Friday, July 8, 2011

A few records management terms defined:

A few records management terms defined:

Disposition Schedule-A disposition schedule is also referred to as a records schedule and this is a document which provides mandatory instructions for what to do with records (and non-record materials) no longer needed for current government business.

Disposition-This refers to the action taken upon a record once the record is no longer needed for current Government business. Some specific disposition instructions are: transfer to Federal Records Center, transfer to storage facility, temporary and destroy, or permanent and transfer to NARA.

Document-A document differs from a record in that a document is a draft which is in process. Another distinction is that a document has not been declared a record. It should be noted that some documents are records or records in process, but once it is declared a record it is a record and should be managed as a record and not as a document.

Electronic record-An electronic record is a record made by a computer and read by a computer, and meets the definition of a record as indicated above.

Electronic Records Management (ERM) System (or ERM Application) - An electronic records management system is a computer software product which is used to manage electronic records and paper records from creation to final disposition. An electronic records management system has many important features, but among the most essential is the ability to create, store, search, retrieve, and delete records.

Lifecycle-This refers to the management of records (paper or electronic) from creation to final disposition.

Non-record-Government owned documents or materials that do not meet the definition of a record. These include materials such as documents kept for reference, extra copies of documents kept for convenience or reference or publications or other library or museum publications

Record-A record is any material or information, regardless of the format made or received by U.S. Government in connection with the transaction of business or preserved for historical reasons. A record records the decisions, business actions or legal actions of an agency.

Records Management (RM)-This refers to the management of both paper and electronic records. Records management is the organizing, controlling, filing, etc. of paper and electronic records from creation or inception to final disposition.





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