August 5-9, 2024 Boston Convention and Exhibition Center
42 The Postal Record August 2024 While the union’s official archives are in Detroit, many historical items and files remain in Washington. Some archival materials remain on site for the use of staff and officers as refer- ence materials, while other archival Information Center T he NALC Information Center (IC) has several purposes: to obtain, organize, protect and provide access to the information resources needed by the union’s officers, staff and membership. In order to meet these needs, the IC works in several areas to enhance access to materials with better organization, thorough indexing and metadata, and follow- through of retention schedules and destruction of unnecessary materi- als, all while following the regula- tions and legalities as required. Archives NALC’s official archives have been stored at Walter Reuther Library at Wayne State University since 2001, where a professional staff of archi- vists and technicians safeguard the materials. NALC maintains a relation- ship with Reuther’s staff to evaluate records for future transfers and make current holdings more accessible to officers, staff and members, as well as the labor community. By doing so, NALC’s history will be preserved and made available to a wide audience. Anyone interested in NALC, the Postal Service and its workers, or American labor in general can access this pleth- ora of historical material. Reuther is continuing to process NALC records. Professional archival processing is a painstaking activity and takes time but increases access to the materials by producing finding aids, which help researchers locate specific items of interest. The union’s collection at Reuther includes paper records, memorabilia, photographic images, videos, posters, badges and uniforms. If you go to the Reuther website (reuther.wayne.edu), you’ll see the finding aids to the NALC col- lection and a photo gallery of historic images. These will provide you with some idea of the extent of NALC’s col- lection.
materials remain on site in consider- ation of other projects. The collection of historical artifacts started in earnest with the celebration of the union’s centenary in 1989 and has continued since. We have, among other things: historical organization records, uni- form items from USPS, the Post Office Department and foreign postal servic- es; an almost complete collection of convention badges, dating back to the organizing convention in 1889; pins; buttons; and scrapbooks. Records management As branches should be aware, the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) imposes strict retention requirements on unions on both the local and nation- al level. However, records manage- ment is about more than legalities; records management is a necessary component for a functioning union. The purpose of the records manage- ment program at NALC Headquarters is to organize and preserve the enor- mous amount of material generated by the union while disposing of that which is no longer needed. Although increasing amounts of NALC’s work is done solely in digital format, paper is still a part of the re- cords management process and must be considered properly. Require- ments for records retention—whether practical or legal—and space limita- tions often clash. NALC continues to reinforce its physical record manage- ment standards and ensure timely destruction of material that is no lon- ger needed or legally required. This allows the valuable records storage spaces in the Headquarters build- ing to be used to store only those items that officers and staff may need more convenient and frequent ac- cess to and prevents backlogs that contradict proper records manage- ment practices. Care is always taken to safeguard personal and financial data and other sensitive information when disposing of records. NALC has also strengthened its electronic records retention policy to ensure efficient and ideal usage of
space, optimize retrieval capabilities, eliminate redundancy, and support effective management. This effort includes restructuring and organiz- ing digital files, removal of duplicate and outdated items, and scanning projects to reduce physical space use and enhance successful retrieval. In addition, NALC has acquired a digital asset management system to ensure that items requiring permanent reten- tion are stored in a secure space that also allows for elevated searching, extensive metadata, and fast retrieval, while at the same time providing the ability to remove those materials from NALC’s other storage options. As mentioned above, branch re- cordkeeping is also subject to the LMRDA, and must follow the same general principles that govern re- cords management at the Head- quarters level, if on a smaller scale. Branch Officers’ Training, offered by the secretary-treasurer, provides classes on records management, with the aim to help branches com- ply with LMRDA requirements. Information Center The NALC Information Center holds a large collection of NALC and postal materials, and a smaller amount of general interest and refer- ence sources. The IC maintains cop- ies of all NALC publications, includ- ing all convention materials back to the early 1960s. In preparation for the national convention, this proves useful, as many need to reference past proceedings, officers’ reports and resolutions. In combination with the convention materials, the past Postal Records can trace what happened in every convention of the union’s history, back to the very be- ginning. The resources available in the IC are also used when the union is engaged in bargaining or prepar- ing for arbitration. Among other items, the IC has the transcripts and exhibits from all NALC interest arbi- trations, and those from many of our sister postal unions. One of the most significant parts of the IC collection is postal-related
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker