Records Management provides efficient, cost-effective permanent and temporary storage of research and reference services for permanent and inactive records held to meet legal, fiscal or administrative requirements of the City of Columbia.

The City of Columbia complies with the Public Records Act of 1990, Code of Laws of South Carolina 1976, Sections 30-1-10 through 30-1-180, as amended.  The South Carolina Department of Archives and History and the City of Columbia are legally charged with the responsibility for overseeing the care and maintenance of all city records. This mandate requires the Archives and the City of Columbia to insure that older, historical records are preserved satisfactorily, whether by microfilming, transfer to an archival repository, application of special restoration treatments or a combination of the above. Similarly, the records of short-term value must be identified and disposed of in accordance with an orderly timetable, allowing each record sufficient time to outlive all administrative usefulness or value before transfer to an inactive records storage center for a specified period of time, or immediate destruction.

In addition, the Records Storage Facility stores over 4,000 permanent, temporary and inactive boxed records for city departments and divisions.

Management techniques are applied to the creation, use, maintenance, retention, preservation, and disposition of records to reduce costs and create efficiency in record keeping. This includes the management of imaging, filing and microfilming equipment; filing and information retrieval systems; files, correspondence, reports and forms; historical documentation; retention scheduling and vital records protection.