ABSTRACT
The main content of this book is about outsourcing records management; however, you will be aware that a number of references have been made throughout the book to retention schedules, retention dates and disposal dates, supported by an example of a higher education retention schedule (Table 8.1 in Chapter 8). The fundamental components of the entire outsourcing process, which are vital for any records management programme, are a retention schedule and a records management policy. For this reason, I have deliberately placed this chapter near the end of the book in order to a) emphasize the importance of having a retention schedule, and b) promote consideration of a plan of action in terms of how to take forward your records management processes and procedures, despite the fact that you may not decide to outsource your records management function. I hope that this chapter will provide you with some food for thought about the toolkit that every records manager should own-a retention schedule and records management policy to implement and with which to work in accordance. One cannot emphasize enough how vital both a retention schedule
and a records management policy are, no matter how large the organization, or even how small. A records management policy without a retention schedule, and vice versa, is obviously to be avoided, as one complements the other; however, more importantly, the two together enable regulatory compliance across the organization, thus instilling good records management practices and principles.
