Most BGSU employees use computers during their workday. A growing number are using phones, tablets, and other devices to access their email accounts. Email is a vital tool used by the University for a multitude of activities.

Properly managing emails cuts down on storage, is more efficient, and allows the user to retain emails for the appropriate amount of time. Even though email is not a record type or series, it is a means of conveying information. Records can be captured in endless ways: paper, microfilm, and emails are all possibilities. The type of format the record is in does not determine its retention; it’s all about the content! Retention is based upon the content of the email message, not the fact that it is an email message.

Most emails are considered correspondence, and fall into one of the following three categories (consult your office’s official records retention schedule for official retention periods and dispositions):

1. Most emails (85%) are considered routine or transient records, meaning that they can be disposed of right away or until they no longer have any value to the user. They should not be kept longer than necessary, and can be deleted from your email client. Transient emails include: referral letters, requests for routine information or publications, and general information provided to the public by an agency that are answered by standard form letters. Every employee deals with transient correspondence.

2. A smaller percentage of emails (10%) are considered general correspondence and can be deleted from your email client after a minimum of one year. After the one year has passed, these records should not be kept longer than necessary. General correspondence includes internal letters and memos; also correspondence from various individuals, companies, and organizations requesting information pertaining to agency and legal interpretations and other miscellaneous inquiries. This correspondence is informative, (it does not attempt to influence policy). Every employee deals with general correspondence.

3. The smallest percentage of emails (5%) is considered executive correspondence. Executive correspondence deals with significant aspects of the administration of the offices. It includes information on policy, program, fiscal or personnel matters. Usually, executive correspondence is dealt with by the President, Provost, Vice Presidents, Directors, Department Heads, and Deans.This type of correspondence should be kept by the user for a minimum of 3 years. The employee could retain these emails in his or her email client or could export the emails as PDFs to be stored on a shared drive. Either way, after 3 years the emails should be checked to see if they have any value to the employee. If they do, they can be retained - if not, they must be deleted.

Some executive correspondence is collected and preserved by the University Archives, specifically correspondence of the President and the various Vice Presidents. These emails need to be retained by the user until an appraisal can be conducted by the University Archives. Once an appraisal is done, University Archives will harvest the emails or delete them.

Organizing your emails through the tools available in your email client allows for many benefits, including proper retention and disposition of emails.

The first step in properly managing and organizing your emails is to purge your client of transient and routine messages, that way you are left with a small percentage that actually needs to be managed and retained for a specific amount of time. Approach email the same way you would approach regular mail at home.

Open the message and review its content. This may mean reading the entire message, but often it is possible to categorize a message with a cursory look at the content, subject line, and/or the sender to determine if the message is transient or a non-record.

If it is a non-record (spam), delete it right away.
If it is a transient or routine record, place it in a folder or sub-folder designated for periodic review and delete the message as soon as it is no longer of value to you. All transient messages could be placed in a “Transient” folder or you could create several “Transient” sub-folders to be placed under general folders for specific projects or subjects.
If it is general or executive correspondence, move it to a folder designated by the specific project or subject, the retention time, or other logical filing schema.
The Microsoft Outlook email client is capable of creating folders and sub-folders for messages to be filed into. This can be done by clicking on the Folder tab located on the top ribbon of the client, and then selecting “New Folder”. A screen will appear where you can name your folder (you may want to include the retention period as well). It will also give you the option to place the folder under another folder, essentially creating a sub-folder.
Folders and sub-folders should be deleted when their retention period is over and the emails have no more value to you. Most correspondence placed in folders is general correspondence, so it would be retained for a minimum of one year and then deleted. You can manually delete the folder or set up retention periods that will automatically delete messages from the folder when their retention is met.

Automatic retention policies can be set up by clicking on the Folder tab located on the top ribbon of the client. This should only be used for general correspondence. Highlight the folder you want to apply a retention policy to, and then click on “Folder Properties” at the top ribbon. In the “Completed Properties” window, click on the “Policy” tab. For “Folder Policy”, select “1 Year Delete” from the drop-down menu and click OK. Messages in that folder will be automatically deleted one year from their creation.

If you need to keep emails long-term (several years) because they have continuing value to you, they can be exported from Microsoft Outlook to a PDF format. This will allow your email client to remain clutter free. The PDF can be saved to a shared drive where it can be accessed and eventually deleted when the correspondence is no longer of value to you.

For PC:

To export emails to PDF, right-click on the folder containing the emails and select "Convert [Folder Name] to Adobe PDF." This will create an indexed PDF of all of the emails in that folder.
To export one email thread to PDF, open the email and click File - Print. Set the Printer to Adobe PDF, and the email thread will be saved.
Make sure emails exported as PDFs are then deleted from the email client. Saving exported emails in the email client defeats the purpose. When the messages are no longer of value to you, make sure they are deleted from the location they were saved to.

For Mac:

Unfortunately, Mac users will have less functionality when working with Outlook. To export emails, highlight specific emails and drag them to a folder on the shared drive. Each email will be titled automatically by the subject heading, and will be in .eml format. The .eml format can only be opened by the Outlook program. These files will not be searchable. As more options become available to Mac users, this section will be updated.

Here is an example of an organized email client:

This email client is organized using several folders and sub-folders. Many of these folders have years included in their title. Since all transient emails are being deleted once they are no longer of value, the messages in these folders is all considered general correspondence. The only exception would be the Executive Correspondence folders.

The folders are categorized by a specific project that user is currently working on, a daily or common task that he or she regularly performs, committees or groups that he or she is a part of, and other logical groupings. All of the messages in these folders pertain to the subject of their specific folder, and most likely they are all general correspondence.

For all the folders except the Executive Correspondence ones, the messages can be deleted after one year. So, if the user assumes that the latest message in a folder labeled with the year 2013 is dated 12/31/2013, that folder and all of its content can be deleted on 12/31/2014. This can be done manually or automatically using previously mentioned automated policies.

For executive correspondence, the user knows that his office’s records retention schedule says he should keep it in his email client for 3 years, and then contact University Archives to have them appraise it. If the user is a dean or department head, University Archives will most likely give the user further instruction as to how they can send their emails to the Archives.

This is only an example. Any filing schema that works for one's office/organization and allows that unit to effectively manage the life cycle of the record is an acceptable practice of email management.

If you or your office requires direct assistance, contact the University Records Management Program.

Phone: 419.372.2411

Email: archive@bgsu.edu

Location: 5th Floor, Jerome Library

Tips & Hints

- It’s easier to implement these policies right away, rather than trying to play catch up. Still, catching up is better than doing nothing at all.

- Email is not the only form of communication. Pick up the phone or talk to someone in person. Often times, you will accomplish a lot more a lot quicker.

- If a record is attached to an email, the email’s retention does not change. If an invoice (retention = 4 years) is attached to an email (general correspondence = 1 year), the email still only needs to be retained for one year. The invoice is a copy, and therefore can be deleted right away.

- Remember to empty your deleted items folder daily or adjust your settings to have it emptied automatically.