36 C.F.R. § 1220.14 General definitions.
Title 36 - Parks, Forests, and Public Property
As used in subchapter B— Agency (see Executive agency and Federal agency). Adequate and proper documentation means a record of the conduct of Government business that is complete and accurate to the extent required to document the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential transactions of the agency and that is designed to furnish the information necessary to protect the legal and financial rights of the Government and of persons directly affected by the agency's activities. Appraisal is the process by which the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) determines the value and thus the final disposition of Federal records, making them either temporary or permanent. Commercial records storage facility is a private sector commercial facility that offers records storage, retrieval, and disposition services. Comprehensive schedule is a printed agency manual or directive containing descriptions of and disposition instructions for all documentary materials, record and nonrecord, created by a Federal agency or major component of an Executive department. Unless taken from the General Records Schedules (GRS) issued by NARA, the disposition instructions for agency records must be approved by NARA on one or more Standard Form(s) 115, Request for Records Disposition Authority, prior to issuance by the agency. The disposition instructions for the nonrecord material are established by the agency and do not require NARA approval. Contingent records are records whose final disposition is dependent on an action or event, such as sale of property or destruction of a facility, which will take place at some unspecified time in the future. Disposition means those actions taken regarding records no longer needed for the conduct of the regular current business of the agency. Documentary materials is a collective term for records and nonrecord materials that refers to all media on which information is recorded, regardless of the nature of the medium or the method or circumstances of recording. Evaluation means the selective or comprehensive inspection, audit, or review of one or more Federal agency records management programs for effectiveness and for compliance with applicable laws and regulations. It includes recommendations for correcting or improving records management policies, procedures, and activities, and follow-up activities, including reporting on such activities, for implementing the recommendations. Executive agency means any executive department or independent establishment in the executive branch of the Government, including any wholly-owned Government corporation. Federal agency means any executive agency or any establishment in the legislative or judicial branch of the Government (except the Supreme Court, Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Architect of the Capitol and any activities under his direction). (44 U.S.C. 2901(14)). File means an arrangement of records. The term is used to denote papers, photographs, photographic copies, maps, machine-readable information, or other recorded information regardless of physical form or characteristics, accumulated or maintained in filing equipment, boxes, or machine-readable media, or on shelves, and occupying office or storage space. National Archives of the United States means those records that have been determined by the Archivist of the United States to have sufficient historical or other value to warrant their continued preservation by the Federal Government and that have been transferred to the legal custody of the Archivist of the United States on a Standard Form 258 (Agreement to Transfer Records to the National Archives of the United States). Nonrecord materials are those Federally owned informational materials that do not meet the statutory definition of records (44 U.S.C. 3301) or that have been excluded from coverage by the definition. Excluded materials are extra copies of documents kept only for reference, stocks of publications and processed documents, and library or museum materials intended solely for reference or exhibit. Permanent record means any Federal record that has been determined by NARA to have sufficient value to warrant its preservation in the National Archives of the United States. Permanent records include all records accessioned by NARA into the National Archives of the United States and later increments of the same records, and those for which the disposition is permanent on SF 115s, Request for Records Disposition Authority, approved by NARA on or after May 14, 1973. Recordkeeping requirements means all statements in statutes, regulations, and agency directives or authoritative issuances, that provide general and specific requirements for Federal agency personnel on particular records to be created and maintained by the agency. Recordkeeping system is a manual or automated system in which records are collected, organized, and categorized to facilitate their preservation, retrieval, use, and disposition. Records include 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 the data in them (44 U.S.C. 3301). Records center is defined in 44 U.S.C. 2901(6) as an establishment maintained and operated by the Archivist or by another Federal agency primarily for the storage, servicing, security, and processing of records which need to be preserved for varying periods of time and need not be retained in office equipment or space. Records maintenance and use, as used in subchapter B, means any activity involving location of records of a Federal agency or the storage, retrieval, and handling of records kept at office file locations by or for a Federal agency. Records management, as used in subchapter B, means the planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training, promoting, and other managerial activities involved with respect to records creation, records maintenance and use, and records disposition in order to achieve adequate and proper documentation of the policies and transactions of the Federal Government and effective and economical management of agency operations. Records schedule or schedule means (a) An SF 115, Request for Records Disposition Authority, that has been approved by NARA to authorize the disposition of Federal records; (b) A General Records Schedule (GRS) issued by NARA; or (c) A printed agency manual or directive containing the records descriptions and disposition instructions approved by NARA on one or more SF 115s or issued by NARA in the GRS. (See also the definition Comprehensive schedule.) Records storage facility is a records center or a commercial records storage facility, as defined in this section, i.e., a facility used by a Federal agency to store Federal records, whether that facility is operated and maintained by the agency, by NARA, by another Federal agency, or by a private commercial entity. Series means file units or documents arranged according to a filing system or kept together because they relate to a particular subject or function, result from the same activity, document a specific kind of transaction, take a particular physical form, or have some other relationship arising out of their creation, receipt, or use, such as restrictions on access and use. Also called a records series. Temporary records. A temporary record is any record which has been determined by the Archivist of the United States to have insufficient value (on the basis of current standards) to warrant its preservation by the National Archives and Records Administration. This determination may take the form of: (a) A series of records designated as disposable in an agency records disposition schedule approved by NARA (Standard Form 115, Request for Records Disposition Authority); or (b) A series of records designated as disposable in a General Records Schedule. Unscheduled records are records the final disposition of which has not been approved by NARA. Unscheduled records are those that have not been included on a Standard Form 115, Request for Records Disposition Authority, approved by NARA; those described but not authorized for disposal on an SF 115 approved prior to May 14, 1973; and those described on an SF 115 but not approved by NARA (withdrawn, canceled, or disapproved). [45 FR 5705, Jan. 24, 1980 and 50 FR 26931, 26933, June 28, 1985, as amended at 52 FR 34134, Sept. 9, 1987; 55 FR 27423, 27427, July 2, 1990; 57 FR 19807, May 8, 1992; 59 FR 28783, June 3, 1994; 60 FR 44639, Aug. 28, 1995; 64 FR 67663, Dec. 2, 1999; 66 FR 27027, May 16, 2001]
Title 36: Parks, Forests, and Public Property
PART 1220—FEDERAL RECORDS; GENERAL
Subpart A—General Provisions
§ 1220.14 General definitions.
