 Our 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 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. 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 internet 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.