When Mark Smith started at the Division of Finance (within Utah’s Department of Government Operations) in 2022, there were 219 record series, most of which hadn’t been updated since their creation nearly forty years ago. Luckily for the Division, Mark is smart, meticulous, and organized, and attacked the series clean-up with a vengeance. Mark has generously shared multiple resources in the hopes they can help guide and benefit other agencies too.

Webinar: From Chaos to Clarity: Finance’s Journey to Organizing Record Series

• Video recording
• Presentation slides

Series template

• Excel spreadsheet – This is a template of the spreadsheet Mark created to track record series updates.

Detailed step-by-step instructions

• Record Series Privacy Threshold Analysis (RSPTA) – Goals and final product notes – Includes a list of goals and a list of what information the final product will contain.
• RSPTA – Tips – Tips for best success executing a record series update.
• RSPTA – Initial discovery and planning – Includes a step-by-step list of the whole process.
• RSPTA – Updating out of date record series – Includes steps to take when updating existing record series.

Video: Introduction to Record Retention

• YouTube video – This video—written, illustrated, and narrated by Mark—gives a great introduction to records retention. Bust out the popcorn and share this video with your co-workers to help them learn the importance of keeping records only as long as they’re needed.

Records Officer Spotlight

• State Archives blog post – highlights various facets of Mark’s journey (written by Mark).