Procedures for Transferring Records to the New York State Archives

Memorandum of Transfer of Records form

1. If the records have been scheduled for transfer to the State Archives pursuant to a Records Disposition Authorization (RDA) and the minimum retention period has expired, contact the State Archives’ Accessioning & Special Project Unit (518) 474-5135 to make arrangements for their transfer.
2. If the records have not been scheduled for final disposition by an approved RDA contact the State Archives’ Records Scheduling Unit (recmgmt@nysed.gov) to arrange to have the records appraised and scheduled for final disposition.
3. Prior to the physical transfer of the records to the State Archives, agency staff must provide a brief description of the contents of each box (known as a container listing) that will be transferred to the State Archives. Please use the container list template for this purpose and refer to the guidelines for developing container lists which provide examples of best practices when describing records. The completed container listing can then be sent to State Archives staff as an email attachment. The State Archives will also accept container listings in hard copy.
4. When labeling the boxes, please include the following: agency, RDA number, box number (making sure this matches what is on the transfer/container list), brief description of content (e.g., series title or "Correspondence A-G"), and date range.
5. Complete the Memorandum of Transfer of Records form. After completing the appropriate sections, print the form out and sign it. The form can be mailed separately to the Accessioning & Special Projects Unit or it may be included in the first box of the records to be transferred. Once the records have been processed and cataloged, a signed copy of the Transfer of Memorandum of Records will be mailed to agency’s Records Management Officer for their files.