E-Mail:Best Practices and Helpful Tips

Leslie Knoblauch

Records Management Archivist

Catholic University Archives*containing information from the University of North Carolina digital desktop project

You will learn:

What to keep and how to keep it What to delete and why How to set up a filing system

What to Keep: Step 1

All files made or received pursuant to the transactions of University business or in the fulfillment of its educational, administrative, business or legal obligations are seen as university records

You are responsible for making sure that you keep and delete the appropriate records

Messages that document decision-making, or committee, faculty, or campus activities may have historical value and may warrant transferal to the archives in the future

What to Keep: Step 2

Messages that document the day to day functions and provide evidence of decisions, actions, or policies should be retained

Some messages may be kept for short term, and then deleted once the issue is resolved or event as occurred

Examples of messages to keep

Messages which approve expenditures or actions

Involve negotiations on behalf of the university

Messages issuing guidelines, recommendations, or policies

Test Yourself: Based on the subject lines below, which messages should be saved

New Leave policy Joke of the day Salary Increase Grant results Staff meeting minutes Course release approval

Test yourself: Answers

New Leave policy – save, because it deals with policy

Joke of the day – not saved, no historical value Salary Increase - save, because it regards university

negotiations Grant results – save, because it deals with research

data Staff meeting minutes - save, because it deals with

official communication Course release approval – save because it deals

with approval or authorization

What to Delete: Step 1

The appropriate deletion of email messages helps to conserve university resources by using less server space

What to Delete: Step 2

Delete messages in your trash folder Review your inbox for messages that can be

deleted Review your sent box for messages that can

be deleted or moved to a different folder Look through all of your folders and check for

messages that you no longer need

Examples of messages to delete:

Messages relating to personal plans Messages with short term value Messages distributed to a large number of

staff for information only, such as news bulletin or listserv

Test Yourself: Which messages should be deleted, based on subject line

Meeting Minutes from Chair Opinions on job candidate Medical issues regarding student, Jane

Smith Meet for lunch

Test Yourself: Answers

Meeting Minutes from Chair – save ONLY if you are the chair

Opinions on job candidate – save ONLY if you are the chair of the search committee

Medical issues regarding student, Jane Smith – delete when no longer needed

Meet for lunch – delete, no long term value

Filing Systems

Save all messages in your inbox Save all messages in topical or subject based

folders, no messages left in your inbox Or, combine methods and store some messages in

your inbox and some in topical folders. This is efficient, but requires daily deletion of unnecessary items, moving items to folders, and reviewing folders periodically to remove unneeded messages. Think of creating a topical or subject related filing system that mirrors the paper filing system used in your office.

Helpful Tip #1:

As you read each message make a decision about what you want to do with it– Delete it– Act upon or respond– Forward– File– Leave in inbox for future action

Helpful Tip #2

When creating topical or subject folder, pick folder names that accurately describe the items within those folders. Consider using subjects with dates, topics with years, and/or personal names as folder titles.

– Try creating folder titles that can be interpreted by others, if they needed to, so avoid using acronyms or abbreviations when possible

– Be as descriptive as possible when creating folder titles, using full names or combining subject with a date/year

Helpful Tip #3:

Some people find that they can manage their inbox better if they set aside a specified time each day or week to review their messages, and delete and file them

Helpful Tip #4

No matter what filing system you use, make sure that you file your messages in a system that will allow them to be easily retrieved when needed

Helpful Tip #5

You may want to consider printing off messages dealing with, or including attachments regarding:– Final reports– Formal revisions to university guidelines or

requirements– These messages would then be stored in file

folders with relevant topical subject titles

Test Yourself: In what folders would messages with these subjects be stored

Staff Meeting Minutes 10/4/07 Trip to New York List of pubs for annual report Final Planning Report

Test Yourself: Answers

Staff Meeting Minutes 10/4/07 – this would go into a folder labeled Staff Meetings ‘07

Trip to New York – This would go into a folder labeled Travel Requests

List of pubs for annual report – This would go into a folder labeled Annual Report

Final Planning Report – This would go into a folder labeled Planning Committee

Wrap Up

Messages documenting day to day functions and provide evidence of decisions, actions, or policies should be retained

Messages relating to personal plans, or having short term value, or messages distributed to a large number of staff for information only, such as news bulletin or listserv should be routinely deleted

Periodically review and delete messages in your inbox, sent folder, and topical/subject folders