13.4 Records Management Program

The purpose of the Records Management Program, administered by the Institute Archives of the MIT Libraries, is to promote economy and efficiency in the creation, organization, maintenance, retention, use, and disposition of the Institute's official records. These records include all papers, maps, photographs, sound or video recordings, machine-readable records, or other documentary material, regardless of physical form, created or received by an employee in connection with the transaction of Institute business. The records management policy provides for the following:

1. orderly and periodic transfer of inactive Institute records from prime office storage space or inadequate remote storage to the Institute records center;
2. systematic destruction of noncurrent Institute records that have outlived their administrative usefulness;
3. identification of Institute records that are of sufficient and continuing administrative and historical value to warrant their transfer to and preservation in the Institute Archives; and
4. assistance and advice to administrative and academic personnel about efficient record-keeping practices.