Records Management Program at MIT
Institute Archives and Special Collections

Policies

• All records created at MIT are the property of the Institute and are administered according to policies adopted by the MIT Corporation and set forth in MIT Policies and Procedures.
  
  
• Institute records include all forms of recorded information created or received by any of the MIT offices, departments, laboratories, and centers in the course of Institute business. The records provide evidence of the Institute's organization, legal obligations, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, and other activities.
  
  
• No official Institute records may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of without the approval of the Records Management Program.
  
  
  • Some records, documenting the history and development of the Institute, are retained permanently in the Institute Archives.
    
    
  • Other materials have only temporary value and, once they are no longer in use (inactive), can be destroyed at the end of their retention period. The non-permanent records are stored at a facility run by Iron Mountain, an outside vendor.

The purpose of the Records Management Program is to promote economy and efficiency in the creation, organization, maintenance, retention, use, and disposition of the Institute’s official records. The MIT Records Management Policy provides for the following:

• Orderly and timely periodic transfer of inactive Institute records from prime office storage space to the records storage center.
  
  
• Systematic destruction of noncurrent Institute records that have outlived their administrative usefulness.
  
  
• Identification of Institute records that are of sufficient and continuing administrative and historical value to warrant their transfer to and preservation in the Institute Archives.
  
  
• Assistance and advice to administrative and academic personnel about efficient record-keeping practices.

Full text of the MIT archival, records management, and records access policies in MIT Policies and Procedures (http://web.mit.edu/policies/):

• Archival Policy
• Records Management Policy
• Records Access Policy

Last modified 7/28/05