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What is Records and Information Management?

 International’s definition of records and information management is “the field of management responsible for establishing and implementing policies, systems, and procedures to capture, create, access, distribute, use, store, secure, retrieve, and ensure disposition of an organization’s records and information."

Records and information management addresses records from the period of time that they are originally created, actively used, possibly re-purposed and re-used, and eventually disposed of or transferred to an archives because of their long-term value. While there are a variety of tools, programs, databases and systems used to create and actively manage records and other information resources, RIM strives to create a unified, consistent, efficient and effective approach to their management.

In order to provide clarity for records and information management at SMU, a new policy was introduced in 2025: See 1.25

What is a Record?

“University Record” means the official or original version of any record, whether Active, Inactive, or Archival, in whatever media under the control of the Records Coordinator according to the relevant Retention Schedule, excluding duplicates and Non-Essential Records.

The simplest definition comes from ARMA International, which says that a record is any recorded information, regardless of medium or characteristics, made or received and retained by an organization in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business.

There are many types of records which are essential University artifacts and must be retained for specified periods of time. 

• “Active Record” means an original University record currently in use by the office, department, or other area of the university that created it. Records remain active for differing periods of time, depending on the purpose for which they are used.
• “Archival Record” means an original University record that has historical or permanent value, is inactive, and can be retained either in the office in which it was created or in the University Archives.
• “Electronic Record” means a University record that is not physical and is maintained in an electronic format.
• “Inactive Record” means an original University record that is not considered an active record but required to be preserved pursuant to the Record Retention Schedule.

If you need help determining if a document you have is a record, consult the Is it a Record? flowchart.

What are Non-Essential Records?

Non-Essential Records may be duplicates of University records, materials used merely for reference purposes, or materials that communicate information of short-term value. Non-records should be disposed of as soon as possible after their primary usefulness has expired. Unlike University records, non-records do not require approval prior to their disposal.

Non-Records may still be valuable to the business processes of units and they may still be expected to be kept locally within a department for future business processes. For example, some units may want to have ready access to reference copies of contracts for use when drafting new contracts for similar goods and services. For this reason, departments may intentionally retain these copies for specified periods of time, but they should plan to dispose of the materials as soon as their primary usefulness has expired.

Examples of Non-Records

• Personal correspondence and junk mail/spam
• Non-University publications and catalogs
• Working papers and drafts of papers or reports that have been published
• Duplicate material including recipient copies of most internal communications
• Blank forms and stocks of printed or reproduced documents kept for supply purposes
• Material created and preserved only for reference or convenience purposes
• Books, periodicals, newspapers, posters, and other library and museum materials
• Material used to facilitate operations but not to support, enable, or document administrative action