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Guide to decoding NIH Grant Numbers - a helpful resource for understanding what information can be gleaned just from an NIH grant number (type, year, etc.).

Personnel Restriction

Employee personnel recordsare defined in the GRS (0675) as “Records include applications, vitae, appointment forms, job descriptions, documentation of background screening (see Notes), personnel actions, performance evaluations, professional development records, awards, commendations, recommendations, reprimands, and notices of disciplinary action as applicable to regular employees and those on independent contracts.”Faculty personnel records (GRS 0705)include “curricula vitae, letters of recommendation, offer letters, contracts and understandings, acceptance letters, appointment forms, course descriptions, performance evaluations, professional development records, faculty planning sheets, promotion and tenure review decision records, sabbatical leave requests and reports, vacation and sick leave records, awards, commendations, and letters of resignation." Personnel records should be restricted “in kind” for affiliated hospitals and other non-Harvard organizations.

When screening folders for restrictions, processors may restrict a folder on the basis of one item that contains PHI or PII. However, personnel records are defined by their function as a compilation of records that document a person’s employment, including applications, offer letters, evaluative records, firing records, salary information, etc.   

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A person’s salary or job performance should not be thought of as inherently private.  

See alsoExample: Redacted Names

Legal Restrictions

Mary Ellen Wohl papers, Series IIIC. Personnel.  

• “Consists of files kept by Wohl on employees of Boston Children’s Hospital or those from other institutions for whom Wohl wrote letters of recommendation. The majority of the material is correspondence.”  

• All files in this sub-subseries are restricted; names redacted.  

See also: Redacted Names

Legal Restrictions

Student Records

If there are records in the collection governed by any other legal (state or federal) mandate that is known or easily identified, records should be closed in compliance with that mandate. Official student records should not be accepted as part of a collection. The Family Educational Rights and Protection Act (FERPA -- 34 CFR Part 99) protects a student’s right to privacy and provides a mechanism to ensure the accuracy of these confidential materials. Close official transcripts, official recommendations, correspondence (or other form of a request) about grade changes, and any other records that document official student business should be closed for 80 years.

Some records are /wiki/spaces/capp/pages/55972218. (Note that the first example–"Records which are kept in the sole possession of the maker of the records, are used only as a personal memory aid, and are not accessible or revealed to any other person except a temporary substitute for the maker of the records."–does not exempt records in Center collections, because Center collections are maintained for access, not "as a personal memory aid.") In addition, FERPA acknowledges that "schools may disclose, without consent, "directory" information such as a student's name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance." 

Student records that may appear in manuscript collections includeacademic program admission records (GRS 3250);scholarships, fellowships, and awards application records (GRS 3800);student exams (GRS 4220); scholarships, fellowships, and awards recipients records (GRS 4280); degree recommendation records (GRS 4120); fellow records (GRS 4275);and official course and grade records (GRS 4050). 

Corporate Restrictions

Determining corporate restrictions depends on several factors. Ideally, discussions about corporate restrictions would occur with the donor during accessioning. According to the Harvard Business School (HBS) Archives, researchers predominantly want access to meeting minutes, Board of Directors records, agendas, and company correspondence; however, there are no restriction standards for these types of corporate records. HBS recommends that during donor negotiations, the donor should be encouraged to leave these records open.

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Folder titles containing restricted information should be redacted in the box and folder list ONLY.  The most frequently redacted information types are patient identifications (always redacted), and personnel and student names, where they appear on files containing personnel- or student-related content. See the Listing section for more detailed redaction instructions.

If a large group of folders require redaction and the folders all contain similar content, consider batch-listing the folders. If you do choose to batch-list a group of folders, you should provide an explanation of the decision in the processing note for the relevant series or sub-series in the finding aid. See the Listing section for more detailed batch-listing instructions.