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The Information Management functional area received an overall “Outstanding” rating in the 2003 Annual Appraisal Performance Report. Archives and Records Management is one facet of Information Management, and individually received a rating of “Outstanding.”
This report is a narrative summary of the effort made towards achieving the performance measures established and agreed to with DOE/OAK for FY 2003-2004, and are part of the larger IM effort to address customer satisfaction, cost efficiency and contract compliance.
The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center is the lead Department of Energy (DOE) laboratory for electron-based high energy physics. It is dedicated to research in elementary particle physics, accelerator physics and in allied fields that can make use of its synchrotron radiation facilities—including biology, chemistry, geology, materials science and environmental engineering. Operated on behalf of the DOE by Stanford University, SLAC is a national user facility serving universities, industry and other research institutions throughout the world. Its mission can be summarized as follows:
The Information Management functional area at SLAC supports the scientific mission of the Laboratory by providing a full range of services to the organization and all of its employees. We are responsible for Archives and Records Management services to the SLAC community. The Archives area is staffed by a full-time archivist and part-time assistant archivist; Records Management is a functional area within an administrative support position within Business Services.
Names, titles, affiliations of participants
Jean Deken, SLAC Archivist, Research Division
Karen Kruger, Records Manager, Business Services Division
Scope of Self-AssessmentStatus of Open Items from 2003 Review
No specific performance items remain open from the previous year, as Archives and History and Records Management usually alternate years for establishing performance measures. As in past years, the Archives and History Office and Records Management continue to keep each other informed of their respective activities, and continue to work in tandem to meet customer needs. During this past year, the OAK Operations Office closed and our oversight was transferred to the Chicago DOE Operations Office. No specific performance measures for FY 04 had been developed with our POC.
Performance Objective/Measure
The Information Management area functions as a resource to improve the quality of its services, to add value to scientific programs and customer services, and as a tool to improve work processes. IM services will be made available rapidly and cost effectively and will be made available to the public, industrial partners and stakeholders as appropriate.
Assumptions: For the purpose of this self-assessment, the IM functional area elements affected by this performance objective/measure are Archives and Records Management. Because many of our functions overlap, we believe it is most efficient and logical to combine the two areas into one self-appraisal.
Process used to meet objective/measure: The performance measure of record for both FY03 and FY04 was to develop a Records Management website. That measure had been 95% completed by the date of the self-assessment for FY03. Due to the change in DOE offices, no other measures had been developed for FY04. The development of a Records Management website was to address the issues specifically related to “temporary” administrative records that are usually processed by Records Management. Topics covered in the website include appraisal and identification of temporary records, application of approved schedules, transfer of records to Federal storage, and retrieval and disposition procedures. The website would link to and complement the Archives and History website. This self-assessment will present progress made during FY04 on the achievement of this objective. In addition, the Archives and History Office had set as a measure the completion of the biannual Archives and History Office Program Review. The results of that review will also be discussed in this self-assessment.
Website Development, Completion and Use:
The Records Management website was operational by the end of October 2003, and has been a good reference for the SLAC’s Records Administrators and other staff to explain the policies and procedures for managing the temporary, non-archival records in their work areas. The Archives and History Office has an excellent website that covers some of the same areas, but we saw a need for further published information on some of the specific policies and procedures on the storage and disposition of temporary records.
The Records Management website has been an excellent reference since it became operational. It is listed on the Gateway to SLAC Resources and is linked to the Archives and History website. The website contains complete information on identifying temporary and archival records, records terminology, links to all the approved records schedules, and the procedures for transferring and retrieving records at the Federal Records Center.
The website is linked, and refers to, the Archives and History Office website to provide additional assistance in appraising and applying the correct disposition schedules to the records created throughout SLAC. The website now gives Records Management added visibility to the SLAC community and provides records information in a readily available format. As new information or schedules are approved by the DOE and the National Archives Administration (NARA), the appropriate links will be added to the website.
Customer satisfaction: The Archives and History Office and Records Management have worked both together and independently throughout the year to address any records questions presented by the SLAC community in a timely manner. We continue to make department or office visits as requested to solve record issues as they are presented.
A program review of the SLAC Archives and History Office was held on 18-19 June, 2004. The program review committee membership represented the Laboratory and the major external constituencies of the archives and History Office. The SLAC Archives and History Office advisory committee is a standing committee charged with advising SLAC management on the goals, policies, and activities of the SLAC Archives and History program. This year, the committee unanimously praised both the effort of the AHO to preserve and make available the scientific history of SLAC and the dedication of the program and the laboratory towards this effort. SLAC continues to be a leader and an example of how scientific laboratories should archive their history. Overall, the committee believes that the SLAC archival program is outstanding. With limited resources and a broad charge, the archive staff has responded to the needs of the laboratory and established a position of leadership within the archival community and DOE. (The Committee’s full report is available online at
http://www.slac.stanford.edu/history/progrev/APRfinal04.pdf .)
Feedback from the SLAC community has been very positive towards the website. The Archive Program review received an outstanding critical appraisal from the panel assembled in June 2004. We rate our performance in these two areas as “Outstanding” for FY 2004.
Root-Cause Analysis
The major barriers continue to be financial and manpower issues. This year, we also experienced the closure of the OAK Operations Office, with whom we had developed a very close and reciprocal relationship for RM and Archives issues. In FY2004, a permanent employee was hired in Records Management and training began to transition into the Assistant Records Manager. With the Records Management website fully operational, and in conjunction with the Archives and History Office website, Archives and History and Records Management work continuously to provide easily-accessible information to address the demanding records needs of the SLAC community.
Barrier(s) to Improvement
Outside of ongoing resource restraints, there are no major barriers.
Goals for FY2005