Electronic Records | Records Management Services

Are electronic documents and information records?Yes! Any information created or received by the University of Washington is considered a record, regardless of physical format or characteristic.Examples of electronic records include: emails, websites, Word/Excel documents, digital purchase receipts, databases, text messages, social media postings, and information stored on SharePoint sites and content management systems (Catalyst, Slack, DropBox, etc.). Electronic records must be retained according to a legally approved records retention schedule. Electronic records have the same record series (type of record) and retention period as their paper equivalent. This includes records stored in email, shared drives, the cloud, on laptops and cell phones, even ones created on personally-owned devices.If your office scans records with the intention of destroying the original paper document (includingAriba attachments), you must have a scanning policy on file with our office. Click here to lear...