Disposition of Federal Records: A Records Management Handbook
2000 Web Edition (of 1997 printed publication)
Disposition of Federal Records - Table of Contents
II. Records Identification and Scheduling: An Overview
- Introduction
- Records, Nonrecord Materials, and Personal Papers
- Records Disposition Functions
- Basic Steps in Scheduling Records
- Conclusion
II. Records Identification and Scheduling: An Overview
- Records must be identified and distinguished from nonrecord materials and personal papers.
- Records are created or received and accumulated as an agency conducts Government business.
- Records may be on paper, electronic, audiovisual, microform, or other media.
- Scheduling is the process of developing a document that provides mandatory instructions for what to do with records (and nonrecord materials) no longer needed for current Government business.
- The scheduling process requires an understanding of records disposition functions.
- Basic scheduling steps include reviewing agency functions and recordkeeping requirements, inventorying and evaluating the records, and preparing disposition instructions.
- The steps also include organizing the draft schedule, clearing it internally and externally, and then implementing the approved schedule and updating it whenever necessary.
Introduction
An effective records disposition program depends, at least in part, on the systematic creation and maintenance of agency records. Records management during the creation and maintenance stages involves identifying records and establishing and meeting recordkeeping requirements. (See Chapter I.) It should be based on the recognition that records are important because they:
- Protect the legal, financial, and other rights of the Government and its citizens.
- Ensure continuity and consistency in administration.
- Assist agency officials and their successors in making informed policy and program judgments.
- Provide information required by the Congress and others to oversee the agency's activities.
- Document the agency's organization, structure, and achievements.
This chapter gives an overview of the process of identifying records and scheduling them for appropriate disposition. Identifying records means distinguishing them from nonrecord materials and personal papers. It initially involves inventorying the records. (See Chapter III.)
Scheduling records is the process of developing a document that provides mandatory instructions for what to do with records (and nonrecord materials) no longer needed for current Government business. This document is a records schedule. It is sometimes called a records disposition schedule, a records control schedule, a records retention schedule, or simply a schedule. In NARA's usage the term includes the SF 115, Request for Records Disposition Authority; the General Records Schedules (GRS); and the agency records schedule. The agency schedule should be a comprehensive schedule that also contains agency disposition instructions for nonrecord materials.
NARA's regulations (36 CFR 1228) require each agency to develop a comprehensive records schedule within 2 years of the agency's establishment and to schedule the records of a new program within 1 year of its implementation. Each agency also needs to review its comprehensive records schedule annually and to revise and update it as necessary. Finally, whenever NARA issues a change to the GRS, the agency has 6 months to update its schedule accordingly unless it has received an exception from NARA.
Records, Nonrecord Materials, and Personal Papers
Federal records need to be distinguished from nonrecord materials and personal papers for disposition purposes. Nonrecord materials require only agency approval for disposition, and the individual owner determines the disposition of personal papers. In contrast, the disposition of Federal records is authorized only when an agency has received NARA's approval.
Records
What are Federal records? As defined in 44 U.S.C. 3301, the term includes:
all books, papers, maps, photographs, machine-readable materials, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by an agency of the United States Government under Federal law or in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved or appropriate for preservation by that agency or its legitimate successor as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the Government or because of the informational value of data in them.
This legal definition contains several important terms and phrases that require further explanation:
- "Documentary materials" is a collective term that refers to all media on which information is recorded, regardless of the nature of the medium or the method or circumstances of recording. The term usually refers to records and nonrecord materials, but it may also include personal papers as defined later in this chapter.
- "Regardless of physical form or characteristics" means that the medium may be paper, film, disk, or another physical type or form. It also means that the method of recording may be manual, mechanical, photographic, electronic, or any combination of these or other technologies.
- "Made" means the act of creating and recording information by agency employees, regardless of the method or medium involved. Such recorded information is generally circulated to others or placed in files accessible to others.
- "Received" means the acceptance or collection of documentary materials by agency employees:
- Regardless of who originated the materials, whether employees within the agency or in other agencies or whether private citizens, public officials, contractors, Government grantees, or others.
- Regardless of how
the materials were
transmitted, whether
directly by the originator
or indirectly by messenger,
mail, electronic means,
or some other method.
- "Preserved" means the filing, storing, or any other method of systematically maintaining documentary materials by the agency, even if those materials have not yet been filed or have been removed temporarily from existing filing systems.
- "Appropriate for preservation" means suitable for filing, storage, or other systematic maintenance by the agency, regardless of any inadequacies in the agency's formal recordkeeping policies and practices.
In this context the term "received" does not refer to misdirected materials. It may or may not refer to loaned or seized materials. The question of Government ownership of loaned or seized materials depends on the conditions of agency custody and use and should therefore be referred to legal counsel for advice.
Documentary materials are records when they meet both of the following conditions: (1) They are made or received by an agency of the U.S. Government under Federal law or in connection with the transaction of agency business; and (2) they are preserved or are appropriate for preservation as evidence of the agency's organization, functions, and activities or because of the value of the information in them.
In summary, the legal definition has three key points:
- Records are made or received by a Federal agency either to comply with a law or to conduct public business. As a result, they belong to the Government rather than to individuals, and their legal disposition depends on the prior approval of the Archivist of the United States.
- Records are, or should be, preserved because they constitute evidence or contain information of value. They document an agency's organization, functions, and activities or the persons, places, things, or matters dealt with by an agency.
- Records vary widely in their physical form or characteristics. They may be on paper, electronic, audiovisual, microform, or other media.
Special attention must be given to electronic records throughout their life cycle. These are records stored in a form that only a computer can process. Their storage media include floppy diskettes, data cartridges, magnetic tapes and disks, and optical disks. These media may change frequently because of rapidly expanding technologies. Electronic records are increasingly supplementing and sometimes replacing paper records. Furthermore, they are found not only in program offices but also in automatic data processing (ADP) centers.
It is essential to design electronic records systems so that adequate maintenance and disposition procedures are in place from the start. An effective records disposition program depends on scheduling all records, regardless of location and regardless of physical form or characteristics, including electronic records.
Attention should also be given to working files, or working papers, because of the difficulty of determining record status. Normally case working files are records because they generally need to be organized and maintained for some specified period of time. Other likely record categories include working files used in preparing reports or studies and preliminary drafts of policy documents circulated for comment. In contrast, preliminary drafts of correspondence not circulated for comment are more likely to be nonrecord materials.
Nonrecord Materials
An agency's disposition program
also needs to include managing
nonrecord materials, because
their volume may exceed that
of records. These are US
Government-owned documentary
materials excluded from the
legal definition of records
(44 U.S.C. 3301), either
by failing to meet the general
conditions of record status
already described or by falling
under one of three specific
categories:
- Extra copies of documents preserved only for convenience of
reference.
- Stocks of publications and of processed documents. Each agency
needs, however, to create and maintain record sets of processed
documents and of publications, including annual and special reports,
special studies, brochures, pamphlets, books, handbooks, manuals,
posters, and maps.
- Library and museum material made or acquired and preserved solely for reference or exhibition purposes.
On the basis of these conditions and the categories specifically cited in the law, nonrecord materials include:
- Information copies of correspondence, directives, forms, and
other documents on which no administrative action is recorded
or taken.
- Routing slips and transmittal sheets adding no information to
that contained in the transmitted material.
- Tickler, follow up, or suspense copies of correspondence,
provided they are extra copies of the originals.
- Duplicate copies of documents maintained in the same file.
- Extra copies of printed or processed materials for which
complete record sets exist, such as current and superseded
manuals maintained outside the office responsible for
maintaining the record set.
- Catalogs, trade journals, and other publications that are
received from other Government agencies, commercial firms, or
private institutions and that require no action and are not
part of a case on which action is taken.
- Physical exhibits, artifacts, and other material objects lacking evidential value.
Determining whether a particular document is a record does not depend on whether it is an original or a copy. As figure 2-1 shows, several copies of a single form may each have record status because each serves a separate administrative purpose, and they are maintained in different filing systems. A single set of publications should be designated the record copy, as distinguished from copies elsewhere or stocks of the same publication.
The following guidelines should be used in managing nonrecord materials:
- Within the agency, only the records officer should determine
record or nonrecord status, after obtaining any necessary
advice from the agency's legal counsel. Giving such
responsibility to officials at agency staff or operating
levels may lead to misuse of the nonrecord label, weaken the
entire disposition program, and result in the loss of
valuable records.
- The records officer should seek NARA's guidance regarding the
record or nonrecord status of a questionable file or type of
document.
- When it is difficult to decide whether certain files are
records or nonrecord materials, the records officer should
treat them as records.
- Nonrecord materials should not be interfiled with records.
- Nonrecord materials should be destroyed when no longer needed
for reference. NARA's approval is not required to destroy
such materials.
- Nonrecord materials should be removed from US Government custody only with the agency's approval. The agency should ensure adequate protection of any security-classified or administratively controlled information contained in such materials.
Personal Papers
Some Government employees,
especially executives, senior
staff, scientists, and other
specialists, accumulate and
keep various personal papers
at the office. The maintenance
of personal papers in agency
space and equipment requires
agency approval and also compliance
with Federal and agency requirements.
If kept there, such personal
papers must be clearly designated
as such and maintained separately
from records.
Personal papers are documentary materials belonging to an individual that are not used to conduct agency business. They relate solely to an individual's personal and private affairs or are used exclusively for that individual's convenience. They may refer to or comment on the subject matter of agency business, provided they are not used to conduct that business. In contrast to both records and nonrecord materials, personal papers are not Government-owned. Certain documentary materials are clearly personal and may readily be identified and claimed as such. Categories of personal papers include:
- Materials accumulated by an individual before joining
Government service that are not later used to conduct
Government business. Examples include previous work files,
political materials, and reference files.
- Materials brought into or accumulated in the office that are
not used to conduct agency business and that relate solely to
an individual's family matters, outside business pursuits,
professional activities, or private political associations.
Examples include family and personal correspondence,
volunteer and community service records, literature from
professional organizations, and manuscripts and drafts of
articles and books.
- Work-related materials, such as diaries, journals, notes, personal calendars, and appointment schedules, that are not prepared, received, or used in the process of transacting agency business. Although these materials contain work-related information, they are personal papers if they are claimed as such and serve only the individual's own purpose (e.g., as reminders and personal observations about work-related and other topics). This category is the most difficult to distinguish from agency records because of its work-related content.
Employees should keep in mind that some materials appearing to be personal papers could prove to be agency records. Determining their record status depends on all the circumstances of their creation, maintenance and use, and disposition.
In determining whether or not certain documentary materials are records, the Federal courts have developed guidance, subject to change, in deciding Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) cases. Based on current case law involving executive agencies, the meaning of "agency records" for FOIA purposes is broader than that of "records" under 44 U.S.C. 3301 with respect to such agencies. Therefore, documentary materials falling outside the FOIA usage would also fall outside the statutory definition of "records" for those agencies. The following topics include relevant questions and guidance regarding the record status of work-related documentary materials:
- Creation. Was the document created or received by an agency
employee on agency time, with agency materials, and at agency
expense? If not, then the document is unlikely to be an
agency record. If so, it may or may not be an agency record,
depending on other considerations.
- Content. Does the document contain only substantive
information about agency business, or does it contain only
information about the employee's personal matters? Does it
contain both official and personal information? If the
document does not contain official information, then it is
unlikely to be an agency record. If it does, then its
potential record status depends on additional considerations.
- Purpose. Was the document created to facilitate agency
business? If so, then it may be an agency record, depending
on its distribution and use by other agency employees. Or
was it created solely for the employee's personal
convenience? If so, it is unlikely to be an agency record.
- Distribution. Was the document distributed to other
employees for an official purpose? If so, it may be an
agency record.
- Use. Did this employee or others actually use the document
to conduct agency business? Materials brought into the
agency for reference use do not become agency records merely
because they relate to official matters or influence the
employee's work. However, if the employee relies on such
materials to conduct agency business or if other employees
use them for agency purposes, then the materials are more
likely to be agency records.
- Maintenance. Was the document placed in agency files, or was
it kept in the employee's possession? If placed in agency
files, it is likely to be an agency record. If not, then its
possible record status depends on other considerations.
- Disposition. Does a NARA-approved records schedule govern
the document's disposition? If so, the document is a Federal record and is also likely to be an agency record for FOIA purposes. Or is the employee free to destroy or
remove the document solely on the basis of individual
discretion? If so, the document is unlikely to be an agency
record.
- Control. Has the agency attempted to exercise
"institutional control" over the document through applicable maintenance or
disposition directives? Did it do so by requiring the
document to be created in the first place? If so, the
document is most likely an agency record.
- Segregation. Can substantive agency information in the document be segregated from any personal information? If so, the official portion should be extracted and placed in agency files.
In short, mere location in the agency does not mean that the materials are records, nor is use alone conclusive in determining record status. Materials generally assume record status, however, when the agency asserts control by requiring their creation or retention. Furthermore, documents created within an agency cannot be regarded as personal merely because the employee is free to dispose of them. Depending on other considerations, they may be records or nonrecord materials and therefore subject to agency control.
Government employees also tend to accumulate extra copies of documents, particularly those they have drafted, reviewed, or otherwise acted on. They may retain and remove these copies, with agency approval, if such actions do not impose an administrative or financial burden or violate the confidentiality required by national security, privacy, and other interests protected by law.
If departing officials want copies of agency records that are classified or otherwise restricted, they should seek the advice of the agency's information security manager and legal counsel. The agency, not the individual, is responsible for arranging the transfer of such nonrecord materials to an approved depository.
Title 18 U.S.C. 798 provides fines and imprisonment for the unauthorized disclosure of classified information, and Executive Order 12958 ( and the Amendment to E.O. 12958) restricts access to such information. Only the originating agency may waive access restrictions and then only when essential for authorized and lawful Government purposes. It may do so for historical researchers and former Presidential appointees. Even in those instances the agency must certify in writing that such access is consistent with national security. It must also ensure that the information is properly safeguarded and limit access to documents essential to the historical research project or documents that the former Presidential appointee originated, reviewed, signed, or received while in office.
Each agency needs to establish procedures to prevent departing employees from destroying records or removing records from the agency's custody. Such procedures include notifying employees of their legal responsibilities and reviewing any documentary materials that employees wish to take with them. Special attention should be given to reviewing any documentary materials maintained by the agency head or other high officials during their tenure. If preventive measures fail, the agency must inform NARA of any instances of unauthorized disposition, including unauthorized removal. (See Chapter VI for details.)
Even though documentary materials may have designations such as "personal," "confidential," or "private," they are records if they are created or received by the agency to conduct Government business and if they are preserved or appropriate for preservation because they document the agency's organization, functions, and activities or contain information on the persons, places, things, or matters dealt with by the agency.
Government employees should be careful not to mix personal papers with Federal records. Although personal papers may be destroyed or removed at the owner's discretion, it is illegal to destroy or remove records without proper authorization (18 U.S.C. 2071).
Carefully considering the preceding guidance should aid the agency's legal counsel, records officer, or other designated official in determining whether particular documents are records, nonrecord materials, or personal papers. Further guidance appears in the NARA publication Documenting Your Public Service as well as in NARA's regulations (36 CFR 1222). Assistance is available from NARA appraisal archivists.
Records
Disposition Functions
In scheduling records, an agency
should understand what records
disposition functions must
be carried out. These functions
include inventorying, developing
a comprehensive records schedule,
cutting off records, transferring
eligible records to Federal
records centers and agency
holding areas, disposing of
temporary records when their
retention periods expire, and
transferring permanent records
to the National Archives.
Inventorying
Inventorying involves distinguishing
records from nonrecord materials
and personal papers and gathering
information about the records
themselves. Although treated
separately in this handbook,
inventorying is also one
of the steps to follow in
scheduling records.
Development of a Comprehensive
Records Schedule
A comprehensive schedule
is the heart of a records
disposition program. Based
on careful analysis of the
agency's documentary materials,
it provides mandatory instructions
for the retention and disposition
of each record series or
system and of nonrecord materials.
It authorizes the systematic
removal from offices of unneeded
records even as new ones
are being created. The schedule's
quality is essential to the
success of the entire program.
To develop this comprehensive
schedule, the agency combines
its own disposition authorities
for nonrecord materials with
NARA-approved records disposition
authorities. The specific
steps to follow in developing
a schedule are described
later in this chapter. It
is important to understand
that although all agency
records must be scheduled
ultimately, they need not
be scheduled all at once.
Record Cutoffs
Records in a series or system should be cut off, or broken, at regular intervals, usually annually, to permit their disposal or transfer in complete blocks and, for correspondence files, to permit the establishment of new files. Normally correspondence files are cut off at the end of each year (fiscal or calendar), documents are no longer added to that year's files, and new file folders are set up for the next year's files. Unless high volume makes more frequent cutoffs necessary, case files normally are cut off at the end of the year (fiscal or calendar) in which final action is taken.
Cutoffs are needed before disposition instructions can be applied because retention periods usually begin with the cutoff, not with the creation or receipt, of the records. An agency should also cut off unscheduled records to make their disposition possible once they have been scheduled and authority has been received from NARA. Nonrecord materials do not normally require cutoffs but should be purged periodically, at least annually. (See fig. 2-2 for a poster on cutting off records.)
Records centers, operated by NARA, store and service agency records no longer needed in office space but requiring continued retention until a later disposal date or scheduled transfer to the National Archives. Agencies may maintain their own records holding areas for temporary records no longer needed in office space but whose volume or retention periods are insufficient to warrant transfer to a record center. Instead of storing permanent records in such holding areas, agencies should establish separate holding areas to protect them during any necessary period between their cutoff and their transfer to a record center or the National Archives. Agencies may also operate their own records centers, provided they comply with NARA's regulations (36 CFR 1228). More guidance on transferring records to NARA records centers is contained in these regulations and in the publications and training offered by the federal records centers.
Disposal of Temporary Records
Temporary records are those determined by NARA to be disposable, or nonpermanent. NARA approves such records for destruction or occasionally for donation to an eligible person or organization. Many temporary records are eligible for destruction when no longer needed in an office to conduct current business. Others are eligible only later, after storage in an agency holding area or a records center. Temporary records should normally be disposed of promptly in accordance with a NARA-approved records schedule.
Although NARA-approved
retention periods for temporary
records are normally mandatory,
exceptions can and should
be made. In rare instances,
one particular file may have
permanent value obviously
lacking in the other records
found in a series or system
scheduled as temporary. For
example, if a particular
case attracts congressional
and national media attention,
it may well deserve special
consideration even if it
is part of a series scheduled
for disposal. If such a case
comes to the agency's attention,
the records officer should
consult with the NARA appraisal
archivist before formally
requesting NARA approval
of a new disposition for
the particular file that
appears to warrant permanent
retention.
Transfer of Permanent Records
to the National Archives
Transferring permanent records
to the National Archives'
legal and physical custody
will relieve the agency of
having to provide special
care for such valuable records.
This transfer should take
place when the agency no
longer needs the records
for the conduct of current
business, whether or not
the records are stored in
agency or other records storage
facilities. The schedule
should specify when the records
are to be transferred.
Each agency needs to ensure the timely transfer of its permanent records to the National Archives. The National Archives stores permanent records of primarily national interest at its facilities in the Washington, DC, area and those of primarily regional and local interest at its regional archives located in major metropolitan areas throughout the country. Legal control of the records passes to NARA when the NARA official signs the required legal document acknowledging receipt of the records. After the appropriate agency official has signed this document indicating the records are ready for immediate transfer to the National Archives, the agency should be careful not to dispose of the records or withdraw them from a NARA records center.
At its facilities in the Washington, DC, area, the National Archives maintains accessioned permanent records created by agencies in that metropolitan area. It maintains all other accessioned permanent records at its regional archives located in 12 other metropolitan areas throughout the country.
Basic Steps in Scheduling Records
Before going into detail, it is useful to gain an overview of all the steps needed to schedule records. These steps are based on the assumption that the agency has already issued a directive establishing its records disposition program. As summarized in figure 2-3, the basic scheduling steps are as follows:
- Review Functions and
Recordkeeping Requirements
Review the functions and recordkeeping requirements and practices of the agency and of the particular offices whose records are being scheduled. Examine pertinent documents, such as laws, regulations, organization charts, and functional statements. Also consult with program managers, ADP managers, and records personnel. (See Chapter III.) - Inventory
Inventory series and systems of agency files, including both records and nonrecord materials. Usually at this stage the agency makes a preliminary decision as to whether the schedule will be arranged by organization, function, or a combination of these. (See Chapter III.) - Evaluate
Evaluate for disposition the records contained in each series or system by determining their uses and analyzing their values. The result of this evaluation process is to recommend the records as permanent or temporary and to propose specific retention periods for them. (See Chapter IV.) - Draft Instructions
Draft recommended file cutoffs, retention periods, and other disposition instructions for all records, along with necessary instructions for all nonrecord materials. (See Chapter IV.) During this process, take these actions: - Use the General Records Schedules (GRS) for all applicable records.
- Complete a Standard Form 115, Request for Records Disposition Authority, for all records not scheduled by the GRS.
- Write appropriate
disposition instructions
for nonrecord materials.
- Organize and Clear
Internally
By this stage, the agency should have determined the schedule's arrangement. Based on that arrangement, assemble the draft schedule, and clear it within the agency. (See Chapter V.) - Obtain Approval
Obtain any necessary approval from NARA and the General Accounting Office (GAO). No external approval is required for the disposition of nonrecord materials. External approval has already been granted for records covered by the GRS. (See Chapter V.) - Implement
Implement the completed and approved schedule by issuing it as a mandatory agency directive, training employees in its use, and applying it to agency records. (See Chapter VI.) - Review and Update
Review the schedule at least annually, and by following the above steps, update it to cover new series and systems or to revise the dispositions of current series and systems. This step results from careful monitoring of the schedule's implementation as well as from constant awareness of new and revised recordkeeping requirements and practices. (See Chapter VI.)
Conclusion
This chapter has provided an overview of identifying records and scheduling them for appropriate disposition. It has emphasized the need to distinguish records from nonrecord materials and personal papers for disposition purposes. It has also described the major records disposition functions and the basic steps in scheduling records.
Later chapters of this handbook explain in some detail how to carry out these scheduling steps. At the outset, however, it should be emphasized that although an agency needs to schedule all its records ultimately, it does not need to schedule them all at the same time. Instead it may schedule them one office or one function at a time until all its records are covered. Furthermore, throughout the scheduling process, the records officer or staff member should keep in contact with the NARA appraisal archivist assigned liaison responsibility for the agency.
Note: Web version may vary from the printed version.
