Records management FAQs

Records are defined in the british standard on records management, BS ISO 15489-1:2016, as information created, received and maintained as evidence and information by an organisation or person in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business.

Business or personal information should be captured as records when they commit the organisation or an individual to action, render the organisation or an individual accountable, or document an action, a decision or a decision-making process.

For specific examples of University records, please refer to the University’s retention and disposal schedule and  Manchester Metropolitan University’s records management policy

Records management is defined as the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use and disposition of records, including processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and information about business activities and transactions in the form of records, BS ISO 15489-1:2016.

Records management covers the management of records in all formats, including electronic records and physical records.

The core concept of records management is records and information lifecycle management. This approaches the management of records and information throughout their conceptual lifecycle. In this lifecycle, records and information have four distinct lifecycle stages.

1. Creation, capture, or receipt
2. Active-use
3. Inactive-use
4. Disposal

Good records management provides the following benefits:

• Valuable records supporting the University’s activities as an educational and research institution will be controlled and stored appropriately
• Records required by law, including for financial, health and safety and contractual reasons will be retained
• The University will be able to demonstrate its compliance with data protection legislation and meet its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
• The routine disposal of records and information in line with the University’s retention and disposal schedule reduces the impact of data breaches
• Reduction and improvements to poor management of information and storage spaces will result in space and cost savings across the University
• Records with continuing historical or archival value will be retained and preserved
• Efficiency will increase, as information will be available to the people who need it, when they need it
• Duplication of information will be reduced, enabling immediate identification of a single source of truth
• Identification and classification of records will enable proportionate security controls to be put in place

For further information please refer to the University’s records management policy.

The University maintains a retention and disposal schedule that outlines how long University records must be retained (kept) for to meet operational needs and to comply with legal and other requirements. The retention schedule ensures that University records are retained for as long as necessary and no longer.

The retention and disposal schedule can be accessed here: Manchester Metropolitan University’s retention and disposal schedule.

Additional training on records and information management is available through our online MetaCompliance training. This includes the information management - the basics and the records management awareness courses. 

To arrange a training session from the University’s records manager, send your training requirements by email to [email protected]