Working With Vital Records

Vital records contain information without which an organization could not operate and that is subject to periodic review and update. Examples of vital records are emergency operating records or legal and financial records.

Record series and record folders contain a vital records property to indicate status and need for review. When the vital record property is set on an existing record series, newly created record folders under it will inherit the vital status property, but existing record folders will not be affected unless you select the Apply changes to child record series and record folders option. Learn more about record series or record folder properties.

Marking Vital Records

To mark a record series or record folder as containing vital records

  1. Open the Laserfiche Windows client and log in to the appropriate repository as a user with the Records Management privilege.
  2. Select the record series or record folder you want to mark as containing vital records.
  3. From the Records drop-down menu, select View Record Properties.
  4. In the Record Series/Folder Properties dialog box, select Designate records within this collection as vital.
  5. Perform one of the following:
    • To specify that these records should be reviewed according to a review cycle, select Review Cycle and then select a review cycle. (Review cycles are defined in the Laserfiche Administration Console.)
    • To specify that these records should be reviewed according to a particular time interval, select Review Interval, then specify Day(s) or Month(s) and specify a number of days or months for the interval.
  6. Optional: In the Record Series Properties dialog box, choose Apply changes to child record series and record folders option to apply this change to existing record series and folders within this record series.
  7. Click OK.

To mark a record series or record folder as containing vital records

  1. Open the web client and log in to the appropriate repository as a user with the Records Management privilege.
  2. Select the record series or record folder you want to mark as containing vital records.
  3. From the Records drop-down menu, select View Record Properties.
  4. In the Record Series/Folder Properties dialog box, select Designate records within this collection as vital.
  5. Perform one of the following:
    • To specify that these records should be reviewed according to a review cycle, select Review Cycle and then select a review cycle. (Review cycles are defined in the Laserfiche Administration Console.)
    • To specify that these records should be reviewed according to a particular time interval, select Review Interval, then specify Day(s) or Month(s) and specify a number of days or months for the interval.
  6. Optional: In the Record Series Properties dialog box, choose Apply changes to child record series and record folders option to apply this change to existing record series and folders within this record series.
  7. Click OK.

Note: Marking a record series as containing vital records will affect record series and folders created in that series in the future, and can affect already-created child series and folders if you select Apply changes to child record series and record folders. Marking a record folder as containing vital records will affect only that record folder.

Reviewing Vital Records

Vital records require periodic review. Laserfiche helps track vital record review cycles, helping you review records on a consistent basis. To quickly locate vital records, see Searching for Vital Records.

To mark a vital record as being reviewed

  1. Open the Laserfiche Windows client and log in to the appropriate repository as a user with the Set Last Review Date entry access right on the entry in question.
  2. Select the record(s) you want to review.
    • To simultaneously review multiple records, highlight the appropriate records, or push CTRL while selecting the records you want.
  3. From the Records menu, select Review Vital Record.
  4. In the Review Vital Record dialog box, select This record has been reviewed.
  5. Under This record was last reviewed on date, select the appropriate date on which the record was reviewed.
  6. Optional: You can calculate the next review date by clicking View Projected Dates. The Calculate Review Dates dialog box will open.
  7. Click OK.

To mark a vital record as being reviewed

  1. Open the web client and log in to the appropriate repository as a user with the Set Last Review Date entry access right on the entry in question.
  2. Select the record you want to review.
    • To simultaneously review multiple records, highlight the appropriate records, or push CTRL while selecting the records you want.
  3. From the Records menu, select Review Vital Record.
  4. In the Review Vital Record dialog box, select This record has been reviewed.
  5. Under This record was last reviewed on date, select the appropriate date on which the record was reviewed.
  6. Click OK.

Calculate Review Dates

Vital records must be periodically reviewed according to a set cycle. The ClosedCalculate Review Dates dialog box allows you to propose a review date for vital records and see when those vital records will require another review based on the proposed date.

To calculate review dates

  1. Select the vital record(s) you want to view a projected date on, and then open the Review Vital Record dialog box by selecting Review Vital Record from the Records drop-down menu.
  2. Click View Projected Dates to open the Calculate Review Dates dialog box.
  3. Enter a proposed review date to see an automatically calculated Next Review Date.

To calculate review dates

  1. Select the vital record(s) you want to view a projected date on, and then open the Review Vital Record dialog box by selecting Review Vital Record from the Records drop-down menu.
  2. Click View Projected Dates to open the Calculate Review Dates dialog box.
  3. Enter a proposed review date to see an automatically calculated Next Review Date.

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