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I posted this directly to the Archives List...
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In my 15 years of membership in ARMA, I have never heard anyone in a
position of responsibility at ARMA ever speak something like that in so
broad a context. So, from the standpoint that "ARMA" is making statements
like that, I would tend to think that is not the case. That does not
preclude the possibility that this sales person has talked to records
managers who had that approach to all records and somehow extended those
statements to some sort of blanket approach for all records managers and
ARMA members.
However, something to keep in mind is that for most business records,
retention periods do not exceed ten years and the climate in which the paper
records are maintained is not particularly critical (that doesn't mean that
I will store records in a sauna -- I would be most unhappy to find records
coming back moldy). That also does not mean that I would place archival
records or records with longer retention periods in standard offsite
storage. Furthermore, other types of media (fiche, magentic, CD ROM, etc.)
always require climate control.
So, I would gather that the context of the statement, "Oh, heat doesn't
really have any effect on paper." really means, "If you are storing paper
records for the relatively short (i.e. not more than 10 years) period of
time that most records managers are accustomed to, heat will have minimal
effect on the readability of the documents over that time period." That
context should never justify storage facilities with wide and rapid
fluctuations in temperature, with excessive heat or cold, or with excessive
humidity (if the shelving has condensation, that is a really bad sign). I
would further not use a facility without proper fire detection and
protection, security systems, and general cleanliness. In Texas and Florida,
among other places, you do want to see how the facility combats excessive
humidity.
NARA has new guidelines for offsite storage of Federal records by commercial
records centers and NARA's guidelines stipulate climate control for all
records. It would be cost-prohibitive for my company to require those
guidelines as the vast majority of our records are disposed of within ten
years of creation.
Hope this helps you understand a records manager's perspective...
Patrick Cunningham, CRM
Corporate Records Manager (and Archivist, except nobody knows that)
Hewitt Associates, LLC
Lincolnshire, IL
List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
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