CMC Records Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which federal law gives citizens the right to request access to federal agency records?
- Privacy Act
- Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (Correct answer)
- Federal Records Act
- Government in the Sunshine Act
Correct answer: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) grants the public the right to request access to records held by federal executive agencies.
Question 2: What is a 'vital record' in the context of municipal records management?
- A record created by health department staff
- A record essential to resume operations after a disaster (Correct answer)
- A record that must be signed by the mayor
- A record older than 50 years
Correct answer: A record essential to resume operations after a disaster
Vital records are those essential to the organization's ability to function and recover operations during or after an emergency.
Question 3: A municipal clerk receives a public records request that includes emails containing deliberative policy discussion. Under most state sunshine laws, these emails are likely:
- Exempt as internal communications
- Fully disclosable with no redactions
- Subject to deliberative process privilege and potentially exempt (Correct answer)
- Automatically destroyed after 30 days
Correct answer: Subject to deliberative process privilege and potentially exempt
Deliberative process privilege often protects pre-decisional, internal policy discussions from mandatory disclosure under public records laws.
Question 4: Which retention schedule category typically applies to routine administrative correspondence with no long-term value?
- Permanent
- Long-term (25+ years)
- Short-term (1-3 years) (Correct answer)
- Archival
Correct answer: Short-term (1-3 years)
Routine administrative correspondence with no legal, fiscal, or historical value is typically assigned a short-term retention period of one to three years.
Question 5: What does the term 'series' mean in archival and records management practice?
- A numbered set of policy manuals
- A group of related records filed together as a unit (Correct answer)
- Sequential page numbering in a document
- Annual volumes of meeting minutes
Correct answer: A group of related records filed together as a unit
A records series is a group of related records arranged under a single filing system and evaluated as a unit for retention purposes.
Question 6: When digitizing paper records, which practice best ensures long-term authenticity of the electronic copies?
- Scanning at 72 DPI to save storage
- Applying metadata and checksums at time of capture (Correct answer)
- Naming files by date scanned only
- Deleting originals immediately after scanning
Correct answer: Applying metadata and checksums at time of capture
Applying descriptive metadata and cryptographic checksums at capture creates a verifiable chain of custody and authenticity for digitized records.
Question 7: Under a typical municipal records retention schedule, financial audit reports are most commonly retained for:
- 1 year
- 3 years
- 7 years
- Permanently (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Permanently
Audit reports documenting the fiscal condition of a public entity are typically retained permanently due to their historical and accountability value.
CMC Records Management 2
Which federal law gives citizens the right to request access to federal agency records?