 The National Archives Building Appears. Title, What is a Record Schedule? A record schedule is a document that tells you how long to keep specific types of records and tells you what should happen to those records. A record schedule appears on screen. It reads, Records of Animal and Plant Life. Documentation of individual animal and plant species studies and observations. Permanent, transfer to National Archives when 30 years old. In the U.S. federal government, record 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 record 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. A record schedule appears on screen. It reads, Financial transaction records related to procuring goods and services, paying bills, collecting debts, and accounting. Temporary. Delete six years after final payment or cancellation. Record 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. A record schedule reads, Agricultural trade policy files. Proposed bills on agriculture and trade related issues, hearings, negotiations and related correspondence. Permanent, transfer to the National Archives when 30 years old. In the U.S. federal government, we use two main types of record schedules. The general record schedule, or GRS, cover common administrative and housekeeping records. All agencies use the GRS in addition to their own unique agency-specific record schedules. Two types of federal record schedules. General record schedules, GRS, administrative records common across the government. Agency-specific record schedules. Unique records documenting agency mission and programs. The general record schedules are developed and approved by the National Archives. They are mandatory for all federal agencies. The general record schedules cover records like budget, personnel files, travel, basic contracts, building maintenance, emergency planning, and security. General record schedules. Records common across agencies. One, finance. Two, human resources. Three, technology. Four, information management. Five, general operations support. Six, mission support. Record schedules help us ensure that we have the information we need when we need it. By using the same record schedules for the types of records we all share across the government, we ensure consistency and continuity across departments and agencies. Record schedule reads GRS 5.3010. Continuity planning and related emergency planning files. Temporary. Destroy when three years old or three years after superseded or obsolete, whichever is applicable. 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 record schedules that are drafted by each agency and reviewed and approved by the National Archives. Record schedule reads weather and climate prediction models. Computer-based simulations used to provide guidance in developing and verifying forecasts. Temporary. Delete three years after model is eliminated and new version is successfully implemented. 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 Services schedules will be different from those at the U.S. Mint, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of State, or Department of Education. Records schedule reads presidential scholars program records. Lists of scholars and distinguished teachers, representative copies of award certificates, lists of sponsors, and records pertaining to related partner organizations. Permanent. Cutoff annually upon close of program award cycle. Transfer to NARA after cutoff. While the content of each record 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 record series, each type of records, you will 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. Elements of a schedule. Series title, project history files. Series description, records documenting the development and implementation of agency projects. Includes project charter, plan, reports, and project closeout documentation. The rest of the schedule reads, temporary. Cutoff when project is completed or discontinued. Destroy 10 years after cutoff. 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. The same record schedule is shown. This time, the cutoff is highlighted. The cutoff reads, cutoff when project is completed or discontinued. 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. The same record schedule appears. The retention and final disposition are highlighted. Those instructions read, destroy 10 years after cutoff. Some record schedules will include transfer instructions. In this example we have permanent records. Their historical value means they'll ultimately be transferred to the National Archives and retained forever. A record schedule for program policy files describes the records as documents related to the creation, approval, and implementation of agency-wide policies. The retention is listed as permanent, cutoff at the end of the fiscal year in which the policy was approved. Transfer to the National Archives 10 years after cutoff. The transfer instructions are highlighted. When you need to find your own agency's record schedules there are 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 record schedules and a collection of agency record schedules on NARA's website at archives.gov.