Records Management – guidance note Version control The University produces many documents, held on the internet, intranet and shared drives. Many of these documents, especially policies or strategies, go through different stages of development when being written, where input is given from multiple members of staff. Subsequent to approval or publication, documents can be amended or updated. We need to ensure that staff viewing documents are able to know that they are looking at the most up to date versions. Version control is a way of enabling this by recording the history of a document in the title and in the text. The following, based on the principles of the University’s Records Management Policy, offers guidance on version control and naming conventions. Version control and the life‐cycle of a document This diagram illustrates the life‐cycle of a document that requires collaboration and approval, such as a policy or strategy. Version control in the document title In collaboration, the correct version number should be included in the document title, for example ‘Records Management Policy v0.3’. After approval, “v1.0” should be used on a final document. Version control in the document text A document should include a revision history which summarises the changes made to a document. The revision history should be at the start of the document and look something like this: Revision History Date Version Reason for change Jan 2011 0.1 Initial draft Feb 2011 0.2 Updated after comments on section 2 from Anne Green Mar 2011 0.3 Substantive changes to structure and sections 3 and 4 added by Mike Jones before submission to board Apr 2011 1.0 Approved by board at Apr 8 meeting Mar 2012 1.1 Annual review, minor changes made to reflect legislation Apr 2012 2.0 Amendments approved by the board Author John Smith John Smith Mike Jones Mike Jones Mike Jones Mike Jones Identify an ‘owner’ for a collaborative document In the case of drafting an important document, have one person responsible for the overall version control. This may require the collation of versions of the document with track changes, emails with text comments etc. These inputs should be integrated into a ‘clean version’ of the document. Retaining drafts and supreceded versions
Previous versions should be retained for as long as business use requires it. In many cases it may be appropriate to destroy previous versions at the point of approval. A business area may want to retain an earlier version for knowledge management purposes. For example, if passages of valuable research or detail were included in earlier drafts but removed at the point of approval for brevity and clarity, they may still be useful for a member of staff in terms of knowledge, whilst not being required for the final policy. In this case the earlier drafts can be retained. Version control of meeting minutes Meeting minutes are some of the most important records we produce as a University, evidencing the decisions we make. In records management terms there is an emphatic approval or ‘declaration’ moment when previous minutes are reviewed and approved at the start of each meeting. In the case of minutes, it is likely that the ‘creation’ stage will be a first draft drawn up by the minute taker. The ‘collaboration’ stage is likely to consist of provisional minutes being circulated for comment and a short discussion at the following meeting where the minutes are approved. The minutes will now stand as the record of that meeting. It is unlikely that, in the case of minutes, the 0.1, 0.2 system would be required. ‘Draft’ and ‘Agreed’ may be more appropriate in this case. University of London Records management Records Responsibility Risk Retention Rights Records are the evidence of our actions and decisions as a University Keeping accurate records is the responsibility of every member of staff There are risks around records (loss, damage, unauthorised access) which need to be managed We should keep our records only as long as they are relevant or as long as we are required to by law The public has a right to access our records under legislation such as FOI and DPA UoL website link: http://www.london.ac.uk/955.html Staff intranet link: https://intranet.london.ac.uk/3632.html Email: Records.management@london.ac.uk