Records Management History
Part 1: The Early Days: UC’s Predecessor Schools
Part 2: Documenting A University
Part 3: Automation & Records Management
The Beginning of Automation
Efforts to automate recordkeeping at the University of Cincinnati began in the late 1940s with the procurement of an IBM system for machine records processing and the creation of the Machine Records Department. The IBM system consisted of six separate machines that used hole-punched cards for recording, entering, organizing, and processing information. Machines were available to punch, sort, collate, reproduce, and interpret the cards and to tabulate and print reports. Strategically placed holes in the cards were detected using electronic impulses, which were then translated into numeric or alphabetic characters that could be analyzed to perform various jobs. A plugboard in the wiring panel of an accounting machine could be configured to program the creation of specific reports. Similar machines had been used in World War II to process personnel records in the field. Mobile units travelled from camp to camp gathering information and recording and processing it via the punched cards.
The first application of the IBM system at UC was in the Comptroller’s Office. By 1949 all accounting processes were performed using the IBM system, including AR, AP, payroll, student accounts, and tax processing and reporting. In addition, the Observatory was using a similar system to process data collected in their study of minor planets.
In April 1949 the Faculty Administrative Committee presented a report to President Raymond Walters recommending expansion of the system to include the Registrar’s Office. Citing the indispensability of the current installations in managing accounting and observatory records, the committee recommended creating one department that would be responsible for all machine records processing across University functions. The Machine Records Department was established in 1950 as part of the Comptroller’s Office. It was staffed by the tabulator previously responsible for financial records as well as a supervisor, research assistant, and director of IBM registration. The department was responsible for processing both financial and academic records.
The Registrar’s office began using the system to process and maintain student admissions and registration records in the fall term of the 1950-1951 academic year and added the ability to machine post permanent grade records in 1962. Use of the system was a catalyst for promoting uniformity of data structure and collection across the different schools and colleges. The highly structured layout of the 80-column punch cards left little room for individuality; consequently the Registrar’s Office worked with the colleges to simplify and streamline data collection and reporting.
Another important recordkeeping technology introduced around the time of the IBM system was micrographics. The use of micrographics as an alternate means of storage and retrieval for business records, in the form of both microfilm and microfiche, increased in offices during the 1950s and 1960s. Initially used as a means of delivering books and publications in libraries, micrographics became a viable solution for the growing problem of storing large quantities of long-term paper records. Additionally, microfilm was seen as a good preservation and backup medium.
The Registrar’s Office and the Board of Trustees both created microfilm copies of some of their permanent records. In the 1957-59 President’s Report, the Registrar noted that “One important machine recently acquired is a microfilm reader-printer which permits rapid and economical production of transcripts from our records that are on microfilm.”
Mainframe Computing
The IBM system allowed UC offices to automate previously manual systems, resulting in increased efficiency and reliability, cost savings, and better overall use and organization of information. But while some recordkeeping was now automated, the machines in use could not be considered true computers. The first real computer arrived at UC on June 1, 1958, an IBM 650 that weighed in at 6,300 pounds. Initially it was used for analyzing scientific data at the Observatory and for studying and teaching programming languages. The computer used the same type of punched cards for entering data as the IBM machine records system, but the method of processing was completely different. Along with the computer came the need for a central department to manage its operations. The UC Computing Center (UCCC), now known as UCit, was created to serve that purpose.
Recordkeeping was not one of the initial considerations in the acquisition of the new computer, but it was soon realized that business applications would greatly benefit from computerization. In the mid-1960s plans were being made to convert financial and academic records processes from the IBM machine records system to computer-based applications. A major reason for this was the University’s decision to seek state affiliation and subsequently, the need to effectively satisfy Board of Regents reporting requirements.
In 1966 the Machine Records Department became the Administrative Data Processing Center (ADP), charged with programming and managing computerized business applications. The precursors to the systems that we use today were created at this time. ADP managed systems for accounting and financials, payroll, personnel, admissions, student academic and financial aid records, alumni, and housing. Systems initially used punch cards for data entry, but increasingly terminals were made available for keying data. Additionally, exam grading was made available via optical scanner comparison of student answer sheets and a grade key. Pre-printed forms became more popular as a means of collecting uniform data to be entered into recordkeeping systems and increasing the efficiency of records creation.
In the 1970s, an Administrative Terminal System (ATS/360) was introduced allowing individual users to create documents on terminals connected to a mainframe via telecommunications software. The terminals could be rented by students, faculty, and staff in several labs available across campus. Disk storage space allowed for creating what UCCC termed “permanent records,” but which simply meant that they could be stored for future use in individual password-protected accounts. The UCCC Newsletter stated “ATS has proven invaluable for secretaries and administrative personnel who handle volumes of lengthy and repetitive reports.”
With the increased use of computers in the mid-1970s, privacy became an issue and Southwest Ohio Regional Computer Center (SWORRC) administrators stated that “an individual’s privacy is an overriding consideration in any matters dealing with computer records.” (SWORRC encompassed UCCC from 1972-1978) The Privacy Act of 1974 was passed to protect individuals’ rights to privacy regarding records held by the federal government. Computer security and the abuse of UC computer systems became a serious issue in the late 1970s and University Rule 3361:10-17-12, Conduct and Ethics, was made effective on September 29, 1978. UCCC continued to reiterate the importance of proper usage of computer resources into the early 1980s.
Office Automation
While UC had been in a relationship with the computer for two decades by the early 1980s, many records were still created by hand or typewritten. That began to change with the introduction of microcomputers (known more commonly today as personal computers or PCs) and efforts to automate office work. First introduced on campus in 1977, microcomputers really began to be widely used around 1982 and quickly populated individual desktops. The first microcomputers in use were stand-alone machines with their own operating systems that could communicate with a mainframe via a modem and software to transfer files. Along with microcomputers came software for word processing, spreadsheets, databases, and several other applications. Beginning in 1983, the growing use and dependence on microcomputers prompted UCCC and several other departments to create steering committees to study what was happening across the university and assess user needs. Eventually UCCC created a center for office automation technologies and a microcomputer information center devoted to supporting and developing microcomputer use at the university. A 1985 “Micro Census” conducted by UCCC showed that 85% of microcomputer users primarily performed word processing and 49% used databases.
Minicomputer systems that provided more processing power and local networking capabilities were also available in some offices. The Board of Trustees office had a minicomputer that handled processing of board minutes and that allowed staff to quickly and easily retrieve information needed for board decisions.
Just as important to the increased creation and dissemination of records was the introduction of networking capabilities. In June of 1983, UCCC began to study strategies for the use of computers in campus offices, termed loosely the “Office Automation Project.” After a pilot project was put into place across 12 offices, the team recommended the establishment of a campus-wide office automation system. The resulting Office Automation Network, introduced in 1984, was a three-tiered system of resources designed to provide office personnel with access to information and data processing tools. The first tier consisted of personal computers running word processing, spreadsheets, and other desktop software. The PCs were connected to the middle tier, a “Local Cluster Control Unit,” running on a minicomputer that served the needs of the department, such as scheduling and storage. The top tier was a “Central Cooperative Unit,” that connected the Local Cluster Units, passed electronic mail between users and talked to the university’s mainframes. The network used Digital Equipment Corporation’s VAX minicomputers and “All-In-One” automation software. The network allowed users to create and share electronic records as well as directly access the university’s central recordkeeping systems, such as the Registrar’s student information system, and the UC Libraries Information Database (UCLID). Also in 1984, UC joined BITNET (Because It’s Time NETwork), which allowed the transfer of files and electronic mail between UC and other universities and research centers across the United States and Canada.
In 1988 the U.C. Microcomputer Monitor reported on the growth of computer systems at UC since microcomputers were first introduced on campus, showing an exponential increase in available equipment from 98 computers in 1982 to 4,534 in 1988. As computing came closer to the desktop, the volume of records began to increase considerably. While control of data processing was held by a central department it was easier to manage what was being created and disseminated, but with that ability now in the hands of individual users, management of records began to become a bit trickier. Individual microcomputers gave users more flexibility and convenience to create documents. Floppy disks made storing, sharing, and reusing computer files easy and the ability to print multiple paper copies from a single computer file increased distribution capabilities.
Records Management
The story of UC Records Management dates back to 1969 and the efforts of Dr. William Aeschbacher, head of the Department of History, who began creating awareness of the need for archival and records management at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Aeschbacher’s immediate concerns were that records of permanent value were being destroyed and that conditions in the McMicken attic storage space were detrimental to the safekeeping of records. In 1972 Aeschbacher became the first Archivist of the university, working with the Special Collections Department of the library in an advisory role to develop and administer the Archives.
On January 30, 1974, President Warren Bennis issued a policy statement directing that university records could not be destroyed without the approval of the office in charge of the department and the University Archivist. A proposal was submitted by the University Archives in 1977 to establish a records management program and a records center. Several issues convinced the Archives staff that such a program was needed. Departments had been sending non-archival, inactive material to be housed in the archives, indicating the need for a separate inactive records center, and there was the continued concern that records with archival value were being destroyed. Additionally, departments were increasingly having difficulty locating needed records.
On July 13, 1978, President Henry Winkler approved $22,614 to fund a records management program, allowing for the creation of two positions, a records specialist and a clerk/typist. The proposal for the records center was approved, but the plan was never carried out. A recharge committee was formed later to discuss the records center, but it never came to be. In 1979 a records management program was officially established with responsibility given to the Special Collections Department. Since UC became a state university on July 1, 1977, the program was created in compliance with the Ohio Revised Code (ORC) and under the authority of the state records commission.
The first Records Specialist, Richard Haas, began work on June 11, 1979. The first records retention schedules were written and approved in 1980, beginning with Finance. Retention schedules were created and approved at UC then sent to the state for final approval before they were implemented. The Records Specialist position was vacant from 1982-1985, during which time no new schedules were written. A new Records Specialist, Anne Gilliland, was hired and the program was reactivated in September 1985. Training workshops were introduced and the first program newsletter, Records Management Update, was published from November 1985 to November 1987.
It was about this time that consideration started to be given to electronic information as actually representing records. In the beginning of the automation process and throughout most of the 1980s, the idea persisted that systems and software were tools used to create paper records. In 1987 the records management program conducted a survey of automated systems at UC and created a catalog of systems and applications as well as an inventory of machine readable records. Instructions were issued for the care and preservation of computer records along with a glossary of computer terms as they applied to records. The Records Specialist was involved in UCCC’s training program, “Planning Your Office for Office Automation.”
In 1987 the state issued general records schedules to be used by all agencies. Higher education worked with the new schedules for a couple of years, but objected to them because they did not include many university-specific records and they were extremely difficult to administer in an academic setting. Universities petitioned to be exempt from the general schedules and to be allowed to continue the program as it had been. In response to higher education’s objection to the general schedules, ORC 149.33 was passed on July 1, 1991, to exclude public institutions of higher education from the State Records Law. Responsibilities for creating policies and procedures for managing records were given to the Board of Trustees of each school. Records Retention for Public Colleges and Universities in Ohio: A Manual was published by the Inter-University Council of Ohio in 1992. The manual was created by a committee made up of records professionals from the various institutions as a guide for the development of a campus records program.
Plans were put in place for a new program at UC based on the IUC guidelines, but the Records Specialist position was again vacant and the program idled for many years, creating another gap in scheduling from 1992-1998. A records steering committee was formed at UC in the Spring of 1998 to revitalize the program and a Records Specialist, Tracey Hansom, was hired later that year. On November 23, 1999 the Board of Trustees approved new rule 10-43-10 establishing a records program to be administered by the Archives per ORC 149.33. Scheduling under the IUC matrix began in 1999 and the Records Specialist position became full time. The program itself began to become automated at this time with the creation of a database to hold retention schedules and contacts as well as a website. A new Records Specialist, Anna Heran, hired in 2001, concentrated on unscheduled areas of the university, creating schedules for many departments including most of the colleges. The Records Management listserv was created in February 2001. Janice Schulz, who started at UC in March 2006, is the current University Records Manager and represents UC on the Ohio Electronic Records Committee and the IUC task group on records retention. Efforts at outreach and communication in recent years have included the publication of Records Quarterly, first issued in October 2007, and redesign and expansion of the website.
In the six decades since the introduction of automated recordkeeping at the university, advances in technology have brought both increased efficiency and major challenges. The future promises to bring even more. With each innovation we find new ways to create, disseminate, and store information that don’t always fit nicely within our established records management policies and procedures. Our program has to be flexible enough to work within new frameworks while still serving the underlying principles of efficiency, compliance, and historic preservation. Long gone are the days of managing only paper records placed in files, but as the promises of a “paperless office” have yet to be realized, our program has to continue to operate and be successful in a complex, hybrid environment.
Sources Cited
Aeschbacher, William D Office Files, 1969-1980, UA-85-18. Archives & Rare Books Library, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH.
Reilly, M.B. “Celebration Set for June 4: Fifty Years Ago, UC Got Its First Computer.” UC Currents, May 26, 2008.
UC Computing Center/UCit Newsletters, 1970-2000, UA-07-01. Archives & Rare Books Library, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH.
U.C. Microcomputer Monitor, 1984-1987. UC Microcomputer Monitor, UA-89-73. Archives & Rare Books Library, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH.
“University Archives Policy Established.” Candid Campus, January 30, 1974.
University of Cincinnati Board of Directors Meeting Minutes and Supporting Papers, 1949-1950, UA-72-02. Archives & Rare Books Library, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH.
University of Cincinnati Report of the President, 1955-1971. Archives & Rare Books Library, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH.
University Records Management Program Collection., UA-89-07. Archives & Rare Books Library, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH.