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RESULTS - SURVEY: NFPA 232 Records Protection



As promised here are the raw numbers from the survey. Thank you all who
participated. I will be posting over the weekend the comments that appeared
with Questions 5, 9, 14, 16, 17, 18 and 19.

For all questions responses is the actual number of respondents, ration is
the percentage. I just got tired of typing the percent symbol. I will leave
the interpretation of the results up to others, but I do find some
interesting responses. thank you again for taking the survey

NFPA 232 Survey Results

Survey start Monday     2/19/01
Survey closed Thursday  2/22/01
Survey posted to the Archivist and Recmgmt-l listservs

Total Respondents:              142

1. My organization currently stores its records with a commercial records
storage facility.
                                                Responses
Ratio
Yes                                                     65              47%
No                                                      73              53%
Total                                                   138             100%

2. My total records management experience (including archival experience) is

                                                Responses
Ratio
0 - 3 years                                             14              10
4 - 6 years                                             25              18
7 - 10 years                                            26              19
11 - 15 years                                           25              18
16 - 19 years                                           13              9
20 years or more                                                36
26
        Total                                           139             100%


3. My organization currently stores with commercial records facilities a
total volume of (expressed as standard cartons 15x10x12 if other sizes are
stored estimate as standard cartons)
        Responses       Ratio
Less than 1,000         22      16
1,000 to 5,000          10      7
5,001 to 9,999          6       4
10,000 to 14,999                7       5
15,000 to 49,999                10      7
50,000 to 99,999                5       4
over 100,000            11      8
I don't know how much           2       1
Not Applicable          61      46
Total           134     100%


4. My organization stores its records in
        Responses       Ratio%
One single commercial facility  31              22
Multiple commercial facilities in the
Same city       11              8

Mulitple commercial facilities nationwide       21              15

Company owned facility  60              43
Not applicable  16              12
Total   139             100%


5. I am a member of (select all that apply)
        Responses       Ratio%
ARMA International      97              73
Society of American Archivists  35              27
Institute of Certified Records Mgrs (ICRM)      24              18
Academy of Certified Archivists (ACA)   13              10
AIIM    28              21
Records Mgmt Society of Australia       0               0
PRISM International     3               2
Records Mgmt Society of UK      1               1
US Regional archival association
(SSA, MARAC, etc)       24              18
Other Please specify    25              19


6. Prior to this survey
        Responses       Ratio%
I was aware of the NFPA standard for
for records centers     84              60

My current storage provide contacted
me about this issue     0               0

I was not aware of the NFPA standard for
records centers 56              40
Total   140             100%


7. My current storage provider(s) is a member of PRISM International
        Responses       Ratio%
Yes     37              30

No      36              30

I don't know    29              24

What is PRISM International?    20              16

Total   122             100%



8. I own a copy of NFPA 232: Standard for the Protection of Records and have
read it.
        Responses       Ratio
Yes     28              20
No      111             80
Total   139             100%

9. As a records management professional I believe that the protection of
active,
permanent, long-term and vital records from harm or destruction is:
        Responses       Ratio
Very Important  132             94
Important       6               4
Not that important      0               0
A waste of time, effort and money       0               0
Other, Please specify   2               1

Total   140             100%


10. When I store my organization's records with a commercial records center
I
        Responses       Ratio
Expect the highest quality, fire-protected
records storage facility        74              68

Expect the vendor will use "prudent man"
design techniques to insure records
survival and to minimize loss   34              31

Am not concerned with the protections
provided by the vendor for my records   0               0

Am only concerned with low cost storage 1               1
Total   109             100%


11 My primary industry is
        Responses       Ratio
Archives        10              7
Banking 2               1
Communication   1               1
Consultants     8               6
Contractors - Government        5               4
Criminal Justice        0               0
Educational Institution 25              18
Film and News Media     1               1
Government (US Federal, state or local) 35              26
Food, Beverage and Restaurant   0               0
Government (non - US)   3               2
Health Care     5               4
High Tech       2               1
Hotel/Gaming    0               0
Insurance       2               1
Legal Services  6               4
Manufacturing   9               7
Merchandising/Retail    1               1
Petroleum       3               2
Pharmaceutical  2               1
Real Estate     2               1
Records Storage/Destruction Services    1               1
Securities and Investments      1               1
Transportation  2               1
Utilities       11              8
Total   137             100%



12 As a records management professional please rate the following commercial
record center services or features  (percentages are based upon total
responses for each category) (THE FIRST LINE IN EACH CATEGORY IS THE
PERCENTAGE, THE SECOND LINE IS THE ACTUAL NUMBER OF RESPONSES)
        Highly                  Somewhat        Not             N/A
        Desirable       Desirable       Desirable       Desirable

Computer Tape Storage/Rotation  36%     35%             15%     3%
11%
        48      46              20      4               14


Climate-controlled vault        61%     26%             8%      2%
4%
        80      34              10      3               5

Destruction Services    50%     28%             17%     2%              4%
        66      37              22      2               5

Indexing Services       22%     29%             25%     15%             9%
        29      38              33      20              12

24-hour access  31      27              27      11              3
        41      36              36      15              4

Records Mgmt Consulting 5       22              45      17              9
        7       29              60      23              12

Disaster Planning & recov       33      36              23      3
3
        44      48              30      4               4

Guaranteed Delivery time        68      25              4       1
2
        90      33              5       1               1

Temp & Humidity controls        25      42              19      7
5
        33      56              25      9               6

Climate controlled facility     48      29              15      4
4
        64      38              20      5               5

Computer records tracking sys   70      21              3       1
2
        93      28              4       1               2

Magnetic Shielding      44      32              11      2               10
        58      42              15      2               13

Auxiliary Power/backup power    47      37              8       1
5
        62      49              11      1               6

High impact resistant containers        23      42              23      5
5
        31      56              31      6               7

Smoke Detectors 91      6               0       2               1
        120     8               0       2               1

In-rack water sprinklers        59      27              8       4
2
        78      35              11      5               2

Motion Detectors        39      36              18      3               3
        52      47              24      4               4

Water Detectors 67      27              2       2               1
        88      36              3       2               1

Video surveillance system       31      37              22      2
5
        41      49              29      3               6

PRISM Inter. Membership 20      28              24      6               17
        26      37              32      8               22

Intrusion detectors     52      33              8       2               4
        69      44              10      2               5

FIRELOCK vault  43      30              16      2               8
        57      39              21      2               10

Warehouse compartmentalized     62      27              7       1
1
        82      36              9       1               1


13 My current storage vendor is
                Responses       Ratio %
An independent commercial
storage vendor          28              21

A member of a nation-wide
consortium              2               1

A nation-wide company           30              22

A self serve locker             2               1

Not applicable          60              44

Other           14              10

Total           136             100%


14 My organization contracts for the following services
                Responses       Ratio %
Vault storage           37              36
Records Destruction             71              69
Box Storage             67              65
Active Filing           15              15
Tape Rotation           35              34
Other           23              22


15 I live in
                Responses       Ratio %
Australia/New Zealand           0               0
Canada          7               6
Europe          0               0
Africa          1               1
District of Columbia            1               1
Alabama         2               1
Alaska          1               1
Arizona         1               1
Arkansas                0               0
Colorado                5               4
Connecticut             0               0
Delaware                0               0
Florida         1               1
Georgia         2               2
Hawaii          0               0
Illinois                4               3
Indiana         1               1
Iowa            2               2
Kansas          3               2
Kentucky                1               1
Louisiana               1               1
Maine           0               0
Maryland                5               4
Massachusetts           2               2
Michigan                6               5
Minnesota               8               6
Missouri                3               2
Montana         0               0
Nebraska                1               1
Nevada          0               0
New Hampshire           1               1
New Jersey              9               7
New Mexico              1               1
New York                5               4
North Carolina          2               2
North Dakota            3               2
Ohio            4               3
Oklahoma                2               2
Oregon          5               4
Pennsylvania            2               2
Rhode Island            1               1
South Carolina          1               1
South Dakota            0               0
Tennessee               1               1
Texas           12              10
Utah            0               0
Vermont         3               2
Virginia                6               5
Washington              7               6
West Virginia           0               0
Wyoming         2               2
Total           125             100%

16 My current box storage costs are
                Responses       Ratio%
Calculated on a per box basis           36              33
Calculated on a per cubic foot basis            51              47
Other           22              20
Total           109             100%


17 My current responsibilities include (select all that apply)
                Responses       Ratio
Records Inventory and Analysis          120             87
Retention Research              100             72
Retention Schedule Development          103             75
Workflow Analysis               69              50
Needs Assessment and Analysis           89              64
File Room supervision           57              41
Classification System Development               82              59
Forms Management                39              28
Other           56              41


18 For protection purposes an organization's records can be divided into two
types; vital or useful.
The loss of vital records would severely hamper an organization's ability to
operate and therefore
 require extra protection such as vaulting. Useful records accumulate during
normal operations
 and are kept for a time period determined by the responsible party. The
loss of useful records
would temporarily inconvenience an organization but would cause no serious
disadvantage or harm.

                Responses       Ratio

This is a great idea            29              21

This oversimplifies the
records classification process          65              47

This will result in lower records
center design standards         10              7

No opinion              15              11

Other           18              13
Total           137             100%


19 When selecting a commercial records facility I do the following (select
all that apply)
                Responses       Ratio%

Issue an RFP with TOS attached          68              64

Review & inspect each responding
vendor's facility at random without
scheduling an appointment               50              47

Contact current & former customers      68              64

Review all RFP responses with my
organizations legal and financial departments   53              50

Select the first name out of the Yellow pages   0               0

Other           36              34


20 As a records professional I believe that a records center's fire
protection design (select all that apply)
                Responses       Ratio
Should allow for maximum storage capacity                       6
4%
 and lower construction costs by reducing
 security and fire protection.

Should take into consideration that if the records              11
8%
are destroyed by fire their loss will not significantly
 affect the owner of the records and will plan
accordingly

Should take into consideration that stored                      112
81%
 records are important for business continuity
 purposes and that enhanced security
is warranted within the design.

Should consider that records may be stored                      110
79%
for long periods of time and that their status
 as important, vital or required for litigation is
 not always known at the time they are
accessioned into a records center.

Should provide for hierarchical levels of                       110
79%
security wherein the size of storage bays,
the use of enhanced sprinkler protection,
the inclusion of a vault for vital records
 protection are determined by the types
of records being stored
and the needs of the customer.

Should consider that some records                               31
22%
truly require no extra protection
and can be stored in warehouses with
minimal fire protection and their loss
due to fire would be of no concern
to the organization.


Peter A. Kurilecz CRM, CA
Manager, Records Management Group
Woodside Summit Group Inc
Midlothian, Virginia
Office: 804-744-1247 x23
Fax: 804-744-4947
mailto:peter.kurilecz@woodsidesummitgroup.com

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