The Presbyterian Church in Canada Archives - Records Management for General Assembly Committees


Records Management Guidelines for Committees of General Assembly and the Assembly Council			[Back to Home Page]
In order to ensure that a complete and accurate record of the life and work of the Church will be available, it is strongly encouraged that committees (sub-committees, task-forces etc.) of the national Church, routinely transfer and deposit with the Archives, those minutes, reports, correspondence and other "official" documents created by that committee which are no longer required on a regular basis.

Records usually become in-active between 2 and 7 years after they were first created. It is encouraged, therefore, that committees decide upon a suitable retention period for their records, after which they would be transferred to the Archives for storage and safe-keeping [i.e. if the retention period were 5 years, records created prior to 1998 could be transferred to the Archives. Once 2004 arrives, records generated in 1998 could be transferred. This, then, becomes a yearly transfer which ensures these important records will be preserved].
		E.H. Johnson Luncheon, General Assembly 2002, Cornwall, Ontario
To prevent duplication in the Archives, and to help ensure accuracy, it is also encouraged that one member of the committee, usually the Secretary or Convener, be responsible for maintaining the "official" copy of the records of the committee - minutes, reports, correspondence, financial statements. Other committee members can certainly hold on to their own copies, however, the copy sent to the Archives should be that "official" set maintained by the Secretary, or some other designated individual. If you, or someone you know, has been Secretary of a committee of the General Assembly, or of the Assembly Council, and you have files relating to the work of the committee, please transfer them to the Archives. It's important that we don't lose this evidence of the life and work of our Church. For more information, please contact Ms. Kim Arnold, Archivist/Records Administrator, or Bob Anger, Assistant Archivist, at 416-441-1111 ext. 310 or ext. 266.

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