Appraisal Methodology
Evaluation, Decision, and Documentation: After the Office Visit
During the last stage of the appraisal process, the appraiser evaluates his or her survey notes and other information gathered during the Research and Preparation, and Records Examination stages.
Evaluation
Assumptions regarding the office's organizational structure, filing systems, office function, and record series formed during the Research and Examination stage were tested during the bureau/office visit. The site visit either confirmed and/or altered the appraiser's understanding of the records based on the hard evidence presented. As a result, the appraiser gained a fuller understanding of the office, its function, the records it creates or maintains, and its place within the Institution. If information is insufficient to make appraisal decisions, the appraiser may need to ask follow-up questions.
Final appraisal decisions are based on the overall value of the records as documentary evidence of the function and activities of the office, how the records created or maintained by an office fulfill that function, and how the office fits into the Institution at large. The appraiser should ask himself or herself several questions when determining value:
- What function does the records creator perform as part of the Smithsonian Institution?
- What record series within the office best document that function?
- Is the records creator the office of record for those record
series? Does the office produce and maintain the most
complete documentation of a particular function or activity?
If not, what is the office of record?
- If the office is not the office of record, or if records are of temporary value, what retention period should be assigned to meet the legal, administrative and fiscal obligations of the Smithsonian?
- Are certain record series considered vital records? Do the records contain information that is essential to the function, operation, and activity of the office? Are the records vital for protecting the collections and rights of the Institution (e.g., accession records in a registrar's office, or funding proposals that document planning and financing of projects/programs)?
Throughout the process, the appraiser
considers all gathered information and the Appraisal Criteria.
For record series that must be maintained for a certain period
of time to meet legal, administrative and fiscal obligations,
the appraiser should also consult prior SIA record disposition
schedules, National Archives schedules, Donald S. Skupsky's
Records Retention Procedures and Recordkeeping Requirements,
and other reference sources to establish the necessary retention
periods.
Decision and Documentation
When creating a record disposition schedule, survey notes are transferred to the schedule template. Series descriptions are refined, sources for decisions are cited, retention periods are assigned to each series, appraisal justifications are entered into the schedule, and functions documented by each series are noted.
If the appraiser is documenting a general bureau/office visit, he or she enters information about that visit into the Appraisal Log. The log should include the date of appraisal; the record series titles, dates and volume; the office contact person; the appraiser name; the retention decision; the Smithsonian function documented by the records; and the appraisal justification. A written statement of SIA's decision should also be sent to the records creator (with a copy placed in the General and Agreements File), giving the retention periods for each series and a justification for each decision.
Disposition schedules and statements of appraisal decisions may also include guidelines for better file maintenance. File plans, or more informal suggestions regarding how an office should keep its files, should always consider the most efficient organization for active file use, as well as for the transfer of records to the Archives.
If the appraiser discovers a records creator or a record series not appropriately listed in the Appraisal Criteria, he or she should also update the Criteria at this time.
Previous | Next |
