Is your company moving or are you planning to carry out renovations that will also impact your archive room? Do not panic ! It’s all about organization. Proper preparation for moving your archives is the guarantee of preserving the physical integrity of your documents and your peace of mind. Archives Conseil experts help you draw up a solid plan of attack!
Before moving your archives
It’s no secret that a successful move is a move that has been thought out down to the smallest detail.
So here are some pure logistical questions that need to be answered before D-Day:
- What is the moving date? What human resources are available on this date and for how long?
- Is the new premises accessible without any particular obstacle (steps, doors, narrow threshold, etc.) or should the appropriate equipment be rented? Beware of load breaks!
- What is the volume of archives to be moved?
- Does the new location already have shelving or do you need to move the old ones?
- What will be the budget for this move (purchase of transport and/or storage boxes, rental of hand truck or lift, services of a team of professional movers, etc.)?
- Who will be in charge of the project and reference person on the day of the move? What will everyone’s role be?
As for the archives themselves, consider the few key points below so that you don’t forget any important documents or move unnecessary loads.
- Inform your team of the move well in advance. Your employees will thus be able to ensure that everything that needs to be archived in time.
- Take this opportunity to sort through and eliminate as many obsolete archives as possible.
- Avoid any loss by identifying each box with a unique number referring to the description of its contents (on the box or in a separate spreadsheet document).
During the move of your archives
The boxes are all well identified, the team is complete and you have all the necessary equipment at hand? And, very important, the person in charge of the project is present on site to answer any questions quickly and correctly? All you need is a little elbow grease. Courage !
After moving your archives
Now proceed to inventory the archives by listing the archives present and their exact location. This is essential to identify documents that may be misplaced or even missing. This exercise will also allow you to identify damaged boxes to replace them as soon as possible.
Take advantage of our advice on archived documents!
Do not hesitate ! For all your document archiving, destruction and digitization work, you can trust Archives Conseil and its 40 years of experience in the field! You can contact our team of professional archivists by e-mail at info@archivesconseil.be or fill out our contact form on our website to request a free quote.
—