A records schedule is a document that tells you
how long to keep specific types of records and
tells you what should happen to those records.
In the U.S. Federal government,
records schedules are required.
Agencies must have schedules for their records,
and those schedules must be approved by the
National Archives and Records Administration.
An approved records schedule tells us how long
we must keep records to support
the agency's work, to protect legal rights and
interests, and to document our history.
Records schedules help us make sure that
everyone in the agency is retaining records for
the same, standard amount of time,
and they help us ensure that future generations
will have access to the information they need
to understand our part of history.
In the U.S. Federal Government, we use
two main types of records schedules.
The General Records Schedules, or GRS,
cover common administrative and
housekeeping records. All agencies use the
GRS in addition to their own unique
agency-specific records schedules.
The General Records Schedules are developed
and approved by the National Archives.
They are mandatory for all federal agencies.
The General Records Schedules cover records
like budgets, personnel files, travel,
basic contracts, building maintenance,
emergency planning, and security.
Records schedules help us ensure that we have
the information we need, when we need it.
By using the same records schedules for the
types of records we all share across the
government, we ensure consistency and
continuity across departments and agencies.
Of course, in addition to general administrative
activities, government agencies do many
different types of work.
Each agency has its own unique mission
and its own specific programs,
and each agency will have records that directly
support and document those programs.
Those program records, sometimes called
mission records, are covered by agency-specific
records schedules that are drafted by each
agency and reviewed and approved
by the National Archives.
You can see the unique mission and work of an
agency reflected in its agency-specific
schedule. So, the program records you find
in the National Park Service’s schedules will be
different from those at the U.S. Mint, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, Department of State,
or Department of Education.
While the content of each records schedule
does vary from agency to agency
and from one group of records to another,
most schedules do have the same basic
components. For each records series – each
type of records - you’ll find a title
and a description.
The title usually reflects what the
records are called in the agency,
and the description helps you
identify how the records are used and what
types of material might be included
in a typical set of records.
The disposition is usually
made up of two different parts.
The first part, the cutoff,
determines when a file will close,
and when its retention clock will start.
After the cutoff, the file’s retention clock starts
ticking. In this second part of the disposition,
we would close the file when the project is
completed and retain the project history file
for 10 years after the cutoff date.
Some records schedules will include
transfer instructions. In this example, we have
permanent records. Their historical value
means they will ultimately be transferred
to the National Archives and retained forever.
When you need to find your own agency’s
records schedules, there several key places
you can look.
First, take a look at your organization’s
intranet or website. Many agencies post
their schedules online.
You might check your agency’s orders, policies
or directives, because many records manuals
and schedules are issued that way.
Your agency’s Records Officer and network of
records contacts will be able to help.
You can also find both the General Records
Schedules and a collection of agency records
schedules on NARA’s website
at archives.gov.