Chronological files are meant to be a ready reference kept in the office for convenience. Also, they don't have long-term archival value like many regular correspondence files. They're another type of transitory record that we talked about in last month's IMB . Remember, think of chrono files as a crutch rather than a leg to stand on. Active records are of primary value to the creating department in order to carry out its mandate.
Primary values consist of administrative value, fiscal value and legal value.
Records are considered active if there is more than one reference or retrieval per cubic foot per month. Active records are normally maintained and stored in the offices of the creating department. For the purposes of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, departments are responsible for providing access to active records. The Information Management Bulletin is published every month during the academic year by the Simon Fraser University Archives. We welcome your comments and suggestions for future articles.