University of Tasmania, Australia

Information, Classification & Retention Project (ICARP)

The purpose of this project is to review the University’s Business Classification Scheme (BCS)/Thesaurus, Stage 1 and develop a Retention and Disposal Schedule (RDS), Stage 2.

An RDS is a detailed inventory of records created and stored by the University identifying how long records need to be retained and when they can be destroyed or transferred to the Archives Office for permanent retention. The BCS/Thesaurus provides the core foundation for the development of the RDS.

Stage One - Review of BCS/Thesaurus

The purpose of the BCS/Thesaurus is to provide common terminology and assist in consistent classification of records and information across the University. This tool can be utilised by business areas to set up folder structures, both physical and electronic (share drives, emails).

The purpose of publishing the draft BCS/Thesaurus is to provide an opportunity for all areas of the University to view the BCS/Thesaurus in full and to review the terms to ensure they meet the business requirements of the each area.

The Online BCS/Thesaurus is only available through Internet Explorer. You will also need to allow the blocked content otherwise the Function/Activity Tree will not display correctly. When you want to start a new search you will need to go back to the home page which is under the Function/Activity Tree.

The Online BCS/Thesaurus allows you to navigate through three search methods to determine scope notes (description of term and how it is used) and associated broader and narrower terms:

• Full Text Search – searches the Function/Activity/Subjects including scope notes for terms
• Alphabetical List – lists all terms in alphabetical order
• Function/Activity Tree – shows a hierarchical structure.

Invitation to Comment

We invite all staff to provide feedback on the draft BCS/Thesaurus, specifically relating to:

• Functions (top terms) – are scope notes clear and reflect the types of records created and managed under these functions?
• Activities/Sub-Activities – are they linked to the appropriate Function/s? Are the scope notes clear and concise
• Subject Descriptors – are they linked to appropriate Activities and in context with the Functions? Are the scope notes clear and concise?
• Non Preferred Terms – are these linked to acceptable terms?

All comments should be emailed to RMU.Staff@utas.edu.au by the 25th of March, 2011.