Transferring Agency Records – FAQ
At the Massachusetts Archives, we store and maintain state records with lasting historical value. State agency records that are required to be retained permanently can be transferred to the Archives once they are no longer in active use.
See below for some of the most common questions that state agencies may have about transferring records.
For all other questions, email accessions@sec.state.ma.us for more information.
What happens after I initiate a transfer to the Massachusetts Archives?
Our Archives staff will work with you to confirm the contents of your transfer and make sure that your transfer form, the MA-T form, is filled out properly. A detailed inventory of boxes and their contents can help the process.
If possible, we will arrange to have the records picked up from your office. Depending on the quantity, this may be done in one day or in increments. If a transfer is very large, you may need to arrange to have the records delivered to the Archives facility. Our building is equipped with a loading dock that can accommodate box trucks.
We will issue a signed transfer agreement, verifying the transfer of custody of the records. A copy will be provided to you.
The records will be assessed for any preservation concerns, and they may be reorganized or re-boxed to make them easier to use and kept safe for long-term storage. The boxes will be rehoused in our secure, temperate, and humidity-controlled vault storage space.
The records will be assigned an agency code and a unique series number identifier. Our staff will research and write a series description to help users understand the records and their creation. This information will be added to our internal cataloging system.
What if our records contain information that is restricted under state law?
Records that have been transferred to the Archives are still subject to restrictions under state law. Archives staff act as public records officers for records under their care, and are familiar with working with restricted records.
Inform our staff if you believe some of your material should not be fully accessible for research. We will work with you and our General Counsel to understand the restrictions and make sure the record series is properly labeled in our content management system. If records can be released with redactions, our Reference Staff will make those determinations when questions arise.
What if I need to access the records I’ve transferred to the Archives?
You should wait to transfer your records to the Archives until they’re no longer being actively used. Once records are transferred, they become the custody of the Archives and they cannot be returned to your agency.
In most cases, for the safety of the records, if an agency needs to access them again, we’d ask you to arrange to visit the Archives to view them in our Reading Room. Alternatively, you can request copies or scans of specific documents from our Reference Department.
If you receive a public records request from a member of the public for material that’s been transferred, you can direct the requester to our Reference Department for a response.
What if my records are in digital format?
We can accept permanent state records in a variety of formats, including digital files. The Massachusetts Archives Digital Repository is an access and preservation environment for born digital and digitized state records.
Why should I transfer digital records to the Massachusetts Archives?
The retention requirement for a record is based on the content of the record, rather than on its form. Digital (or electronic) records are required to follow state law on their retention, in the same manner as paper records.
If a record has permanent retention and is only available in a digital format, you must be able to produce that record at any time in the future – whether 10 or 200 years from now. We have the capability to preserve your digital records, securely, into the future. This takes the work and cost of long-term electronic storage and maintenance off your agency’s hands.
What digital records does the Massachusetts Archives take?
We take both born-digital (records with no physical component) and digitized records (physical records that have been made digital). If you are sending physical records to the Archives that you have digitized, we recommend you send the digital records at that time.
We accept textual documents, spreadsheets and databases, images, video, audio, email, and more. We take all file types, but some of the most common include .doc, .xslx, .pdf, .jpg, .tif, .mp4, .csv, and .ppt.
We do not accept locked files. We must be able to review all records we receive.
As with physical records, we can only take records deemed permanent by the Statewide Records Retention Schedule. We can only accept records that also no longer have administrative use by your agency or department.
How should I prepare my digital records for transfer?
- Step 1: Review records for retention. We only accept records deemed permanent by the Statewide Retention Schedule.
- Step 2: Move permanent records to a staging area. A staging area can be a new separate folder, a hard drive, or a flash drive. When possible, move files to new storage using a lossless transfer method to avoid degradation or corruption of files. One option for lossless transfer include the built in Windows utility Robocopy. For other options you may need to reach out to your office I.T. department.
- Step 3: Arrange or organize files into folders, as applicable to internal organization structure. For example, you might organize records alphabetically, by date, topic, or in some other way. For help with file naming please see our File Naming Guide.
- Step 4: Document what you’re transferring. We recommend using a spreadsheet to organize the records by: folder and recording department; type of record (ex: road plans, license applications, public announcements, etc.); date range of documents; number of sub folders; number of files; size of files or folders. Keep a copy of this document for your department and send another copy along with your files.
- Step 5: Submit a completed MA-T Permanent Record Transfer Form to the Archives.
For clarification or assistance with any of these steps, please reach out to our digital archivists at Elizabeth.OConnell@sec.state.ma.us or Yolande.Bennett@sec.state.ma.us.
How should I deliver my permanent digital records to the Archives?
Transfer methods for documents include mail, in-person delivery or pickup of hard storage devices (flash drives or external hard drives), or direct upload, by you, to the secure cloud-based holding area of our digital repository.
What happens to your digital records once the transfer is complete?
Once you transfer your digital records, our digital team will begin working to document, describe, preserve, and (if eligible) make your records accessible to the public. This process takes time, depending on size and complexity of records transferred, as well as staff availability.
Once the digital team has processed your records, they will be uploaded to our secure digital repository. For questions about the security of records, please contact our digital archivists, at Elizabeth.OConnell@sec.state.ma.us or Yolande.Bennett@sec.state.ma.us for more information.