Best Practices for Organizing Archival Boxes

Table Of Contents:

• Use Proper Labeling for Easy Reference
• Store Documents Correctly in the Boxes
• Get the Right-Sized Archival Boxes for Documents
• Use Folders and Sleeves for Paper Preservation
• Keep in Mind Paper Types and Materials
• Use Additional Inventory Tracking (Like Spreadsheets or Binders)
• Make Sure the Environment Is Conducive
• Review Your Archival Documents Regularly
• Outsource Document Storage to the Professionals

Proper organization not only prevents this loss and damage but also saves you time when retrieving paper records from your archive document storage. And, if you’re storing business or historical records, a strong system of organization can help ensure compliance with recordkeeping standards.

What does proper document storage and archiving actually look like? There are a few key components to effectively storing and organizing documents. Discover how to organize archives for your business. 

Use Proper Labeling for Easy Reference

It’s impossible to overstate the importance of clear, consistent labeling on your archival boxes for documents. While it may be more convenient at first to just toss paper documents in boxes with vague or nonexistent labels, that’s not an effective strategy for long-term document storage. 

Without proper labeling, the next time you try to find a crucial document, you’ll have to spend lots of extra time hunting it down. Instead, take a little time up front to create a labeling system and apply it to each new storage box. 

Your labels can include whatever information you think is most relevant and useful for retrieval, but try to include details such as:

• Box numbers
• The contents of each box
• Dates
• Department or project names

Details like these will make it much easier to understand which documents you have and where they are stored. 

• Try using printed labels instead of handwritten ones
• Use color-coded labels for better visibility at a glance
• Remember to make a key for the colors 

Store Documents Correctly in the Boxes

Even the way you physically place your archival documents in boxes matters for paper preservation. Apply best practices on how to store documents, such as:

• Keeping the files upright rather than stacked on top of each other in the boxes
• Not overpacking the files 
• Grouping documents by category or date

These might sound like small details, but being mindful of how you place documents in the boxes makes a big difference to how the paper wears over time. If you stack archive paper incorrectly or overcrowd boxes with too many papers, you’re more likely to see warping, tears, and deterioration. 

Get the Right-Sized Archival Boxes for Documents

Before you purchase any archival boxes, consider which size will best fit the documents you’re storing and the space where you plan to store them. Standard paper storage boxes are often 12” wide x 15” long x 10” tall. Boxes this size will typically hold between 2,000 and 2,500 sheets of paper, depending on the type of paper and whether you’re using file folders or spacers. 

However, you can find boxes in a wide variety of sizes to fit your needs. For example, if you need to store oversized papers like maps or blueprints, it’s worth purchasing larger boxes designed for papers of that size. That way, you don’t have to worry about damaging the documents by forcing them into boxes that are too small. 

Use Folders and Sleeves for Paper Preservation

You can store papers loose in archival boxes for documents, but they’re safer and easier to find if you use folders. Specifically, acid-free paper folders protect your documents while helping to prevent brittleness and yellowing by neutralizing acids. Acid-free envelopes or sleeves can also be effective. 

With possibly thousands of papers per box, folders can provide advantages such as:

• Create sub-groups of your documents to maintain order
• Eliminate the need to shuffle through all the paper in the box
• Protect fragile materials from handling damage

Keep in Mind Paper Types and Materials

There’s an incredible amount of variety in the types of paper a business may want to store and organize. Not all papers are created equal, either. Some, like newsprint or thermal receipts, degrade faster than others. 

When you’re creating your plan for storing documents, make sure you account for these different paper types. 

• Separate delicate or chemically unstable materials from standard office paper
• Use archival-quality supplies to minimize decay

Use Additional Inventory Tracking (Like Spreadsheets or Binders)

Depending on how many documents you’re storing, you can quickly accumulate a lot of storage boxes. The more storage boxes you have, the harder it is to track documents solely with labels. 

Try using an additional inventory tracking method to help you find the documents you need faster. It may take a little more time to set up additional tracking initially, but it will pay off, especially as your document storage expands. 

One option is a separate physical inventory log that records what’s stored in each box. Alternatively, you can use a digital log in spreadsheets or databases to track box numbers, categories, and storage locations. These inventory tracking tools will be very useful for fast document retrieval and auditing. 

Make Sure the Environment Is Conducive

Even if you have the perfect storage boxes filled with carefully placed documents, you can still run into trouble if you store the boxes in the wrong environment. It’s easy to overlook environmental factors like temperature, humidity, and light exposure, but they make a big difference in how well your documents stay preserved over time. 

So where should you store records? Make sure you choose an environment that meets these conditions:

• A consistent temperature between 68°F/20°C and 76°F/24.4°C
• Humidity levels between 35% and 55%
• No excess light exposure, especially natural light

Climate-controlled storage facilities like Corodata help ensure that your documents are never exposed to extreme temperatures that can damage them. 

Review Your Archival Documents Regularly

Businesses store documents to ensure they can access those records in the future, whether for an audit or just for reference. However, you don’t always end up needing the papers you choose to add to storage. And if you never review your archival documents, you can accumulate a lot of extra unnecessary papers, making proper storage and organization more difficult. That’s why it’s important to periodically review your stored materials to make sure they’re still relevant and in proper condition.

Set a review schedule, such as an annual or bi-annual review. During the reviews, go through your documents to:

• Remove duplicates
• Dispose of obsolete documents
• Digitize key records, especially those at risk of physically degrading
• Make sure your secondary inventory tracking system is up-to-date with all necessary metadata

These reviews will help you establish better document lifecycle management.

Outsource Document Storage to the Professionals

For many businesses, handling document storage in-house can be tedious and costly. It’s challenging to find the time and resources to devote to properly storing and organizing your archival documents. 

Luckily, there is an attractive alternative: outsourcing to a professional document storage and management service like Corodata. When you work with a reliable records management company, you know that your records are safe and secure in climate-controlled environments.