BASIC DEFINITIONS OF RECORDS IN ORGANISATION
A record is a piece of information created by or received by an organization or business establishment that gives evidence of a business decision or transaction and should be preserved. More specifically, records are recorded information, regardless of physical or digital form, that are: generated or received and used while conducting business, and preserved because of their informational value or as evidence of your organizational structure, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, mission, programs, projects, and acts.
TYPES OF RECORDS
There are many types of records, but I will discuss a few. The records I will cover here include archives, educational records, government records and financial records.
Archives
Archives are those groups of records, usually valuable and historical, that in most cases are not consulted or referred to in the day-to-day operations of an organization. The person that maintains an archive is called an archivist. Archives as records are rarely consulted. Most often archives are the last resort for information in any organization. Archives maybe kept to meet legal requirements or to maintain important historical facts about organization.
Some of the archival records in an organization may include contracts, memorandum of understanding, agreements, board meetings, laws and regulations etc.
Educational Records
Educational records are records dealing with and\or about an institution. Educational records will also include library records. It will include information about number of students, their registration number or matriculation number, credentials like school certificates, birth certificates, place of birth, gender and age, courses offered etc. other educational records maybe the history of the institution, its principal officers (past and present),department and faculties, staff records, visitation panels like National University Commission (NUC)
Students records especially in tertiary institutions are carefully maintained until student graduates even many years after graduation, student’s records are properly stored and preserved. Educational records are very important for the survival and sustenance of an institution.
Governments Records
This records deal with government transactions and businesses. The records can emanate from federal, state and local government. In Nigeria, government’s records will include proceedings from executive council meetings at the federal, state and local government’s levels, laws edits, parliamentary acts and proclamations, etc.
The management of government records is a specialization that includes federal, state, local records. The government’s records manager should be especially aware of safe guarding citizen’s rights. In addition to documents pertaining to business and individuals, the government records professional is responsible for selecting and retaining historical records.
Financial Records
Financial records are those records dealing with organizations financial transactions. Such records will include sale and purchase of stocks and bonds, shares, circulation of money in the economy, fraud, taxes and levies, etc.
The person responsible for maintaining financial records should be knowledgeable in information systems, accounting or finance. The financial records and information manager is more involved with the daily transactions of the business than the archivist. The financial records manager performs the duties of designing record system, updating records ,maintaining controls and monitoring transactions so that the integrity of all financial records are maintained.
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