In 2017, UBC’s Financial Operations collaborated with the Records Management Office and the iSchool to secure, structure, and manage information stored on their shared drives (see blog here).
Kayla Hilstob conducting training for 2017 Shared Drive Project
“The completion of the shared drive project in 2017 was a major step forward for us,” says the project initiator, Elizabeth Kukely who, along with her colleagues, have been working with the new structure for over a year. “We always planned to have the Records Management Office conduct an assessment of the system once we’d been living with it for a while,” says Kukely.
“It would have been impossible to have made all the changes that were needed at once, but now, it is time to see how things are going. Are the procedures being followed as we designed? Where are improvements necessary?
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“New staff were grateful not to have file folders titled after a person’s name!”
General adherence to written documentation is not the only thing assessed; however, a key part of the process is engagement with users of the system. “We used two approaches when interviewing staff. We wanted to ensure we chose personnel from each department in Financial Operations, but we also wanted to interview new staff, who see the new structure from a fresh perspective and may see flaws that we do not” says Kukely.
What were the results?
“Well we found out a few things,” says Kukely, “first, new staff were grateful not to have file folders titled after a person’s name! But they also mentioned that they would like to have a cheat sheet directly related to how to create new folders on the shared drive and tell them where certain items should be filed. They want to feel confident that they are doing things right. We are happy to oblige them.”
The assessment process is intended to be a snapshot in time of what is working and what still needs improvement. The whole process, including the findings report, is complete in just a couple of days, but done annually, the process can make substantial improvements in the recordkeeping system. “How does that saying go?” says Towell, “what is measured, improves.”
“Shared drives are rarely static: they are either getting better or getting worse. We want to make sure the drives are improving and conducting annual check-ups is a good way to track and manage improvements to the system,” says Kukely. “We want Financial Operations to keep getting better. Assessments take no time and they are a great way to plan for summer work improving the structure, retention and use of our shared drives. Plus, this work helps provide an iSchool student relevant work experience in records management. “
If units are interested in improving governance over their shared drive or other content system, they should contact Barbara.Towell@ubc.ca