AC 19.2014
March 20, 2014
MEMORANDUM TO FEDERAL AGENCY CONTACTS: Agency Review of New Draft General Records Schedules
NARA’s General Records Schedule (GRS) Team is pleased to forward two new draft schedules for review as part of its project to revise the GRS to reflect current government functions and practices. For more information on this project, please visit our website at: http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/grs/.
These drafts are being sent to Federal agencies prior to public review. We would like to hear from you first so that what is eventually published in the Federal Register incorporates your comments as our stakeholders. All Federal agencies are invited to participate in the review process. Attached for your consideration are two draft schedules:
Each schedule package contains three parts:
- Draft record schedule
- Appraisal memorandum
- Crosswalk from current GRS to the proposed GRS
If you have participated in previous reviews of draft GRS schedules, you will notice two things different with the attachments. First, we have not yet entered these schedules into the Electronic Records Archives (ERA) scheduling application. Our plan is to wait until we have a final draft before doing so. Second, we are introducing an new format for publishingGRS schedules (i.e., a table rather than narrative paragraphs).
We appreciate your time in reviewing these drafts and providing comments. We particularly encourage you to share these drafts with your agency’s staff working in functions whose records the schedules describe. Their feedback on the viability and usefulness of these schedules will be particularly valuable in refining them so they meet your needs.
We would like your thoughts in response to these questions:
- Are records correctly and completely described?
- Are retention periods too long, too short, or just right?
- Are items missing that should be included?
- Are items present that should be deleted?
- Will the schedule be usable by / useful to your office?
- Do you find the table format understandable and usable?
We would especially like input on the retentions for items 1000 and 1100 in GRS 2.1, which are currently undefined.
Please use the attached 2.1 and 2.5 comment forms (one per schedule) to organize your comments. We will accept comment forms through April 18, 2014. Please submit your comment forms and any general questions to Galen.Wilson@nara.gov.
You may still dispose of records using the current GRS until the new schedules are approved and transmitted to agencies for implementation.
PAUL M. WESTER, JR.
Chief Records Officer
for the U.S. Government