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General Record Categories

There are five (5) general categories of retention:

INDEFINITE: Records with an indefinite retention period are documents (including email and other electronic records) which have significant administrative, legal, and/or fiscal value; further, they have an enduring historical value and therefore may be accessioned by and maintained in an archive forever.

INTERMEDIATE: Records with an intermediate or short-term retention period are documents (including email and other electronic records) of significant administrative, legal, and/or fiscal value having a definitive life, typically ten (10) years or less. Upon expiration of that retention period, the records should be disposed in an appropriate manner as soon as possible, providing there is no legal hold.

LONG-TERM: Records with a long-term retention period are documents (including email and other electronic records) which have significant administrative, legal, and/or fiscal value and have a life that is typically longer than ten (10) years. Upon expiration of that retention period, the records should be disposed in an appropriate manner as soon as possible, providing there is no legal hold.

TRANSIENT: Transient or transitory records have a very short-lived
administrative, legal or fiscal value and should be disposed in an
appropriate manner once that administrative, legal or fiscal use has
expired, providing there is no legal hold. Typically the retention is not a fixed period of time and is event driven; it maybe a short as a few hours and could be as long as several days or weeks. Transient/transitory records may include, but are not limited to:

  • preliminary drafts (when superseded)
  • memoranda (paper-based or email) pertaining to scheduling
    an event
  • documents designated as superseded or as-updated
  • user copies and/or duplicates (not original document)
  • routing slips