The quantity of information generated and received by academic and administrative departments is immense. Records management is the development and application of systematic standards to the recorded information which is required to administer and operate the university, so that the right information gets to the right people at the right time for the right purposes. Policies, procedures and standards cover the creation, receipt, distribution, use, retention, storage, retrieval, protection, preservation and final disposition of all types of recorded information throughout the university's administrative units, faculties, departments, schools, centres and institutes. Complete, accurate, authentic and reliable records support the administration of policy and consistent decision-making, planning, evaluation and reporting. With poor records the original context in which policies, decisions and practices were undertaken is forgotten and the evidence that could be used to review and evaluate them disappears.
Good records minimize loss of knowledge and ensure business continuity despite staff turnover.
Former staff take their memories with them, and without records new staff are unable to fully understand past practices. Memories, moreover, are notoriously unreliable with the passage of time and you need good records to recall your actions and to make good decisions. Good record-keeping increases administrative efficiency and promotes economical operations. Staff time and resources are misspent in labour-intensive searches for records which, for all staff know, may or may not exist, may or may not even have been created. Without records, university officials cannot adequately render account of their tenure.