

Vol 55 No 1, March 2017

Records Classification prescribed under Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure

Main Head Sub-Head Retention Period1 Remarks

Library Ordering and C-3 (3 years) or one

Lending, transfer (a) Lending: C-1 (1 year) Subject to suitable

reminders etc.) or one year in the accession

after completion register.

S.N. Sections Particulars Discard After*

1 Acquisition Book Exhibitions, Book Recommendations, 3 Years

6 General Stock Verification Report and Paper Related to Permanent

Vol 55 No 1, March 2017

6 SKUPSKY (DS) (1991a). Records Retention Guidelines: A Contrary View. Records

One. Information Management, 50(2), B1–B6.

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