Records Management

Functions

Provide storage for all permanent and inactive County Records for the duration of their established retention period as approved by County Council and the South Carolina Department of State Archives.
Provide a record management program to establish retention periods for all County records.
Provide for the disposition of records that are of no further value for daily operations thereby clearing valuable office and storage space for other uses.
Providing microfilm support in preparing, filming, scanning and proofing pertinent permanent and nonpermanent records, reports, rolls and documents for county departments.

FAQ

Why do we need a records management program for our records?: In accordance with the Public Records Act (Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, Section 30-1-10 through 30-1-40) the South Carolina Department of Archives and History and Horry County are legally charged with the responsibility for overseeing the care and maintenance of all county records. This mandate requires the Archives and Horry County to insure that older, historical records are preserved satisfactorily, whether by microfilming, transfer to an archival repository, application of special restoration treatments or a combination of the above. Similarly, the records of short-term value must be identified and disposed of in accordance with an orderly timetable, allowing each record sufficient time to outlive all administrative usefulness or value before transfer to an inactive records storage center for a specified period of time, or immediate destruction.
What do we need to do to get our departments records into the records management program?: An inventory of your department's records must be completed. A Records Series Inventory Form, which is provided by our office, must be filled out for each individual record. These forms are returned to the Records Management Department and they are forwarded to the South Carolina Department of State Archives, which prepares a Records Retention Schedule. This schedule is returned to the requesting department for review and for the Director's signature. This schedule is then reviewed by County Administrator for signature and then it is returned to the State Archives for their Director's signature. Then a copy is returned to Records Management and forwarded to the requesting department and this document becomes the official Record Retention Schedule for that departments records.
How does my department have access to our records once they are stored at the record center?: The requesting department must provide a LOCATION number from their copy of the Records Transmittal and Receipt form. This information should be sent to our department by inter-office mail or with the authorized person who comes to the Record Center. The Record Center staff will then pull the requested information and allow the authorized person to see the record.

Common Terms

Active records: Records that must be maintained in office space because they are referred to once a month or more and are needed to conduct daily business.
Administrative value: In appraisal, the usefulness of records to the originating or succeeding agency in the conduct of daily business; sometimes called operational value.
Cubic feet: Measurement of volume for records, archives, and manuscripts, 1 x 1 x 1; Also shown as cu. Ft. or c.f.
Destruction: The disposal of records of no further value by shredding, burial, incineration. Pulping, or some other process. Disposal: Usually, the process of destroying obsolete records. See also Disposition.
Disposition: The final action that puts into effect the results of an appraisal decision for a series of records. Transfer to an archival repository, transfer to a records center, or destruction are some possible disposition actions.
General Schedule: A record retention schedule that specifies the disposition of certain series of records common to many offices or agencies within the same organization or type of government. See also Retention schedule.
Historical records: Records that contain significant information about the past or present and are therefore worthy of permanent preservation and systematic management for research.
Inactive records: Records that are referenced less than once a month and suitable for low-cost storage outside the immediate office.
Inventory: (1) The act of locating, identifying, and describing records in detail; (2) The product of the act-a detailed listing of the records.
Microfilm: Reduced scale, photographic record off documentary materials.
Microfilming: The process of creating miniaturized copies of records on film.
Microforms: Microfilm media, including reels, fiche, jackets, and computer output microfilm (COM) containing microimages.
Permanent record: Records considered to be so valuable or unique in documenting the history of an organization that they are preserved in the archives.
Public records: Records that are created or received by a public agency in the normal course of its business and are open to public inspection by law or custom.
Record: Recorded information, regardless of physical form or characteristics of the medium (e.g. paper, photograph, sound recordings, or computer-generated, machine-readable record) made or received by an organization to fulfil its legal obligations or to transact business.
Records center: A facility designed and constructed to provide low-cost, efficient storage and reference service on records that have become inactive but have not reached their disposition date.
Records management: The management techniques that are applied to the creation, use, maintenance, retention, preservation, and disposition of records to reduce costs and improve efficiency in recordkeeping. Includes the management of filing and microfilming equipment; supplies; filing and information retrieval systems; files, correspondence, reports and forms; historical documentation; micrographics; systems applications; retention scheduling and vital records protection.
Records retention/disposition schedule (also called records schedule): Document that specifies actions for the retention and disposition of current, inactive and noncurrent records series of an organization or agency.
Records series: File units or documents arranged according to a filing system or maintained as a unit because they relate to a particular subject or function, result from the same activity, have a particular form, or share some other relationship arising out of their creation, receipt, or use.
Scheduling: The action of establishing retention periods for records and providing for their proper disposition at the end of active use.
Transfer: Moving inactive records to a record center or archives on a regular schedule.
Vital records: Those records that are essential to the continuing operation of local government. They are the records that would be required to protect the legal and financial interests of the government, preserve the rights of the people, and resume operations after a major disaster like a fire or flood.

Forms

PDF Notice of Intent to Destroy Records

Department Head: Cheryl Farria
Contact: Phone: (843) 915-5420
Fax: (843) 915-1240
Mailing Address: 3230 Highway 319
Conway, SC 29526
Physical Address: 3230 Hwy 319
Conway, SC 29526
Office Hours: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday through Friday

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