Laserfiche WebLink
<br /> Washington State Archives <br /> Office of the Secretary of State <br />Requirements for the Destruction of <br />Non-Archival Paper Records After Imaging <br />Version 1.1 (May 15, 2012) <br /> <br /> <br />Page 3 of 6 <br />KEY COMPONENTS for “Scanning and Tossing” <br />What Records Are Eligible For “Scanning and Tossing”? <br />Eligible records MUST be “NON-ARCHIVAL” and covered by a current, approved records retention schedule. <br />• State government agencies are to use only records retention schedules approved for their use by the State <br />Records Committee in accordance with RCW 40.14.050. <br />• Local government agencies are to use only records retention schedules approved for their use by the Local <br />Records Committee in accordance with RCW 40.14.070. <br />• Current approved records retention schedules for both state and local government agencies are available on <br />Washington State Archives’ website at www.sos.wa.gov/archives. <br />“ARCHIVAL” records MUST not be destroyed. <br />• An agency may scan ”ARCHIVAL” records in accordance with these requirements. However, after imaging is <br />completed and verified, an agency is to arrange for appraisal and/or transfer of both the paper and the images <br />to Washington State Archives for preservation. <br />Note: For county clerks, there is an exemption regarding the destruction and reproduction of court records. For details, <br />see RCW 36.23.065 at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=36.23.065. <br />How Do The Records Need To Be Scanned? <br />Records MUST be scanned and verified in a systematic and consistent fashion that ensures a complete and accurate <br />copy of the source record. Records that are not completely and accurately captured must not be destroyed. <br />Agencies should develop written quality control procedures and work instructions to ensure a consistent capture of <br />complete and accurate copies of original records. Train all staff with scanning responsibilities to ensure that they adhere <br />to these requirements and procedures. Agencies are not required to use any specific systems, applications, or scanners. <br />Examples of specific quality control procedures are: <br />• Enhancements or other manipulations of the scanned images (such as de-skew, de-speckle, etc.) in order to <br />improve the quality of the resulting image. <br />• Routine use of scanning targets to verify configuration settings. <br />• Visual comparisons and inspections of each imaged record and source document, or of selected images and <br />source documents. <br />• Regular calibration and testing of systems and scanners. <br />• Periodic checks that the indexing/metadata is accurate and appropriate. <br />• In instances where a complete and accurate image cannot be obtained and verified, the source document <br />must be retained for the entire minimum retention period (and the image should be labeled or tagged as <br />“best scan possible”). <br />• In instances where the content of the source document is not completely legible (faded receipt, coffee stain <br />covering information, etc.), the source document must be retained for the entire minimum retention period. <br />(If the image is more legible than the source document, retention of the source document is not necessary.) <br />If vendors are doing the imaging: <br />• Vendors must also comply with the requirements as specified in this document.