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Overview | Procedure Guide
Procedure Guide for Transferring Records
This guide is to help organisations identify records of permanent
value, list these records and then transfer them to the Archives.
It is essential to make contact with Archives staff before forwarding
any records. It is expected that some appraisal of the records will
be made by the depositing organisation before the records are nominated
for transfer. Archives staff are happy to provide assistance.
Information provided in Services
for Depositors will also be of interest and should be read in
conjunction with these pages.
Conditions of deposit
The conditions under which the records are deposited are explained
in detail on our Services for Depositors
Overview page. Further information is available from the Senior
Archivist.
Conditions of access
- Authorised representatives of the depositor may have access
to the records at any time during normal business hours.
- Under normal circumstances the Centre may give access to persons
known to be bona fide researchers in a field to which the records
are relevant. All other applications for access are referred to
the depositor in the first instance.
- All users of records held in the Centre must sign an Access
Agreement, which outlines the conditions under which the records
can be used by researchers.
- Any requests made directly to the organisation for information
in the records held at NBAC from organisation members, family
history researchers, journalists, filmmakers, or members of any
other organisation should be referred to the Centre with a letter
of approval from the Secretary or Managing Director. If this is
not done delay will ensue, as the Centre will have to contact
the organisation for permission before access is given.
- In exceptional circumstances, a collection or part of a collection
may be restricted. This means that all users must obtain permission
(through the Archives) from the depositor prior to access being
granted. This arrangement is rare and is done by negotiation with
the Senior Archivist.
Records to transfer
Examples of the types of records to transfer include:
- minutes of the organisation;
- constitution, articles of association, rulebooks, prospectuses,
etc (one copy of the first and all amended copies);
- registers of members and related material;
- staff records;
- office, subject and correspondence files (include a copy of
the file classification scheme if used);
- files of individual officers or members of staff;
- report and submissions compiled by the organisation;
- records relating to special events or campaigns in which the
organisation was involved;
- financial records including balance sheets, etc;
- industrial files (clearly identified - include files re major
agreements, disputes, case files, etc);
- operational records used to run the organisation that are unique
to the industry or union (eg beer recipe books, stock records,
patent agreements, trade catalogues, etc);
- conference papers of conferences run by the organisation;
- speeches, etc by members of the organisation;
- publications of the organisation (include posters, handbills,
information booklets, circulars, etc and put us on the mailing
list for current publications which will then be added to your
collection);
- historical material including published or unpublished histories
and press cuttings relating to the organisation; and
- photographs that are identified and dated.
This list is only a guide, as there are many other examples of
records that should be kept. In general, you should preserve records
of policy- and decision-making bodies within the organisation, and
those shedding light on major issues and the way they were dealt
with by the organisation. With financial records, we look particularly
toward annual and semi-annual financial statements and their supporting
documents. Once we enter the realm of operational records (or records
unique to the industry), it becomes a matter for appraisal in each
case.
Remember - if in doubt please ask the Archives staff.
Records not to transfer
Examples of the types of records not to transfer to the Archives
include:
- records of short-term value that can be destroyed after 5-10
years eg low-level financial records such as chequebooks, bank
statements, receipt books and some membership application forms;
- routine files of no long-term value eg 'housekeeping' files
relating to hiring vehicles, subscriptions to journals, etc. We
rely on you to identify and discard files of no permanent worth;
- duplicates eg extra copies of official conference papers, files
of duplicate circulars, and chronological copies of outward letters
that are duplicated in the file series;
- unsorted bundles of loose papers and unidentified files: if
these are worth keeping, they should be assessed and identified
by the organisation before despatch;
- unassessed industrial files: such files cannot be accepted if
they have not been evaluated for permanent value by the organisation.
If you are uncertain about which records to transfer, please consult
the Senior Archivist.
Some exceptions
- When very little remains of the early records of an organisation,
the Archives will consider keepingany surviving records
as the only evidence available to document its existence.
- We can no longer store 'library' material for every organisation
eg general circulars, directories and journals received from other
organisations.
- We keep one reference set of such published material which is
available for all researchers to use. Please consult the Archives
before destroying these records as we can accept donated copies
to fill the gaps in our reference collection.
- Other exceptions include particular collections of publications
that relate to the industry in which the organisation is involved.
These may be preserved as an historical collection for reference
use (eg advertising, brewing, etc).
Transferring records to the archives
While a senior officer within the depositing organisation (Managing
Director, General Secretary) should assume overall responsibility
for the records sent, a contact person should be appointed to arrange
the regular listing, packing and despatch of the records.
When you wish to add to your collection the following guidelines
should help:
Getting ready
1. Telephone the Archives on (02) 6125 2219:
- Speak to the Archivist in charge of accessions and processing
and advise them of your intention to transfer records.
- Estimate the quantity and give a brief outline of the records
you want to transfer eg Executive Council minute books, 1966-1979
and office files c1980-1999.
- Discuss any problems regarding the selection of records to
transfer.
- A label must be attached to each carton to be sent.
2. Check lists of records sent in the past for continuity:
- A reference set of lists compiled in the Archives should be
available in your office in a red ring binder with the Archives’
name on the front.
3. Assemble the records for despatch:
- Establish a realistic cut-off date, say 5 years, so that you
are not transferring files or other records that may be required
for use in the day-to-day operations of the office.
Listing the records
1. List the records (a sample box list is available from
the Archives):
- Note first the name of the organisation or person who created
the records. If possible, also note the department or person
within the organisation who was responsible for the records
(eg Managing Director, Public Relations Officer, etc).
- If the records clearly predate a recent administrative change,
the name will be that of the original body eg records created
by APSA, ACOA and ABC Staff Union prior to 1989 could be transferred
by the CPSU, and the records created by Mauri Bros and Thompson
Ltd could be transferred by Burns Philp Ltd.
- Where there is no clear distinction between the old and new
names within files/records use the current name of the organisation.
- Give each series or group of records a title eg ‘minute books’,
‘office files’, etc, then list each one. The file title and
date range of contents should be given.
- Files should be listed in the order in which they are kept
in the office (eg alphabetically, by classification number,
etc).
- Send a copy of the list to the Archives and wait for us to
confirm that we will accept the records.
Packing and despatch
1. Pack the records into cartons:
- Consecutively number each carton and the corresponding list.
- Seal the base and top of each carton securely with good quality
plasticised tape.
- Attach address and freight labels to each carton.
- Ensure that filled cartons can be carried easily.
2. Despatch of records:
Please contact the Noel
Butlin Archives Centre to arrange a suitable delivery day
and time before organising courier pick-up of your records
Please note that staff is located in a different building from
the delivery address. Our delivery address is
Please note that it is essential
that couriers phone the Archives on (02) 6125 2219 at least
30 minutes before anticipated arrival at the building. They
will not be able to gain access to the building unless a staff
member is present to open the security doors.
The courier will also need to
let us know well in advance (at least 24 hours) if we are required
to provide a forklift or other lifting equipment.
3. Send a copy of your box list to the Archives
by email.
- Advise of any changes to the organisation’s name, Secretary,
address, telephone and/or fax number, etc.
Records management advice
In addition to the advice provided by the Noel Butlin Archives
Centre, information on the short-term and long-term value of records
is available from a variety of sources. For example:
- The Trade Union Records Disposal Guide and Schedule is
a guide to appraising trade union records. It was jointly published
in 1998 by the Noel Butlin Archives Centre and the University
of Melbourne Archives, and is available from both institutions
in either paper or electronic form.
- Advice on electronic records is available from the National
Archives of Australia. The National Archives provides advice
on the management of electronic records including their preservation
and migration, managing email, archiving websites and appraising
websites for disposal or permanent retention.
Guides to the disposal or retention of common administrative records
are available from various government archives. Although primarily
for the management of government records, they can be easily adapted
to cover administrative records in trade unions or other organisations.
While disposal schedules are useful tools for dealing with most
modern administrative records, care should be taken when dealing
with 19th or early 20th century material.
As the survival rate is often not as high as we would like, it is
often best when dealing with such material to contact the NBAC,
University of Melbourne Archives or other relevant organisation.
When in doubt, please ask.
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