Skip to content
logo Self Service

Network Drive Records Management

Updated 

Summary

Requirements, tips and tricks for practicing good data hygiene and cleaning up your VCU network drives. 

Environment

University network drives also referred to as file drives, file shares, mapped drives and shared drives.

Solution

Table of Contents

Requirements

Each department is responsible for managing files on their network drives in accordance with the university’s record management policy and procedures. If you are unsure how long data must be retained, please refer to Records Ownership resource for records retention periods as well as training material on the state-mandated records destruction approval process.​ 

  • Prior to destruction of official records, a completed record destruction request (RM-3) must be submitted to and approved by the Records Management Office. 
  • Convenience copies are not to be reported on the RM-3 and can be purged at any time if there are no holds, but should not outlive the official record.
  • Records cannot be destroyed if there is an ongoing or pending audit, investigation, litigation, FERPA or FOIA request. 
  • Records cannot be destroyed until those retention requirements have been met if there are superseding authorities that dictate retention and recordkeeping practices (e.g. accreditation, contract terms).

File Plans and Indexing

Files on network drives should be managed according to established filing schemes just like paper records. Logical folder hierarchies and appropriate naming conventions for electronic files should be established and used consistently. Creating folders based on record series titles found on the records retention and disposition schedules will assist with file retrieval and disposal. Departmental file plans and indexing should be documented and reference university policies including superseding authorities (if any) and procedures that are widely disseminated along with training that is scheduled on a regular basis.  See record series title in VCU Record Ownership resource at https://go.vcu.edu/records-ownership

Recommended Examples
  • Fiscal - reconciliations typically fall under Cash and Bank Reports for non-research and Research: Accounting Records for research. 
    • For non-research reconciliations, include the Year and Month of the reconciliation,
      e.g. Cash and Bank Reports\ IndexNumber YYYYMM 
    • For research reconciliations, include the Year and Month of the project closure,
      e.g. Research Accounting Records\ProjectName YYYYMM  OR
             Project Name YYYYMM\Research Account Records\YYYYMM
  • Personnel - 
    • For hiring committees, include the Year and Month on which the hiring process was completed,
      e.g.  Hiring Records\PositionNumber-PositionName YYYYMM
    • For personnel files, include the Year and Month upon separation of the faculty/employee,
      e.g. Personnel Records - Short Term \ EmployeeName YYYYMM
      e.g. Personnel Records - Long Term \ Employee Name YYYYMM
  • Administrative - 
    • For projects, include the Year and Month of project start,
      e.g. Project Documentation\ProjectName YYYYMM
    • For presentations, include the Year and Month of the presentation date,
      e.g. Presentation Materials\EventName YYYYMM
    • For reports, include the reports last revision date,
      e.g. Management Reports\ReportTitleName YYYYMM
      e.g. Other Reports\ReportTitleName YYYYMM

Destruction Eligibility

Determining Type, Timeframe and Volume of records to be destroyed.

Windows Devices
  1. Open the File Explorer app and navigate to the folder of interest.
  2. Select the Home menu and choose Properties.
  3. Record the ‘Size on disk’ field for Volume.
  4. Close the Properties window.
  5. In the Search field, type *.* and press [Enter] key
  6. Once the search is complete, right-click any file and select Sort by\Date modified
  7. Record the oldest date modified and most recent date modified as Timeframe.
  8. Compare the Timeframe against retention periods in the Records Ownership resource: https://go.vcu.edu/records-ownership
  9. If there are no superseding authorities nor record holds, initiate the destruction request process for expired records.
  10. Retain records that are not eligible for destruction.
  11. Upon approval, execute cleanup of the expired records.
MacOS Devices
  1. Open the Finder app and navigate to the folder of interest.
  2. Right-click on the folder and select Get Info.
  3. Under the General section, record the information shown under the Size entry for Volume.
  4. While still in the Finder app, click the scope icon on the upper right. A search bar will appear.
  5. Type in your search and press [Enter] key.
  6. Once a search is complete, select the icon to show the files as a list and then sort by date modified.
  7. Record the oldest date modified and most recent date modified as Timeframe.
  8. Compare the Timeframe against retention periods in the Records Ownership resource: https://go.vcu.edu/records-ownership
  9. If there are no superseding authorities nor record holds, initiate the destruction request process for expired records.
  10. Retain records that are not eligible for destruction.
  11. Upon approval, execute cleanup of the expired records.

 

 

Additional Information

References

Keywords: records network file mapped shared drive