Frequently Asked Questions

A record is information created, recorded, sent and/or received and maintained in the course of carrying out the business of the University. It is evidence of a business transaction or decision and is retained as a record of such activity.

Records come in all different formats and are not limited to just paper records. A document does not have to be finalised to be considered a record, drafts and working papers are records too.

See Introduction to University records for further information.

No. Records created during the course of conducting University business are University records and belong to the University. They should be managed in accordance with the records management policy and processes.

Everyone is. Each employee at the University has a role in creating, using, retrieving, and disposing of records.

See Introduction to University records for further information.

We do not manage Academic Transcript enquiries. This function is managed by Stop 1.

You can order a transcript directly online.

Alumni can contact Stop 1 via the general enquiry form.

Work units that transfer university records to us are able to retrieve them at any time by contacting records-info@unimelb.edu.au.

You should specify the transfer number, box number and file title.

Access to transferred university records by persons not associated with the transferring work unit (for example staff in other departments or researchers) requires the approval of the transferring department.

If you find abandoned records, please contact us: records-info@unimelb.edu.au.

Units that inherit records of former staff members are obligated to manage the records as they would their own.

If you require further guidance, contact us: records-info@unimelb.edu.au.

Ideally as soon as you are aware that the unit will no longer exist, you should contact us: records-info@unimelb.edu.au. This also applies to units that may merge or may restructure.

See also Records disposal for staff who are leaving or relocating for further information.

Your papers may have long term value and could be deposited to the University of Melbourne Archives.

See Donations enquires for further information.

The required retention periods for University records is specified in the University Records Retention and Disposal Authority (RDA).

See Using the University Records RDA for further information.

You need to make sure that the records which you have created, collected and stored in the course of your work are cleaned up and organised and transferred to the appropriate individuals for storage or continuing use by your co-workers.

See Records disposal for staff who are leaving or relocating for further information.

Once it is apparent that administrative use of the records has ceased and the records become inactive, University staff should use the University Records Retention and Disposal Authority to determine the appropriate disposal action.

See Retention and disposal for further information.

Records deemed permanent in the University Records Retention and Disposal Authority must be transferred to Records & Information once their administrative use has ceased.

See Transfer of permanent records for further information.

Records deemed temporary in the University Records Retention and Disposal Authority are the responsibility of the work unit to manage until such time as the records can be disposed of.

If the records have a long term retention period (ie greater than 7 years), then storage may be required.

See Storage of temporary records for further information.

Records deemed temporary in the University Records Retention and Disposal Authority can be lawfully destroyed when they have reached the end of their required retention period, are no longer required for business use and are not the subject of current or pending litigation or Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

Also, some records of ephemeral value (i.e., records with little or no ongoing administrative, fiscal, legal, evidential or historical value) can be destroyed without authorisation as part of Normal Administrative Practice, or NAP.

See Destruction of temporary records and Normal Administrative Practice for further information.

The University Research Gateway provides guidance for researchers on how to manage their research data and records.

See Research data management for further information.

The University provides many options to support your research data storage and management needs.

See Research data storage and management systems for further information.

Research data and records should be retained for the period outlined in the University Records Retention and Disposal Authority (RDA). Refer to the RESEARCH > Data Management Function/Activity in the RDA for guidance.

Records Managed SharePoint (RMSP) is an instance of SharePoint deployed at the University, which has integration with Content Manager. This integration supports records management functionality and compliance, including automated record disposal.

RMSP is supported by Records & Information. We can build sites on request and assist staff with designing, managing and configuring sites.

We do not support non-Records Managed SharePoint sites. Staff are responsible for their own sites and for managing the records held within the sites. General SharePoint technical support is provided by Information Technology Services.

See Records Managed SharePoint for further information.

In order to gain access to Content Manager, you must complete and submit an online access form via ServiceNow and complete Content Manger training.

Sometimes the Content Manager toolbar/tab may have become 'disabled' when using Outlook or other MS applications.

Refer to this article  for guidance: KB001348 Enabling Microsoft applications integration with Content Manager (accessible to University staff).

See KB0027037 How to find Knowledge Base Articles (KBAs) about Content Manager (CM) (accessible to University staff).

Also see our Content Manager page for general information about the system.

See KB0027038 How to find Knowledge Base Articles (KBAs) about Records Managed SharePoint (RMSP) (accessible to University staff).

Also see our Records Managed SharePoint page for general information about the system.