Disposition of Federal Records

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-04718A002700210015-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 48
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 2, 2001
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: September 25, 1946
• Content Type: REPORT

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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
DISPOSITION OF
FEDERAL RECORDS
How to develop an EFFECTIVE PROGRAM
for the preservation and the disposal of
FEDERAL RECORDS
Washington, D. C. ? 1949
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. National Archives Publication No. 50-3
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 Approved Fo
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
DISPOSITION OF
FEDERAL RECORDS
How to develop an EFFECTIVE PROGRAM
for the preservation and the disposal of
FEDERAL RECORDS
Washington, D. C. . 1949
For sale by the Superintendent n 2D c Qents, PU lee 2 o e sment Printing Office
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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION,
Washington, D. C., October 1, 1949.
:Under Public Law 152, Eighty-first Congress, approved June 30,
19,49, the General Services Administration is authorized "to promote,
.in cooperation with the executive -agencies, improved records manage-
ment practices and controls in such agencies, including the . . . disposi-
:ioz of records not needed by such agencies for their current use." This
:manual, the first of a series to be issued, covers an important part of the
ield of records management. It is designed to help agencies to develop
eff'ctive programs for the disposition, of their records, and it shows how
ihi, can be done cooperatively with the General Services Administration.
i
JESS LARSON,
Administrator.
Ask
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Foreword
Nw
The management of the records of the Federal Government is an important problem. It
is important because-
* records constitute the basic administrative tools by means of which the work of the
Government is accomplished,
* records contain evidence of financial and legal commitments that must be preserved
to protect the Government,
* records embody information necessary to protect the civic, legal, and property rights
of private citizens,
* records represent an imposing fund of the recorded experience of the Government
that is needed to give continuity and consistency to its actions, to make policy de-
terminations, and to handle organizational and procedural as well as social and
economic problems, and
* records contain informational data basic to researches in a wide variety of subject-
matter fields by specialists in scholarly disciplines and technical fields.
The problem of managing Federal records is difficult because-
they are very large in volume,
* they accumulate rapidly,
* their uses for current administrative, legal, and fiscal purposes require careful con-
sideration,
* their unnecessary retention in offices hampers operational efficiency and their reten-
tion for unnecessarily long periods involves high maintenance costs, and
* their ultimate values for research and other purposes are hard to determine.
The most important element in solving the problem is that of making the proper disposi-
tion of Federal records at the proper time. They should be maintained at the place in which
they can be used to best advantage. While they serve the primary administrative, legal, and
fiscal purposes for which they were created and accumulated, they should be retained in the
offices of Government agencies. When these primary uses have been exhausted or partially
exhausted, however, records should be disposed of or scheduled for disposal at specified periods,
or, if temporary values are attached to them, they should be removed to intermediate deposi-
tories, or, if they have enduring values other than administrative, fiscal, and legal ones, they
should be transferred to an archival agency. In a word, systematic and expeditious disposition
should be made of them.
To assist Federal agencies in the disposition of their records, the National Archives has pre-
pared this manual. It was written by Theodore R. Schellenberg, Program Adviser of the Na-
tional Archives, and it supersedes How to Dispose of Records (revised 1946). In it will be
found guidance on-
how to evaluate records to determine the disposition to be made of them,
* how to obtain information about records that is basic to planning their disposition,
* how to retire records by removing them to an intermediate depository or trans-
ferring them to the National Archives,
* how to reduce the bulk of records by the microphotographic process, and
* how to dispose of records.
Further assistance may be obtained from the records divisions of the National Archives.
WAYNE C. GROVER,
Archivist of the United States.
June 20, 1949.
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DI POSITION TO BE MADE OF GOVERNMENT RECORDS
I GOVERNMENT FILES
contain
Records and nonrecord materials
that are
Currenf or noncurrent
and
Valuable or valueless.
RECORDS
include documentary materials
that were -officialli made or received, and
that were preserved or are appropriate for Ares-
ervation for thE:ir ;evidential or informational
values.
CURRENT RECORDS
consist of materials
that must be maintained in the offices of an
agency for current operations.
They should be organized to permit on orderly
and rapid separation and removal of noncur-
include materials
that do not serve record purposes, and
thatwere not officially made or received.
consist of materials
that are needed infrequently for the conduct of
current operations, and
that therefore need not be maintained in the
office inwhich they accumulated.
-
AN ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF RECORDS
is essential to develop a program for their disposition.
Thedisposition will depend on the currency and value of the records.
The disposition will result in either the retirement, the microphotographic reproduction,
or the disposal of the records.
RETIREMENT
will moan
Transfer to the N-ytional Archives
-of records having values for
purposes of research, functional
documentation, or the protec-
tion of private rights, and
Removal to intermediate deposi-
tories of records having values to
the agency for administrative,
legal, and fiscal purposes and
their maintenance-'until their de-
struction or the r transfer to the
Notional Archives.
will mean
A reduction in the bulk-of the rec-
ords and will permit
Disposal of the -original records
when if has been established
that the film copies were made
in accordance with the stand-
ards of the National Archives
Council and that they are ade-
quate substitutes for the -origi-
nals. -
will include
Nonrecord materials, -which may be
destroyed without authorization
offer they have served their
purposes, and
Records, which may not be de-
stroyed without authorization.
Authorizations obtained in lists
will permit immediate dis-
posal.
Authorizations obtained in sched-
ules will permit disposal of
specified types of records
of specified intervals or on
the occurrence of specified
events.
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Contents
Page
1
Chapter 1. A disposition program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Laws and regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ? . ? . . . 3
Chapter 2. What are records? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 3
Legal definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . ? . . . . . . 3
Interpretation of legal definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Chapter 3. What values do records have? . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Responsibilities for evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Standards for evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Values for administrative, legal, and fiscal uses by the Government . . . . . . . 6
Values for the protection of the rights of the private citizen . . . . . . . . . . 6
Values for functional documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Values for research ? ? ? ? ? ? ' ' ? ' ? ' ' * ' ' 11
Chapter 4. How should records be analyzed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . 11
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Step 1. Analyze the organizational structure and functioning of the agency . . 12
Step 2. Survey the record materials of the agency . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Step 3. Analyze the survey reports by organizational units and functions . . . . 15
Step 4. Prepare a written plan for the disposition of the agency's records 17
Chapter 5. When and how should records be retired? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 17
Objectives . . . . . . 17
Transfer to National Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Transfer procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Other factors determining eligibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Removal to records depositories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Interagency transfers ? . . . . . . . . . . . . ' ' . 21
Chapter 6. How should records be microphotographed? . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 21
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Council regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Standards for microfilming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Preservation of the integrity of records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Quality of film stock and its processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Preserving, examining, and using the film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Security copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Chapter 7. How should records be disposed of? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Step 1. Evaluate the record accumulations of the agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Step 2. Obtain authorizations to dispose of valueless records . . . . . . . . ... 24
Types of authorizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Types of clearances ' ' ' ' . . . . . . . . . 26
Step 3. Utilize the disposal authorizations that are obtained . . . . . . . . ... 26
Application of lists and schedules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Methods of disposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Instructions on the use of disposal forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
General instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Specific instructions on each entry ? ? .
Appendix I. Selected bibliography of manuals relating to the disposition of Federal 34
records 35
Appendix H. Laws and regulations relating to the disposition of Federal records . . . .
The National Archives Act, approved June 19, 1934, as amended June 22, 1936, and 35
March 3, June 8, and June 25, 1948 . . . . . . . . 36
Records Disposal Act, approved July 7, 1943, as amended July 6, 1945 . . . . . .
Resolution concerning the transfer of records to the National Archives, adopted by the 38
National Archives Council November 9, 1944 . . . . . . . . . . 38
Regulations of the National Archives Council, adopted July 29, 1949 . . . . .
Executive Order 9784, providing for the more efficient use and for the transfer and other 39
disposition of Government records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Chapter 1
A DISPOSITION PROGRAM
Objective
The primary objective of a disposition program is
to control the outflow of records from an agency as
methodically as their inflow is controlled, thereby sys-
tematizing the management of records from their be-
ginning to their end. Since Federal records are large
in volume and accumulate at a very rapid rate, planned
programs for their disposition are essential in the in-
terest of economy and efficiency. Under such pro-
grams records that have to be retained temporarily
should be retired periodically either to inactive files
or to records depositories, and, after their current use-
fulness has been exhausted, they should be destroyed
periodically; while records that have to be retained
permanently should be held in an orderly manner
within the agency that created them until they have
become noncurrent and then should be transferred
periodically to an archival agency. The programs
should thus establish a standard, uniform, and con-
sidered policy for the retention, transfer, and disposal
of records.
One phase of such programs is the selective preser-
vation of permanently valuable records, reduced to
the minimum consistent with the public interest.
This process of selective preservation is a cooperative
undertaking by the agency and the National Archives.
The general standards for the selection of records are
defined in chapter 3 of this manual, What Values Do
Records Have? Agency officials can and should iden-
tify the records that are needed as evidence of the
"organization, functions, policies, decisions, pro-
cedures, operations, or other activities of the, Gov-
ernment." The methods by which this should be
done are suggested in chapter 4, How Should Records
Be Analyzed?
The National Archives staff also is vitally concerned
in this selective process. In both its disposal and
accessioning work the National Archives staff must
identify the bodies of records in an agency that have
permanent value. In appraising items on a disposal
list or schedule, dependable judgments cannot be
made as to what should be destroyed without know-
ing what is retained. Similarly in accessioning work,
dependable judgments on the value of a given body
of records offered for transfer cannot be made without
knowing their significance to the over-all documenta-
tion of the agency. The National Archives staff there-
fore can make an important contribution to agency
programs of records disposition by helping identify the
records produced by the agency that have permanent
value.
This identification, however, is not enough. It is
necessary that such records be marked for retention
and that means be provided for their physical segre-
gation from records of only temporary value and for
their systematic transfer to the National Archives.
Only through a periodic and systematic segregation of
the useless materials can the permanently valuable
records be brought under control.
Another phase of disposition programs is the ex-
peditious and systematic removal and disposal of
temporarily valuable records, including their reduc-
tion to the minimum consistent with the operating
needs of Government agencies. The most effective
method of dealing with records that will become use-
less is to prepare a schedule for their disposal. A
schedule requires an advance determination of the
life expectancy of each type of record. It is simply
a written plan of policy and procedure for the eventual
disposal of records made on the basis of a systematic
analysis of the materials produced by an agency. A
schedule thus specifies the types of records to be dis-
posed of and fixes the minimum retention periods for
each type. If these retention periods are long, the
removal of the records to an intermediate depository
is indicated. Schedules thus provide for regularity in
the removal and disposal of useless papers from current
records series. If they are prepared carefully, they
will guard the agency against premature destruction
as well as against indiscriminate retention.
Development
In order to establish a systematic program of records
disposition, the following steps will generally have to
be taken within an agency:
APPOINT A RECORDS OFFICER. A person should
be chosen to handle the program who has a knowledge
of the organization and functions of the agency and
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 an understa Ing of heorefa 01 n%S JFs2 0~ J ?o f Cl~ ~s7 ~~~ ~Q 1 ~ ` , all applicable
various administrativ: units. In addition, he should laws, Executive orders, and regulations. These in-
know or obtain a knowledge of the best techniques elude acts of Congress and Executive orders applicable^
d
and the basic procedures for the organization, mainte-
nance, and disposal of records.
ADOPT A PLAN OF ACTION. A plan of action
with major outline; of work to. be accomplished should
be made. The records officer will need to have in-
formation on the volume and location of every cur-
rent and noncurrent -records series in the agency, the
character and use of housekeeping and operational
records, and the use of the different records series at
various levels in tie organization. If he has such in-
formation he is in at position to start a disposition
program immediately. If this information is not
available, he shou:.d plan at once to make an analysis
of the records of his agency.
MAKE THE PROGRAM OFFICIAL. The program
should be made official through an authoritative direc-
tive from the top management of the agency. The
success of the progam may -depend upon the sup-
port it receives from the head of the agency. The
authority and responsibility of the records officer
should be clearly defined and every effort should be
:made to enforce the! program.
TRAIN PERSOIJIEL. The records officer should
inform the personnel working on the program of the
objectives to be attained. He should give them de-
tailed and applied instructions in the techniques and
procedures for analyzing, disposing, and retiring rec-
ords. Brief manuals and illustrative guides should
be prepared when such training tools are necessary.
A selective bibliography of manuals issued by various
Government agencies is provided in appendix I.
GET COOPERATION. Records management must
be a cooperative job. It is therefore essential that
the records officer should be able to use the knowledge
that various employees have of the records and their
uses. Close contacts with responsible officials and
file supervisors ir. every administrative unit and their
appreciation of the objectives of the program are
essential.
Laws and regulations
In developing a records disposition program, the
s
to the removal and disposal of governmental recor
generally and those specifically applicable to his
agency. They include regulations of Federal agen-
cies that have specific responsibilities in regard to
records of other agencies.
Provisions generally applicable to the removal and
disposal of governmental records are in the National
Archives Act of June 19, 1534, as amended (48 Stat.
1122; 49 Stat. 1821; 62 Stat. 58, 344, 1026) and the
regulations of the National Archives Council issued
pursuant thereto on November 9, 1944; the Records
Disposal Act of July 7, 1943, as amended (57 Stat.
380; 59 Stat. 434) and the regulations of the National
Archives Council issued pursuant thereto on July 29,
1949; and Executive Order 9784, dated September
25, 1946. These basic documents are reproduced in
appendix II.
The United States Criminal Code, moreover, at-
taches severe penalties to the willful and unlawful
destruction, damage, or alienation of any Federal
records. Sections 234 and 235 of title 18 of the
United States Code, which bear upon this point, read
as follows:
234. Destroying public records. Whoever shall willfully
and unlawfully conceal, remove, mutilate, obliterate, or
destroy, or attempt to conceal, remove, mutilate, obliterate,
or destroy, or, with intent to conceal, remove, mutilate
obliterate, destroy, or steal, shall take and carry away any
record, proceeding, map, book, paper, document, or other
thing, filed or deposited with any clerk or officer of any court
of the United States, or in any public office, or with any
judicial or public officer of the United States, shall be fined
not more than $2,000, or imprisoned not more than three
years, or both.
235. Destroying records by officer in charge. Whoever,
having the custody of any record, proceeding, map, book,
document, paper, or other thing specified in section 234 of
this title, shall willfully and unlawfully conceal, remove,
mutilate, obliterate, falsify, or destroy any such record, pro-
ceeding, map, book, document, paper, or thhing, shall be fined
not more than $2,000, or imprisoned not more than three
years, or both; and shall moreover forfeit his office and be
forever afterward disqualified from holding any office under
the Government of the United States.
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Chapter 2
WHAT ARE RECORDS?
Legal definition
RECORDS. The word "records," as defined in the
Records Disposal Act of July 7, 1943, as amended,
includes-
all books, papers, maps, photographs, or other documentary
materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made
or received by any agency of the United States Government
in pursuance of Federal law or in connection with the trans-
action 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 data contained
therein.
NONRECORD MATERIALS. The Disposal Act also
states:
Library and museum material made or acquired and pre-
served solely for reference or exhibition purposes, extra copies
prof documents preserved only for convenience of reference,
and stocks of publications and of processed documents are
not included within the definition of the word "records" as
used in this act.
Interpretation of legal definition
RECORDS. The definition of "records" in the Dis-
posal Act indicates the elements that are or are not
essential in materials to make them public "records."
It is to be observed that physical form is not one of
these essential elements. Records may have various
forms. They may be books, papers, maps, photo-
graphs, or other documentary materials. It is also
to be noted that the elements that are essential in de-
termining whether materials are or are not "records"
are stated in two alternatives. The first pertains to
the production or acquisition of the materials, while
the second pertains to their preservation or their
appropriateness for preservation. The materials-
may be either made or received by an agency
of the Government either in pursuance of
Federal law or in connection with the trans-
action of public business, and
* may be either preserved or be appropriate for
preservation either for evidentiary purposes or
for their informational values.
To constitute "records" the materials need not have
all these elements, but they must have one of each
of the alternative elements.
The elements pertaining to the preservation of rec-
ords or to their appropriateness for preservatiton are
deserving of further explanation. The evidence con-
tained in the materials is stated to be an element that
determines their "record" character. This evidence,
according to the definition in the law, may pertain to
the "organization, functions, policies, decisions, pro-
cedures, operations, or other activities" of a Govern-
ment agency. Evidence on these matters would en-
compass practically all materials produced by an
agency. Decisions therefore must be made as to which
materials contain evidence that shall be preserved or
is appropriate for preservation. The informational
value of materials is also an element that determines
their "record" character. The data in them may have
an informational value for a variety of purposes, such
as for researches and for the protection of the civic,
legal, and property rights of citizens. Decisions again
must be made as to which materials have informational
values that make them appropriate for preservation.
To help make these decisions a chapter on What
Values Do Records Have? is included in this manual.
NONRECORD MATERIALS. This is a designation
for materials that are not included within the definition
of the word "records" contained in the Disposal Act.
Certain specific types of nonrecord materials are iden-
tified in the act. These all serve purposes other than
"record" purposes. They may include:
1. Materials preserved solely for purposes of refer-
ence or exhibition in libraries or museums;
2. Extra copies of documents preserved only for con-
venience of reference, such as
a. "Reading file" copies of correspondence,
b. "Tickler," "follow-up," or "suspense" copies of
correspondence,
c. Identical duplicate copies of all documents
maintained in the same file, and
d. Extra copies of printed or processed materials
of which official copies have been retained for purposes
of record; and
3. Stocks of publications and processed documents
preserved for supply purposes.
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There are also other types of nonrecord materials.
They are materials that do not have the elements that
make them public "iec>rds." They are
* materials neith ?r made nor received by an. agency
of the Government neither in pursuance of Fed-
eral law nor iv connection with the transaction
of public business, and
* materials neither preserved nor appropriate for
preservation because they have neither evidential
nor informational values.
In the following twc categories of nonrecord materials
these elements are lacking:
1. Private materials that obviously do not fall within
the scope of the definition of public "records." These
include privately purchased books and other publica-
tions and correspondence and other records pertaining
to private personal matters that have been kept at an
office for convenierce. Records made in connection
with the transaction, of public business or in pursuance
of Federal law are public records, it should be em-
phasized, and as such they belong to the office, not to
the officer; they are the property of the Government
and not of the citizen and they are in no sense personal
property. The appropriateness of their preservation
by the Government must first be decided by the agency
in which they we,e ;produced and by the National
Archives before they can be legally removed or
destroyed.
2. Materials that are not being preserved or are not
appropriate for preservation because they have neither
evidentiary nor informational values. They may in-!
clude materials that, although accumulated in the
process of producing records, have themselves never
acquired a "record" character. Ordinarily the follow-
ing may be considered "nonrecord materials," although
exceptional circumstances may result in values being
attached to them for evidentiary or informational pur-
poses; for example, letters of transmittal may consti-
tute important legal evidence in certain control or
regulatory operations of Government agencies:
a. Preliminary or intermediate drafts of letters,
memoranda, reports, or other papers, and pre-
liminary worksheets and informal notes that
do not represent significant basic steps in the
preparation of record copies of documents;
b. Letters of transmittal that do not add any in-
formation to that contained in the transmitted
material;
c. Memoranda or other papers that do not serve
as the basis of official actions, for example,
notices of holidays or of Red Cross or. Commu-
nity Chest appeals and notices of activities of
Government associations or unions; and
d. Shorthand notes, including stenographic note-
books and stenotype tapes, that have been
transcribed.
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Chapter 3
WHAT VALUES DO RECORDS HAVE?
Responsibilities for evaluation
Records may be evaluated from two points of view:
AN ARCHIVAL POINT OF VIEW. This is an
evaluation of records primarily in terms of their ulti-
mate usefulness to the Government and the people
for purposes of (a) documenting an agency's func-
tioning, (b) facilitating research, and (c) protecting
the civic, legal, and property rights of private citizens.
AN AGENCY POINT OF VIEW. This is an evalua-
tion of records in terms of their immediate or future
usefulness to the producing agency for administrative,
legal, and fiscal purposes.
Evaluations from the first point of view should be
made by professionally trained archivists, whether
they be on the staff of the operating agency or on
the staff of the National Archives. For evaluations
from the second point of view the recommendations
of agency officials are of first importance. In other
'words, the archivist in a central agency is primarily
responsible for appraising the value of records to Gov-
ernment agencies other than the producing agency,
to the scholar, and to the private citizen. Agency
officials are responsible for appraising the usefulness
of records for the currcnt or future operations of the
agency, since they are responsible for the conduct of
such operations.
Although a clear-cut division of responsibility exists
between the National Archives and the operating
agency in evaluating records, the latter can assume a
large share of responsibility for determining the ulti-
mate archival values of records in its custody. In
the normal discharge of its duties an agency records
staff develops a knowledge of the organizational struc-
ture and functioning of the agency and of the records
that result from such functioning. This knowledge
is basic to judging the value of records for purposes
of functional documentation. The functional evalua-
tions, therefore, can best be made on a cooperative
basis by the records staff of an agency and the staff
of the National Archives. When the agency records
staff includes professionally trained archivists, the
responsibility for records evaluation, from both the
archival and the agency point of view, can be as-
sumed to a greater extent by the agency.
Standards for evaluation
It has been noted in the foreword to this manual
that values are attached to records for a variety of
reasons. For purposes of discussion these values can
be grouped into four types :
1. Values for administrative, legal, and fiscal uses
by the Government,
2. Values for the protection of the civic, legal,
property, and other rights of citizens,
3. Values for purposes of functional documenta-
tion, and
4. Values for research purposes.
In discussing these four types of values no attempt
is made for obvious reasons to formulate precise and
categorical standards by which values can be judged.
It should be noted, however, that an agency records
officer should consider these four types of values pro-
gressively in the order in which they are here discussed.
He is responsible first for determining the immediate
and future administrative, legal, and fiscal usefulness
of records to his agency, as distinct from determining
their ultimate documentary, research, or other values
to the Government generally, the scholar, and the pri-
vate citizen. Because of his familiarity with the or-
ganizational structure and functioning of his agency,
the records officer is also in a position to make helpful
judgments on the values of records for purposes of
functional documentation. Since the needs of research
are very broad, however, it is more difficult for the
records officer to judge the values of records for re-
search purposes, and the assistance of professionally
competent archivists in making such judgments should
be obtained.
It should be noted, moreover, that the various types
of values constitute four aspects of a single problem
and that all must be taken into account in any ap-
praisal. Records may have sufficient value to justify
their permanent retention if only one type of value is
attached to them. In a word, any value that records
may have for the American people, either directly or
through their Government, whether for administrative,
legal, fiscal, research, scientific, or other purposes,
should be carefully considered.
VALUES FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, LEGAL, AND
FISCAL USES BY THE GOVERNMENT. The first duty
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of an agency record:. officer is to serve the needs of isifQgic~,~t'4MqWi7ciQ~~9ii1/brf that have an
agency. When he appraises any group of records, incidental value in establishing such rights. Among
therefore, he must first determine whether they have the records pertaining to the civic and legal rights ofb
further values for his `:agency. The values are likely citizens are those providing evidence of citizenship,
to be administrative, legal, or fiscal. These terms may such as the place and date of a persons birth or his
be defined in_greate:c detail, as follows: immigration and naturalization, and those establishing
Administrative vai4ies. Since records are created certain rights acquired as citizens, such as rights to old-
as administrative tools'to accomplish the functions for age security, or rights resulting from service in the
which an agency was established, they all have admin- Government civil service or in the armed forces.
istrative values during. the period of their current use- Among records establishing various property rights
fulness, and most-tapes of records of permanent and are those pertaining to land and property titles, and to
enduring value are likely to be useful beyond this financial transactions of the Government involving
period for occasional administrative purposes. A rec- loans or other financial benefits to farmers, home own-
ord has administrative value if it helps the agency per- ers, or businessmen.
form its current work or if it probably will help it per- If, then, Federal agencies are "offices of. record" for
form future work. The primary administrative use documents establishing- rights of citizens, as is the case
of most records, however, is exhausted when the trans- with respect to immigration and naturalization, old-
actions to which t:hgy relate have been completed. age security, pension, and land records, agency offi-
These transactions may pertain to long-term fiscal, cials are responsible for the preservation of such rec-
financial, regulatory, and control operations, so that ords for whatever period is necessary to protect these
their administrative value may extend over a long rights. Their further preservation in a central archival
period of time. agency will depend on what other values they may
Legal values. Records have legal value if they have.
contain evidence of l gally enforceable rights or obli- If, on the other hand, Federal agencies create rec-
gations of the Government; and among those obliga- ords in current operations that have merely an inci-
tions are, of course, the legal rights of persons, both dental value for the protection of private rights, a
employees and noneriployees, to make claims against critical appraisal is necessary. This appraisal should
the Government. Among records having legal values determine whether the information relating to private
are those showing the bases for action, such as legal rights embodied in the records has been or will be ex-
decisions and opinLoris; financial and other documents hausted at a determinable period of time, and whether
representing legal agreements, such as leases, titles, and the information is obtainable from other existing docu-
contracts; and reror,.ds of action in particular cases, mentary sources. Records pertaining to property or
such as claims papers: and legal dockets. financial rights of individuals, for example, may be
Fiscal values. Records of fiscal. value are those valuable only for a period of time governed by statutes
which pertain to the financial transactions of an of limitation, after which the rights cannot be -en-
agency, such as budgets, ledgers, allotments, pay rolls, forced by court action; and office records pertaining
and vouchers created as tools to administer the finan- to the service status of Government employees may be
cial obligations of an agency. Aftersuch records are duplicated in records of a central personnel agency or
no longer required is administrative tools they keep office. The Federal Government, it should be noted,
their fiscal value and must be retained to protect the is not obligated to retain records that might inciden-
agency against ccurt: action or to account for the ex- tally, or accidentally, contain facts useful only to pri-
penditure of funds. vate litigants in connection with the settlement of dis-
VALUES FOR TH,IE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS putes in which the Government itself has no interest.
OF THE PRIVATE CITIZEN. Whenever an operating VALUES FOR FUNCTIONAL DOCUMENTATION.
agency deals dire.-fly with private citizens, the records For every agency those records should be preserved
that are valuable for the protection of private rights that contain the basic facts of its organizational struc-
should to be regard~das its administrative records and and functions. Such records are needed as evi-
administrative, be evaluated, first from the point of view of their ture dente anof an agency's stewardship of the responsibilities
administrative, legal, and fiscal usefulness to the delegated to it. This evidence should be preserved for
agency. In certain+agencies of the Government docu- the accounting of their work that all public officials
ments are created or incorporated into records series g
that embody inf Drnnation vital to the welfare of the owe to the people whom they serve. It is needed by
people. In fact, iii some instances the agencies are other public officials who may wish to profit by the
"offices of record" for documents that establish spe- recorded experiences of an agency in dealing with
cific civic, legal, anal property rights of the private citi- organizational, procedural, and policy matters, as well
zen; in other in stances agencies create documents in as social and economic problems. It. is needed to give
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consistency and continuity to the actions of the Gov-
ernment.
Records should be preserved that contain adequate
and authentic evidence of an agency's "organization,
functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations,
or other activities." These records should show an
agency's origins, its administrative development, and
its present organizational structure. They should
show how the agency carried out its "functions," a
term used here to include all activities essential to ac-
complish the purposes for which an agency was estab-
lished. They should show the policies it followed and
the reasons for their adoption, its working methods, and
its specific individual transactions, at least in an ex-
emplary form. They should show the general social,
economic, or other conditions with which it dealt.
In appraising records for purposes of functional
documentation, the agency's records must be viewed
in their entirety to determine their relationship and
the significance of a given group of records to the entire
system of documentation. In chapter 4, How Should
Records Be Analyzed? will be found suggestions for
steps preliminary to the appraisal of records from the
functional point of view.
Certain major categories of records should be con-
sidered from the point of view of their value for pur-
poses of functional documentation. These categories
are not necessarily complete nor are they mutually
exclusive.
Policy records. The term "policy" simply indi-
cates that an agency has decided upon a course of
action that is to be followed in more than one of its
transactions. A policy may govern the transactions
of an entire agency, or it may be confined to those of
only one part of an agency. It may apply to the sub-
stantive or the facilitative functions of an agency.
No rigid distinction, moreover, can be made between
"policy" and "administration," since supervisory or
management activities frequently result in policy
formulation, and programs often deviate significantly
from policies. Records that document genuinely
significant activities of either type may have permanent
value. The policies that are deserving of thorough
documentation are those relating to the substantive
functions and to the more important management or
facilitative activities of an agency. The wider the
applicability of the policies, the more significant are the
related records likely to be. In general, the policy
records to be preserved are those relating to the organ-
ization, the plans, the methods and techniques, and
the rules and procedures which the agency or one of its
component parts adopted to carry out its responsibili-
ties and functions. Particularly important among
such policy documents are the following types :
Organizational documents. These may include
statutes and Executive orders as well as drafts and
supporting material relating to the organization or
reorganization of the agency, including the creation,
discontinuance, and consolidation of functions of
various of its organizational units; budgets and bud-
get-planning records, including justifications and
estimates of requirements; interpretations, opinions,
and memoranda of law; organizational and func-
tional charts; directories; correspondence and
memoranda delegating or defining powers and re-
sponsibilities, or showing working relationships with
other Federal agencies, State and local governments,
or industry or private organizations; staff studies and
special reports relating to organizational problems.
Procedural documents. These may include pro-
cedural manuals, directives, rules and regulations,
circulars, instructions, memoranda, or any regularly
recurring issuance that establishes a course of ac-
tion for the agency or one of its component parts.
The sets of issuances should be obtained at the
administrative level at which they were created.
They should include superseded issuances as well
as those currently in effect. The procedural docu-
ments may include also any staff studies or special
reports relating to methodology, techniques, and
operations, or to analyses of workloads and per-
formances. A master set of the forms developed
for each of the agency's operations may also be
included.
Reports. These may include annual reports, or
other periodic progress reports, whether narrative
or statistical; special reports of accomplishment;
transcripts of hearings; and minutes of meetings
and conferences.
Operating records. The bulk of the records of
most agencies are not those that record its general
management, the determination of its policies, or its
internal administration but rather those that record
the specific individual transactions that make up its
actual operations. These records not only have the
greatest bulk but also present the most serious prob-
lems of evaluation. Normally most of the significant
evidence relative to the operations of an agency is
relayed upward through reports of a statistical or
narrative nature, through correspondence and memo-
randa, and other summary records. It would seem,
therefore, that the records of individual transactions
are seldom basically essential as evidence of policy,
organization, function, or procedure. In some agen-
cies, however, the preservation of operating records,
or at least samples of them, is necessary to show how
policies were implemented, how procedures were ex-
ecuted, and what kinds of problems, not always re-
corded at the policy level, were encountered. A
selection of operating records may be necessary to
exemplify the administrative processes at the lower
level or to illustrate the variations in such processes.
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In regulatory or quasi-judicial agencies, for example, in the Disposal Act. t is impor a o ote, however,
policy is frequently developed through the determina- that a distinction should be made between the record li
tion of particular cases. In suchagencies a selection copies" of such materials and the nonrecord distribu-
y
The archival agency is concerned onl
i
es.
might be made of i limited number of outstanding on cop
cases designed to illustrate the more interesting points with the disposition of the record copies. The infor-
of law or the applic).ti on of various types of sanctions mational records are of two types: The publications
or regulatory measures. In the case of new agencies produced in the performance of substantive functions
of this kind, or of new programs, complete documenta- and the publicity materials produced in the perform-
tion of operations may be desirable for the early period. - ante of informational or promotional activities.
In agencies having extensive field organizations, it As a rule, record copies of publications of the first
may be desirable to select records of representative type should be retained for ultimate preservation in
offices to show how policies and procedures worked libraries rather than as part of an archival record
at the "grass-roots" level or to show how governmental group. This is the case with respect to bulletins,
activities impinged on the life of the people. The pamphlets, circulars, and other materials produced by
retention of properly' selected samples of operating agencies primarily engaged in scientific, statistical, or
records is usually sufficient to serve the purposes of research activities. There are exceptions to this rule,
documentation. Problems relating to the evaluation however. Record copies of administrative publications
of operating records from other points of view will created by an agency that are basic to an understanding
be discussed later. of its functioning or organization and publications ac-
Housekeeping records. A substantial part of the cumulated by an agency that are basic to its own policy
records of any ag.nei represent the everyday per- formulation may be considered suitable for archival
sonnel, fiscal, procurement, and property-control ac- preservation. Publications- filed with records relating
tions by which its 'internal operations are carried on. to their creation may also be considered suitable, par-
The evaluation of such records is affected by the re- ticularly if the records contain successive original
tention of related records by the Civil Service Com- drafts that reflect substantial changes in content. If
mission, the Treasary Department, and the General publications that do not directly relate to the agency's
Accounting Office. Such records ordinarily pertain functioning or organization and that are readily sepa-
to activities common to all agencies and therefore, rated without loss of significant interrelationships are
as a rule, contain 1_':.ttlf. evidence essential to an under- interfiled with records, they should be removed before
articular agency. their transfer to an archival agency.
of an
i
ti
f
h
y p
ng
on
unc
e
ding of t
stan The preservation of selected groups of such records is Record copies of informational records of the second
necessary, howeve:?, to reflect the major facilitating type, namely the publicity materials relating to promo-
operations of an agency and to help in the interpreta- tional activities, should be retained for ultimate preser-
tion of other recor 1s ;representing its substantive func- vation in anarchival agency, while the nonrecord dis-
tions. These groups will include the basic fiscal and tribution copies may be selected for inclusion in a li-
accounting-record,, specified for retention in the Na- brary at the discretion of the librarian. They provide
tional Archives General Schedule No. 5. Less im- the- documentation of the programs that some agencies
portant from a documentary point of view, but not must undertake to interpret their functions to the pub-
necessarily from the' legal or administrative point of lit. The publicity materials may be in the form of
view, are the basic personnel records that are to be press and radio releases, bulletins, pamphlets, charts,
preserved in accordance with General Schedule No. posters and similar materials. They are produced in
1. If an agency carries on internal management ac- large quantities but usually disappear almost as rapidly
tivities that are distinctive, that deviate from the as they are created, for they are often not placed in
normal pattern, or that pertain to problems peculiar organized files with other records and. so are not Pre-
to the agency, records on such activities or problems served. The problem with respect to such materials is
should be preserved. that of obtaining master files from which all duplicate
Informational records. In addition to administra- copies have been eliminated. The -files should be
tive issuances, such as regulations and other. directives obtained at the administrative level at which they were
and manuals of operation, which should clearly be created. Press clippings should be preserved if they
preserved permanently, considerable -quantities of are necessary to record informational activities or sub-
printed and processed materials of an informational stantive functions of an agency on which other docu-
character are produced in most Government agencies. mentary materials are inadequate and if they are
The form of such materials is not the determining fac- organized in an accessible manner. The origin of the
tor inconsidering their record character, for books are press clippings must also be taken into account. Press
specifically included; among the documentary materials clippings of specialized or small newspapers or jour-
that fall within the scope of the definition of "records" nals should be given preference over those taken from
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metropolitan newspapers that are readily available at
the Library of Congress.
VALUES FOR RESEARCH. If a careful selection is
made of the records that are to constitute an agency's
documentation, most legitimate demands of both the
scholar and the public administrator will be met. Rec-
ords, however, obviously have other than documentary
values. The word "records" was defined in the Dis-
posal Act to include materials that should be preserved
"because of the informational value of data contained
therein." The information contained in such records,
apart from any considerations of functional documen-
tation, has an absolute value. The appraisal there-
fore must rest upon research values-to the historian,
political scientist, geographer, economist, sociologist,
statistician, physical scientist, and others. This judg-
ment on value, in a word, is made solely from the point
of view of research.
This type of appraisal is made piecemeal, for the
records are judged on the merits of their informa-
tional content, not on their relationships to the docu-
mentation of the agency as a whole. The appraisal
requires professional knowledge of research method-
ology and research needs, as distinct from specialized
knowledge of the administrative background of the
records. The appraiser should use different criteria in
evaluating records of different periods. Records of an
early period may be valuable for academic researches
while similar records of a later date may be valueless
,,because of the existence of other more usable sources.
Three categories of records frequently contain data
of informational value, although they have little or no
significance for functional documentation. They are
operating, statistical, and scientific records.
Operating records. It has already been noted that
selected samples of operating records may have sig-
nificance for the documentation of an agency's func-
tioning. Such records may also have a research inter-
est because of the detailed information they may con-
tain about individuals, organizations, places, or other
matters, or because, in the aggregate, they contain facts
about social or economic conditions. In regulative or
quasi-judicial agencies, for example, operating records
may contain economic data submitted by individuals
or organizations that could not be obtained elsewhere.
This is particularly true if the agency requires the
submission of data on business, labor, agriculture, or
other operations.
The retention of the entire series of such records
may be necessary. Before this determination is made,
however, other materials, including non-Federal rec-
ords and published works, that might contain similar
or approximately similar information to that contained
in the records in question should be considered. The
appraiser should ask himself from what source could
the same information be developed if the records did
: CIA-RDP78-04718AO02700210015-5
not exist, or whether the records are of such a unique
character that other available materials would not
serve the equivalent purpose.
Usually it will be found that the retention of prop-
erly selected samples of operating records will serve
all research purposes. The selection should take into
account the various factors affecting the value of the
records, such as the size of the corporation or organiza-
tion concerned, the volume of its business, and the
importance of the transaction recorded or of the indi-
vidual concerned. The agency officials who worked
with the records should be consulted in developing the
method of selection. If public-reporting forms are in-
volved, the statisticians of the Bureau of the Budget
concerned with the application of the Federal Reports
Act of 1942 (56 Stat. 1078) should be consulted.
Statistical records. Many agencies have signifi-
cant quantities of questionnaires, schedules, and
similar papers representing the raw data from which
statistical tabulations or analyses have been, made.
Certain operating records that were originally created
for other than statistical purposes but that might be
put to statistical uses may also fall within this category.
Ordinarily, statistical records should be released to
an archival agency only if they have significant in-
formation about individual persons, corporations, or
the like, or if in the aggregate they have significant
information about social or economic conditions, and
if their quantity, complexity, or other attributes are
not such as to make their further use impracticable.
To be significant the information should be of such
a character that it could not be obtained elsewhere
and that it would be valuable for a diversity of
studies. Statistical records that have value for a
specialized study only should ordinarily be retained
by the Government agency, particularly if this spe-
cialized study is to be made by the agency that has
custody of the records. With statistical records, as
with operating records, a selection of samples should
be made whenever feasible. Again the advice of
agency officials who worked with the records or of
statisticians of the Bureau of the Budget may be of
special assistance.
Scientific records. In addition to the records that
document the scientific functions of Government agen-
cies, which are clearly suitable for archival preserva-
tion, records are created that are of a purely scientific
character. They contain data on experiments and
investigations. Their value is determined by their
importance for the history of science or for the con-
duct of further scientific researches. The problem of
evaluation arises mainly with respect to records needed
for further researches, for obviously records pertain-
ing to the history of scientific activities in the Federal
Government are valuable. When scientific records
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provide the means of carrying on further researches have significance only for a particular experiment,
or of verifying the results of past researches, they are or they may be intelligible only to the persons who
clearly suitable for permanent preservation. Fre- recorded the data. The agency officials who con-
quently, however, scientific records have attributes ducted the scientific -activity should be consulted to
that make their further use impracticable. They may ascertain the further value of such records.
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Chapter 4
HOW SHOULD RECORDS BE ANALYZED?
Objectives
An analysis of an agency's records has two purposes :
1. To identify the records of enduring or permanent
value that the Government should undertake to
preserve indefinitely, and
2. To identify the records that are disposable, now
or later.
These two purposes represent two aspects of the same
problem. The selection of records for preservation is
the positive aspect of the problem of records disposi-
tion; the disposal of records is the negative one. If
the records that should be preserved indefinitely are
identified, it may be assumed that the value of the
remainder of the records, although some of them may
need to be kept for a number of years, is only tem-
porary.
The problem then remaining is to determine after
what period of time the value of the "temporary" rec-
`ords will disappear or so dwindle that their further
preservation is not worth while. In other words, the
records officer decides in effect: "These records the
Government should keep indefinitely. All the rest
should be thrown away-some now, some when they
are 5 years old, some when the accounts to which they
relate are settled, and others at other times." There
are, then, just two questions the records officer should
ask himself at this stage:
1. What are the records of this agency that the
Government should preserve indefinitely?
2. When may each class of the remainder be
thrown away?
Methods
To determine which records are disposable and
which should be preserved indefinitely, the records offi-
cer should normally take the following steps:
Step 1. Analyze the organizational structure and
functioning of the agency.
This analysis should provide general information on
the following points:
1. The status of each office in the administrative
hierarchy of the agency,
2. The character of the functions performed by each
office, and
3. The character of the activities performed on a
given function by each office.
The status of an office in the administrative
hierarchy of the agency can be most easily deter-
mined, and upon this status the value of the records
largely depends. A cursory examination of both the
national and field organizations of an agency will
usually reveal which are the key staff and line offices.
Of fundamental importance are the records produced
in the administrative and staff offices where the policy,
procedural, and organizational decisions by which an
agency is governed are made. Attached to such
offices are various organizational units engaged in
handling legal, budgetary, procedural, and internal
administrative activities, or engaged in research or in-
vestigations incidental to the formulation of policy or
procedures. Less obviously important and more diffi-
cult to identify are the valuable records pertaining to
supervisory or management functions. Lowest in the
administrative scale are the offices concerned with
detailed and frequently routine operations, which re-
sult in records that are even less likely to have enduring
value.
The character of the functions performed by each
office is also significant in determining the value of
records. Functions may be characterized as substan-
tive and facilitative. Substantive functions are those
relating to the technical and professional work of the
agency, work that distinguishes the particular agency
from all other agencies. These functions deserve
thorough documentation. Facilitative functions are
those relating to the internal management of the
agency, the housekeeping activities that are common
to all agencies. Although these activities admittedly
are important to efficient operation, they are not dis-
tinctive. They are, in fact, merely incidental to the
performance of the agency's substantive functions.
In analyzing the functions of his agency the records
officer should particularly identify those that have ex-
piration dates, for advance preparation should be
made for the orderly disposition of the records pertain-
ing to them. Most obvious among the terminable
functions are those relating to emergency programs
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arising a Idpraq~'i guyt epc nomic or social ma l- eadquarters, however, seldom need to be covered by
adjustments, for such programs end when the emer- individual surveys, though a survey of the records of
gency ceases to eKisi:. Other terminable functions are representative offices is desirable. Motion pictures,
those relating to projects specially authorized by Con- sound recordings, and photographs can be surveyed
gress in addition to the regular functions of an agency by the same general methods as written records, but,
or those relating to projects carried out at periodic in- since many technical problems are involved, agencies
tervals such as the taking of a census of population. should consult with the National Archives before
In this category, also, are regular functions of an beginning such a survey.
agency that are tern T nated by Congressional action or The forms to be used in the survey should be de-
b
a
enc
r
i
i
y
g
y
eorga;i
zat
ons.
The character of the activities performed on a
given function by each office in the administrative
hierarchy is likewise significant in determining the
value of records. Ini the execution of any given func-
tion action is usually, taken by offices at several admin-
istrative levels. These activities normally become
progressively less important as the work flows through
the various levels to completion, changing from the
important to the routine, from the general to the
specific. On each function, as a consequence, there
is a chain of succe:;sine transactions, each link of which
represents a preliminary step toward the final action.
The value of any particular series of records in this
chain is largely de tenrnined by its relationship to other
series. If these r;lationships are analyzed, it is pos-
sible to determine the relative value of various series
in providing evidence on organization and function.
It may be found that certain series contain substan-
tially all the evidence needed, or that certain series
may be required to provide supplementary evidence.
To be adequate this :evidence may have to cover the
entire range of an agency's activities--at least, in an
exemplary form-f'rotn the top to the bottom, from the
important to the routine.
Step 2. Survey the record materials of the agency.
The surveys can be made most thoroughly by the
records officer a:zd' his immediate staff. When
speed is essential and the volume of records to be
covered is large, ho'vever, it is necessary to use a
questionnaire form th it can be filled out by the people
who actually have charge of the records. This ap-
proach requires careftiil planning, detailed instruction,
and close editing, Eut'it makes participants of operat-
ing officials throughout the agency and. permits com-
pletion of the work f;rr more rapidly than would be
possible if one person undertook to do the job.
The survey should ultimately cover all records as
well as "nonrecord materials" of the agency, but,
unless the agency is Eery small, it is usually best to
survey the records cf one bureau or division at a time.
The records of large. field officesthat have substantial
autonomy and considerable freedom in the organiza-
tion of their records should be surveyed just as are
those of bureaus or divisions at the headquarters of
the agency. Smaller field offices that keep their rec-
ords in substantial conformity with instructions from
1.2
wised to suit the.needs of the particular agency. Ordi-
narily the forms shouldprovide space for entering the
following facts on each records series :
1. The office that filed or originally kept the series
of records,
2. The location and present custody of the records,
3. The identification of the series,
4. The beginning and ending dates o f the series,
5. The internal arrangement of the-files,
6. The existence in the agency of other copies of
the same papers,
7. The existence in the agency of other files that
contain the same information,
8. The size and kind of containers,
9. The quantity of records in the series
annual rate of accumulation,
10. The kind and frequency of use, .and
and the
11. The opinion of the person or persons in charge
of the records as to their value and the periods
they will need to be retained.
The office that filed or originally kept the recordsA
should be shown in full, for example :
Statistics Branch, Operations Division.
Historical Section, General Administrative Services, Office
of the Quartermaster General.
Budget Section, Fiscal Branch, Office of Price Administra-
tion.
This office may be very different from the office that
now has charge of the records. For example, the rec-
ords of Camp X of the Army may now be in the hands
of The Adjutant General's Records Administration
Center in St. Louis, but they would still be reported as
records of Camp X because that camp filed them.
When an office is abolished, anotheroffice or division
sometimes takes over its activities and records and con-
tinues to file papers in them. This practice is not to be
recommended, for a set of files should be cut off when
it is transferred elsewhere and a new set of files should
be started. If this practice is followed., however, the
records should be reported as records of the last office
that actually added to them.
The location and present custody of the series
should be shown, as, for example:
Room 211, Walker-Johnson Building, Division of Mail
and Records.
The records series described on the form should
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be identified clearly, and its nature, content, and pur- because it often determines wnich copy should
pose should be shown. This information is essential in
the evaluation of records, their appraisal by the Na-
tional Archives, and their subsequent identification at
the time of actual disposal. Include form numbers
and titles, decimal file headings, and similar data
when applicable. For forms and memoranda indicate
whether the copies in the series are ribbon or carbon
and whether signed or unsigned. Note the following
examples of identifications :
Signed ribbon copies of Form 32, Service order, for all
services performed in photographic laboratory.
Requests for copies of publications and copies of replies
thereto.
Unsigned carbon copies of Form 1012e, travel vouchers,
with accompanying travel authorizations, subvouchers,
and memoranda of exceptions.
Project files for all construction projects, including, for
each project, signed ribbon copy of project application
(Form 817), unsigned carbon copy of review mem-
orandum, unsigned carbon of notice of approval (Form
11), signed carbon of advice of allocation (Form 319),
signed ribbon copy of quarterly report of expenditures
(Form 82), signed ribbon copy of notice of abandonment
or completion (Form 38), signed carbon copy of advice
of rescission (Form 17), and memoranda, reports, and
correspondence relating to the project.
Dates should be shown as exactly as possible, for
example :
April 6, 1941, to date.
June 1919 to May 1942.
A brief statement of the filing scheme or ar-
rangement within the series should be given, for
differences between the arrangement of two series may
determine which is to be kept and which disposed
of. Note that what is wanted is the internal arrange-
ment of each records series itself. Arrangement
should be noted as follows:
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Arranged chronologically by date of report.
Arranged numerically by map number.
If the arrangement is broken down within this basic
pattern, note as follows:
Arranged chronologically by date of report and alpha-
betically thereunder by subject.
Arranged alphabetically by name of registrant and chrono-
logically thereunder by date of supporting papers.
The existence of copies of the papers in other
files in the agency, if known, should be indicated,
thus :
Carbon copies also in Division of Finance and Accounts.
Originals of Form 57 retained by Division of Personnel
Management.
If there is any substantial difference between the copies
of the documents, it is important to note that fact
retained and which destroyed, for example:
Signed ribbon copies of these forms with notation of action
by Director are in General Files.
Carbon copies without final computation
tained by issuing division.
A brief description of any other records of the
agency containing substantially similar informa-
tion should be given. Statistical results of an analysis,
for example, are usually found on questionnaire forms,
on tabulation sheets, and in compiled reports. Es-
sential data in requisitions are often carried over into
purchase orders and vouchers. Detailed reports of
subordinate or field offices are often summarized in
reports of offices at higher levels. The duplication is
generally only partial in each case. The records offi-
cer must know how a given series is related to another
and the extent to which their contents duplicate each
other.
The size and kind of containers of the records
should be shown. Information such as this is valuable
in planning transfers and removals to storage:
Four-drawer letter-size file cabinets.
Wooden boxes, 30" x 15" x 10".
Card trays, 12" x 6" x 4".
Bound volumes, averaging 14" x 8" x 3".
The quantity of records and the annual rate of
accumulation should be shown. This is easiest given
in numbers of volumes or containers, for example:
49 file drawers; annual increase, 11 file drawers.
114 volumes; annual increase, 7 volumes.
The nature and frequency of use is perhaps the
most important criterion in determining whether rec-
ords can be disposed of. This should be shown as
precisely as possible, for example:
Used approximately 15 times a week in preparing answers
to exceptions taken by General Accounting Office.
Never used.
Used approximately 15 times per month by Review Division
in connection with review of current projects.
Used once or twice a year by Legal Division in search of
precedent cases.
The recommendation of the official in charge of
the records as to their disposition should be given.
Employees who handle records currently can give the
records officer valuable advice as to how long they
should be kept. In giving the records officer their
opinions, these persons should keep in mind the fact
that once records become noncurrent for administra-
tive purposes they can be kept more economically out-
side the active files. Temporary storage should not be
in working offices. Permanent retention should be in
the National Archives. Records of no value should
be disposed of promptly. Internal regulations, those
of other agencies, or laws that require retention for cer-
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taro period ~iP
wo, c t~~, a lease possible, in sup- successive transactions of the function performed at
port of the recommendation. If it is thought that each administrative level, should identify the records
records should be kept at hand temporarily, the time series that result from each of the transactions, and
for such retention should be stated explicitly in terms should analyze the purpose and content of the records
of months or years after current action is completed. series and of any forms embodied in them. After this
Step 3. Analyze the survey reports by organiza- has been done the significance and the relationships of
tional units end functions. the records series at different administrative levels can
This analysis should reveal the following informa- be determined. The records officer should ask him-
tion : self :
1. The significance of each records series to the
over-all docu nzentation of the agency's organiza-
tional structure and functioning,
2. The relationship of records series to each other,
and
3. On the basis of the significance and the relation-
ships of records series, the value of each (a) for
archival purposes, and (b) for agency purposes.
No matter how thoroughly the survey was made, it
will be found that supplemental information will be
required to formulate dependable disposition recom-
mendations on various records series. It will be help-
ful to review chapter. 3 of this manual while making
these disposition d.-,terminations.
On the substantive functions of the agency-
functions that reflect its professional and technical
work-the survey reports should be utilized in the
following ways:
Survey reports on the records of offices concerned
with major policy, procedural, and organizational
matters should be brought together for purposes of
analysis. In reviewing these reports the records officer
should ask himself the following questions :
1. Which administrative units in the national
office have primary responsibility for making
the policy, procedural, and organizational de-
cisions of the agency?
2. Which field offices have discretion in the de-
termination of policy?
3. Which administrative units perform activities
that are auxiliary to making policy and pro-
cedural decisions?
4. Which records series are essential to reflect
these decision: ?
5. Are these decisions reflected in central cor-
respondence files? If so, can file units within
the central fi:'es: pertaining to housekeeping
activities be removed?
Survey reports should also be grouped by major func-
tions of the agency fcr purposes of analysis. These
functions, as has been noted, may be carried out
through various administrative levels in the agency,
in both its national and its field offices. In reviewing
the reports, the records officer should ascertain the
1. Where does theprimary responsibility for the
supervisory and management activities of the
function rest? In which office at headquar-
ters? In which office within the field?
Which series of records are essential to reflect
the supervisory and managerial activities?
To what extent are such records physically
duplicated in subordinate offices?
2. Which of the successive transactions per-
formedunder the function result in summary
records? Are the final summary records ade-
quate for all foreseeable purposes? Are the
final records self-explanatory?
3. Which transactions result in preliminary or
intermediate records? Which records are
merely subsidiary to the creation of other rec-
ords? To what extent is the content of such
records duplicated in other records? Is there
reasonable probability that the detail records
may be needed to prove or sustain the sum-
mary of final records, or that they may be
needed for investigative purposes? When do
such detail records cease to be useful for ad-
ministrative, legal, and fiscal purposes? IS
their retention governed by statutes of limi-
tation, or by subsequent actions that occur?
4. Which records should be preserved in exem-
plary form to show the administrative proc-
esses at the lower levels?
On the facilitative functions of the agency, the
survey reports should be utilized in a slightly different
manner. The facilitative functions relate to the in-
ternal management of the various Government agen-
cies, the housekeeping activities that are common to
all agencies. The administrative processes that are
followed in carrying out such functions are similar in
all agencies and vary only to the degree that such
functions are broken down by administrative speciali-
zation. These administrative processes determine
Which forms should be used,
How many copies of each form should be made,
Where each copy should be sent,
Where each copy should be filed, and
How long each copy should be kept.
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They are therefore of interest to the records officer,
who, accordingly, should become part of the team that
is concerned with the internal management of his
Cash vouchers,
Paid checks,
General ledgers, and
Inventory records.
agency.
In analyzing housekeeping records it is generally
advisable to consider separately the records of each
of the major facilitative functions for the entire agency.
To do this it is not necessary to make an actual physical
survey of such records throughout the agency. It is
more important to obtain or compile a list of standard
and agency forms, with samples if possible, and to
obtain information on the offices that prepare each
of the forms, the number of copies made, the distribu-
tion of the copies, the uses made of each copy, and the
relationships of each of the forms to other forms.
The major facilitative functions of an agency can
usually be grouped as follows:
Administrative services,
Budget,
Communications,
Fiscal,
Legal,
Personnel, and
Property, supplies, and equipment.
After assembling the forms by major functions, the
records officer can analyze each of them. The major
functions, for example, are usually further subdivided
into more specific transactions. Under fiscal opera-
tions forms are developed for accounting, auditing,
and various other transactions. Similarly under per-
sonnel operations forms are developed for applica-
tions, classification, placement, rating, and other pur-
poses. The extent and nature of the major functions
and the transactions performed under them depend
upon the size of the agency involved and the degree
of administrative specialization.
After determining the transactions performed under
the facilitative functions, the records officers should
arrange the forms for purposes of analysis in the order
in which the work is performed or the steps in transac-
tions are completed. This arrangement will make it
easy to determine the specific purpose for which a
form was prepared, the relationship of a copy of the
form to other copies, and the relationship of the form
to other forms. The procurement of property, sup-
plies, and equipment, for example, results in the fol-
lowing kinds of records :
Requests for purchase requisitions,
Purchase requisitions,
Invitations to bid,
Purchase orders or contracts,
Expediting records,
Bills of lading,
Receiving reports,
Inspection and testing reports,
Stores (or stock) ledgers,
When the forms have been thus arranged and
examined, the records officer should ask himself the
following questions:
Which series of records are necessary to
reflect the major facilitating operations and
to help in the interpretation of records of
substantive functions?
Which series show unique facilitating
operations?
Which steps in each of the transactions
result in forms that are merely subsidiary
to the creation of summary or final forms?
To what extent is the content of such forms
duplicated in summary or final forms? Is
there reasonable probability that the detail
records may be needed to prove or sustain
the summary or final records, or that they
may be needed for investigative purposes?
Which steps in each of the transactions are
preliminary to other actions? Which
forms are involved in these steps? When
do such forms lose their usefulness? Is
their retention period governed by subse-
quent actions that occur?
5. Which forms are distributed merely for
informational purposes?
While the analysis of the value of housekeeping rec-
ords must be made on a form-by-form basis, the dis-
position recommendations must take into account how
such forms are filed, for the retention periods estab-
lished for a given file unit must cover all forms within
the unit. Practical suggestions on how to prepare
schedules, so that the records can be removed and dis-
posed of promptly upon the expiration of the reten-
tion periods, are found in chapter 7 of this manual.
Step 4. Prepare a written plan for the disposition
of the agency's records.
It should include the following information:
1. An identification of the series of records of each
function that should be preserved, and a schedule
for their planned retirement, and
2. An identification of the series of records of each
function that are disposable, and a schedule for
their periodic disposal.
The word "disposition" in a broad sense includes
anything that is done to records, whether it be elimina-
tion, transfer to temporary inactive storage, reduction
by microphotography, or transfer to an archival agency.
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 A disposit Fiheq g el?aae~2 t01108110 CIA-RD ff8
on the i04718A002700e possible -in evaluation of
a4
t
b
k
sons
o
a to
en with respect to all records records for purposes of research and functional docu-
i
d
ser
es pro
uced L y an agency or one of its component
parts. It differs from a disposal schedule in that it
is comprehensive--it covers the records to be retained
as well as those to be destroyed.
Disposition plans will establish a comprehensive
and considered policy for the retention and the dis-
posal of an agency's records. They will provide an
over-all view of the. documentation that an agency
plans to preserve permanently. They will provide in-
formation on the: r:lationships of records to be re-
tained to those to be destroyed. They will thus
provide an invaluable tool in the appraisal of records,
for dependable judgments on what should be destroyed
cannot be made without a knowledge of what is re-
tained. They will afford an opportunity for a col-
laborative effort on-the part of the agency records
officer and the staff' of the National Archives in de-
veloping a planned program for the retention and dis-
posal of records; for disposition plans should be
prepared in collaboration with, or at least should be
reviewed by, the staff of the National Archives. The
mentation, as distinct from an evaluation for agency
usefulness.
The format in which a disposition plan is to be de-
veloped is left to the discretion of the agency. Forms
designed to obtain authorization to destroy records
may be used for purposes of preparing comprehensive
schedules; items are included for all series of records
of an agency and the action to be taken with respect
to each when it becomes noncurrent is indicated. It
should be noted, however, that schedules are instru-
ments for obtaining authorization for the disposal of
records. Normally they should not include items
on which disposal authorization is not requested. A
preferable way of preparing a disposition plan is to
use forms -devised for this purpose by the agency.
Disposal schedules, obviously, are a means of imple-
menting one phase of a disposition plan. They -pro-
vide the authorization for the regular disposal of desig-
nated series of records after the lapse of specified
periods of time. Information on how to prepare dis-
posal schedules is found in chapter 7 of this manual.
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Chapter 5
WHEN AND HOW SHOULD RECORDS BE RETIRED?
Objectives
In chapter 4 the development of disposition plans
was suggested. These plans, it was noted, should
cover both the retention and the disposal of records.
Retention might involve either their reproduction by
microphotographic processes or their retirement. In
this chapter attention will be focused on the retirement
of records. By retirement is meant the removal of
records from the offices and equipment in which they
were created and accumulated (1) to the National
Archives, (2) to intermediate depositories, or (3) to
other Government agencies. Each of these alterna-
tives will be discussed.
The retirement of records represents a positive
step toward either their permanent or their temporary
preservation. It is one of the positive aspects of a
records management program in that it is concerned
with the maintenance and preservation, rather than
the destruction, of records.
The immediate objectives in retiring records are to
effect economies in the use of office space and equip-
ment and to promote efficiency in the use of records.
To achieve economy and efficiency, the retirement
of records must be planned carefully. The plan must
establish a timetable for the movement of records,
based on a careful analysis of the periods of their cur-
rent administrative usefulness and of their ultimate
value as permanent archives of the agency.
Transfer to National Archives
The accessioning policies of the National Archives
derive from its responsibility for the oversight and
care of all records of the Government that have en-
during value. They are based upon sections 3 and 6
of the National Archives Act and upon the resolutions
of the National Archives Council adopted on Novem-
ber 9, 1944, in pursuance of those sections. They are
clarified in certain details by the definition of "records"
in section 1 of the Records Disposal Act of July 7, 1943,
and by sections 1 and 2 of Executive Order 9784,
"Providing for the More Efficient Use and for the
Transfer and Other Disposition of Government
Records."
Under section 6 of the National Archives Act the
National Archives Council is authorized to "define the
classes of material which shall be transferred to the
National Archives Building and establish regulations
governing such transfer." In pursuance of this section,
the Council on November 9, 1944, authorized the
Archivist of the United States to requisition records
that fall into the following classes:
I. Any archives or records that the head of the agency
that has custody of them may offer for transfer to the Na-
tional Archives.
II. Any archives or records that have been in existence
for more than fifty years unless the head of the agency that
has the custody of them certifies in writing to the Archivist
that they must be retained in his custody for use in the con-
duct of the regular current business of the said agency.
III. Any archives or records of any Federal agency that
has gone out of existence unless the head of the agency that
has the custody of them certifies in writing to the Archivist
that they must be retained in his custody for use in per-
forming transferred functions of the discontinued agency or
in liquidating its affairs.
IV. Any other archives or records that the National
Archives Council by special resolution may authorize to be
transferred to the National Archives.
It should be noted that the Council resolutions pro-
vide only a general guide as to the classes of records to
be transferred to the National Archives. The most
important factor to be considered in determining the
eligibility of records for transfer to an archival agency
is their value. It is implicit in the National Archives
Act and in Executive Order 9784 that records must
have permanent or enduring value to be preserved in
the National Archives, for the act indicates that rec-
ords of "no permanent value or historical interest"
will be destroyed, while the Executive order assumes
that records having "enduring value" will be
preserved.
Transfer procedure
Agency offers of records for transfer. Although
certain classes of records may be requisitioned by the
Archivist of the United States, the policy of the
National Archives is to encourage the agencies of the
Government to take the initiative in offering records
for transfer. The transfer of Government records to
the National Archives is thus usually an entirely volun-
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 tary actio : PI )vverdnmeent o c alse 2001 a u10deCIA-RDPt 8omp~8A0the off2lshouldbe broken down
no compulsion tc offer records for transfer and the into several separate offers each of which covers
Archivist of the United States is under no obligation to groups that can be accessioned within a 6-month
take into his custody; any records so offered. period.
The source of the offer should be a responsible 3. A continuing or recurrent transaction resulting
official of the Government agency. The release of in the transfer of records of a given kind that are
records to the National Archives is determined by to be released to the National Archives
responsible officials of the agency that has accumu- periodically as they accumulate.
lated them, after they have considered the character 4. An informal transaction resulting in the transfer
of the records, their, current usefulness, the condition to the National Archives of :relatively small
of their storage in the agency, and other factors. volumes of records found in the possession of an
Whenever practicable agencies should centralize their agency that are covered by description and date
relationships with the National Archives in some one in a previously completed accessioning job.
office, preferably is that of the records officer. If the The acknowledgment of the offer, whether it was
responsibility for liaison with the National Archives is in a written or an oral form, will be made to the agency
vested in the records officer, all offers of transfer on National Archives Form 112. On this form will
should be cleared through his office. If an agency be indicated the job number assigned to the transfer
issues directives- to this effect, copies of such directives proposal. Further correspondence or conversations
should be placed cn file in the National Archives. In relative to the proposal should refer to this job num-
accordance with such directives the National Archives ber. The job numbers will be of two types: (1) If
will return to the agency for central clearance any the transaction involves a transfer of a specific group
offers of transfer r.aade by unauthorized officials, of records or the transfer of multiple groups at various
The form of the offer may be either written or oral, times or from various places, the job number will be
although the writ-:en form is preferable. The Gov- assigned in the style 450-1, 450-2. (2) If the trans-
ernment official who; wishes to transfer records to the action involves the transfer of a given type of records
National Archives should offer them in a letter di- at periodic intervals as they accumulate, the Archivist
rected to the Archivist of the United States. The through his representative will enter into a commit-
letter should descr:.be the records in sufficient detail to ment to accept such records by a process of continuing
permit their ready identification and should include or recurrent transfer. This commitment will be con-
information ~
as to their whereabouts and as to the sidered a continuing transfer agreement between the -
official with whom a representative of the Archivist agency and the National Archives. The National
should get in touch regarding their transfer. -If the Archives may terminate such an agreement at its
official feels that :restrictions must be placed on the discretion and will inform the agency of its reasons
use of the records offered for transfer, he should state for doing so. Continuing transfer agreements will be
this fact in the le;te'. In this connection reference assigned job numbers in the style 4510-Cl, 450-C2.
should be made tc sections 3 and 6a of the National All further correspondence relative to such agreements
Archives Act as amended March 3, 1948. The offers should refer to the job numbers assigned to them.
of transfer, however,: may be made orally to a repre-
sentative of the Ar Thus, if an agency, in the course of a few years, desires
hivist. Offers of a given group of to transfer additional records of the same kind that are
records should not bg made both in the oral and the
written covered by a continuing transfer agreement, the offer
form.
The coverage of the offer may vary. The offer of transfer should refer to the job number assigned to
may result in one of four types of transactions: the agreement. The offers of additional records will
1. A simple transaction resulting in the transfer of be assigned additional job numbers in the style 450-1
a specific group of records from an agency. (under the appropriate continuing transfer agreement
2. A multiple transaction resulting in the transfer number, as, for example, 445-C12), 450-2.
of various groups of records either at various Appraisal of records offered. Upon receipt of
intervals or from various places. Such transac- an offer of records from a Government agency, a rep-
tions may ca:lcern groups of records to be re- resentative of the National Archives will inspect the
leased to the National Archives either at a later records and make recommendations concerning the
proposed transfer. In order to prepare his recom-
date or at a c.at: contingent upon other definite mendations the representative will usually visit the
events or processes. Such transactions may also agency offering the records to obtain additional infor-
concern groups of records located in a number of mation about them and the problems involved in their
different offices,: as, for example, field offices of physical transfer to the National Archives. After
a given class. If the transfer of multiple groups study he will prepare a report, identifying the records,
of records is likely to require more than 6 months indicating their volume, the frequency and nature of
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their use, the restrictions on their use, and the exist- ture and value, and the facilities affecting use must all
ence of related finding aids, and containing an evalu- be considered. A central archival agency should not
ation of the records. He will follow the appraisal normally accept records likely to involve frequent loans
standards contained in chapter 3 of this manual in
making the evaluation. On the basis of it he will
make recommendations as to which of the records
should be requisitioned.
Transfer of custody. In accordance with section
6 of the National Archives Act the National Archives
Council on November 9, 1944, established regulations
governing the transfer of custody of records, as follows:
(1) That when the Archivist shall issue his requisition for
any archives or records he shall furnish to a duly authorized
representative of the agency that has the custody of them an
inventory of the material covered by such requisition; (2)
That when, and not until, this inventory shall have been
certified to by the signatures of the representatives of said
agency and of the Archivist, respectively, and the said
archives or records shall have been delivered by the repre-
sentative of the said agency to the representative of the
Archivist either at the depository in which they are stored
or at a depository under the control of the Archivist, the
said archives or records shall pass into the legal custody of
the Archivist of the United States: Provided, That records
of the Federal Government that are not in the legal custody
of any other agency of the Government shall be deemed
to be in the legal custody of the Archivist and may be trans-
ferred by him to a depository under his control without the
formalities of issuing a requisition or delivering an inventory.
In accordance with the Council regulations cited
above, the National Archives will prepare an "Acces-
sion Inventory" in duplicate and a formal requisition
by the Archivist on the official having custody of the
records for the transfer of the records in question.
On a mutually convenient date the Archivist's requisi-
tion for the records will be presented, the copies of the
"Accession Inventory" will be signed by representatives
of the two agencies involved, and the records will be
turned over to the Archivist's representative, who will
assume the legal custody of the records on behalf of
the Archivist. The records will then be transferred to
the National Archives, usually in trucks provided by
the National Archives. The physical removal will be
handled by workers on the staff of the National
Archives.
Other factors determining eligibility
Currency of records. Records must be noncurrent,
as well as valuable, to be eligible for transfer to the
National Archives. "Currency" relates to the use
made of records in carrying on the governmental func-
tion in connection with which they were accumulated.
It is to be distinguished from the "activity" resulting
from other uses, for example, the use of records by
the public or the use of records of one agency by other
agencies. To determine where records should be held
the character and the frequency of their use, their na-
back to the office of origin, although an intermediate
depository might undertake such services.
Permanent and temporary records interfiled. The
transfer to a central archival agency of large bodies
of records containing a relatively small proportion of
permanently valuable documents interfiled with larger
quantities of records of only temporary administra-
tive value should be avoided. For the period of their
administrative usefulness such records should be re-
tained in an intermediate depository, where they should
be screened of routine records before their transfer.
Wherever possible, agencies should revise their filing
systems so that permanently valuable records can be
readily segregated from records of lesser value without
time-consuming screening of individual documents.
In all'cases, it will be expected that blocks of non-
record material and records authorized for disposal
will have been removed prior to transfer.
Restrictions on use. Records are eligible for trans-
fer to an archival agency regardless of the fact that
they cannot at once be made available for research
purposes and may not become available for an in-
determinable period. The governing factor is the
value of the records. The Archivist of the United
States may refuse, however, to accession records the
use of which is subject to restrictions believed to be
unreasonable and contrary to the public interest un-
less he is required to do so by statute or Executive
order. Where documents have been stamped with
security classifications, agencies should downgrade
them wherever possible prior to transfer. When clas-
sified documents are transferred to an archival agency,
systematic arrangements for their later downgrading
should be made at the time of transfer.
Conditions within agencies. It is expected that
agencies offering records for transfer to the National
Archives will offer them by complete and logical units
accompanied by any pertinent indexes, that all records
within the limits of the date span and description of the
records offered will be included, that the records will
be in good order, and that the agency will bear the
cost of bringing to Washington any records not in the
Washington metropolitan area. The transfer of rec-
ords from executive agencies in annual or biennial in-
crements should be avoided, since the handling of such
small amounts is generally uneconomical.
Removal to records depositories
The removal of certain types of records from office
space and equipment to cheaper facilities at a certain
stage in their existence is desirable in the interest of
economical and efficient management. Economy and
efficiency cannot be achieved, however, if records are
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removed to storage and then forgotten. The time- be held in an interme late epository until they can
table for their movement to an intermediate deposi- be destroyed. If they consist of both valuable and Aft
tory should specify when records are to be destroyed or valueless materials, they should be held until they
are to be transferred to the National Archives or, if can be screened or microfilmed. If a relatively few
these actions cannot be determined in advance, should permanently valuable records are interfiled with larger
specify when screening or microfilming operations quantities of records of temporary value, the records
are to be performed on the records. should be screened of routine materials before their
The types of records that are suitable for mainte- transfer to the archival agency.
nance in intermediate, depositories can be defined Interagency transfers
only in general terms. They may include both per-
manently valuable records that are still relatively Executive Order 9784, dated September 25, 1946,
active for adminis :rative purposes and temporary provides "for the more efficient use and for the trans-
records that are used for varying periods. The speci- fer or other disposition of Government records." The
fic groups of records that should be retired must be provisions of this order pertaining to interagency
determined by the agency on the basis of (1) the transfers read as follows:
duration of their usefulness, and (2) the character 2. No records shall be transferred by one agency to the
of their usefulness. custody of another agency without the approval of the Di-
The period when records will be used in regular rector of the Bureau of the Budget except for their retire-
current operations should be considered. If it is short, ment to the National Archives, as a temporary loan for
it may be advisable io hold them in the offices in which official use, or as may be otherwise required by statute or
Executive order. Any records in the custody ofany agency
they were accumulated until they can be destroyed. which, in the judgment of the Director of the Bureau of the
Most housekeeping records fall into this category. Budget, are not needed in the conduct of its current business
The costs of removl.l may offset the economies gained and are needed in the current business of another agency shall
through the utilization of cheaper storage facilities. be transferred to the latter agency if, in the opinion of
If records will be used for a long time, however, it the Director, the public interest will be best served by such
may be advisable lo move them to cheaper storage transfer, provided that any portion of such :records deemed
facilities. Many records relate to long-term trans- to have enduring value may be accessioned by the National
actions or obligations of Government agencies. Rec- Archives and placed on loan to the agency to which the rec-
ords pertaining to loan, insurance, and other financial ords are physically transferred. In making: determinations
transactions, to ref ulatory, control, and legal trans- concerning the transfer of records the Director shall give due
P regard to the importance of having Government records
actions, and to an individuals service status in the
Government or in the; armed forces, and certain types
of fiscal records fall into this category.
The character of the uses made of records should
also be considered. Many records have no useful-
ness for regular current operations but must: be held
for long and frequently indeterminable periods.
Among such record ; are those pertaining to terminated
agencies or prograr.ls, which must be held for liquida-
tion purposes; those pertaining to controversial pro-
grams, which muse: be held for pending or probable
congressional or ocher investigations; and those col-
lected in current aperations that must be held for
purposes of statistical analysis.
The time of their removal to storage will depend
upon the degree of their currency, that is, upon the
nature and the frequency of their use. After records
have served their primary administrative uses, the
immediate purposes or which they were created and
preserved, their removal from office space and equip-
ment may be advis.sble.
Their ultimate disposition will depend upon their
value. If records have exclusively administrative,
legal, or fiscal values, and no other values, they should
which are not confidential made generally available to
Government agencies and to the public.
5. No transfer of records (except in connection with a
termination or transfer of functions) shall be made hereunder
when the head of the agency having custody of the records
shall certify that such records contain confidential informa-
tion, a disclosure of which would endanger the national
interest or the lives of individuals. Whenever any records
are transferred which contain information procured under
conditions restricting its use, the use of such records shall
continue to be limited by such conditions. The provisions
of this order shall not be deemed to require the transfer
or other disposition of records or authorize access to records
in contravention of law or of regulations of the National
Archives Council.
Under paragraph 2 of the Executive order, cited
above, the Archivist of the United States determines
if the records, or any portion thereof, involved in a
proposed interagency transfer have "enduring value,"
and, if he so determines, the records may be acces-
sioned by the National Archives and placed on loan
to the agency having need of them. This determina-
tion is made at the time an application for an inter-
agency transfer of records is referred to the Archivist
by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget.
Aft
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Chapter 6
HOW SHOULD RECORDS BE MICROPHOTOGRAPHED?
Objectives
One of the alternative methods of preserving rec-
ords, it has been noted in preceding chapters, is to
reduce them to film form instead of retaining them
in their original form. Microphotography is the
technique of making photographic copies that are too
small to be read without magnification. When a
microphotographic copy of a record is consulted, a
microfilm reader is usually used to magnify to read-
able proportions the image of the record on a viewing
screen. Microphotography is also used as a step in the
reproduction of records in paper form because the
rate of camera operation and subsequent enlarge-
ment by continuous photographic printers is under
some circumstances faster than other reproduction
methods.
The objectives in microfilming records are usually
''+'' two-fold:
1. To reduce the bulk of materials, and
2. To insure permanency to materials.
Microphotography offers a means of reducing the
bulk of records in the same geometric ratio in which
their quantity has increased as a result of an extension
of governmental activities and of the use of modern
duplicating devices. It makes permanency possible
for paper. that is shortlived. If judiciously applied,
microphotography can materially contribute to the
solution of an agency's records problems, for it is a
modern technique suited to the management of
modern records.
Council regulations
Since this manual is concerned primarily with the
disposition of records, its discussion of microphotog-
raphy is confined to a consideration of the regula-
tions of the National Archives Council. The technical
processes involved in microphotography require more
extensive treatment than can be given here.
Under section 2 of the Records Disposal Act, the
National Archives Council is authorized to promul-
gate regulations establishing the "standards for the
reproduction of records by photographic or micro-
photographic processes with a view to the disposal of
the original records." These regulations, the act
states, "when approved by the President, shall be
binding on all agencies of the United States Govern-
ment." In pursuance of this section the Council
adopted regulations on July 29, 1949, that read in
part as follows:
Whenever . . . lists or schedules include requests for
authority to dispose of permanently valuable records for the
reason that when photographed or microphotographed the
photographic or microphotographic copies will be adequate
substitutes therefor, they shall be accompanied by a statement
of procedures to be followed in preserving the integrity of
the original records... .
Whenever authority is requested to destroy records that
as a consequence of photographic or microphotographic
reproduction do not have sufficient value to warrant their
further preservation, the following standards shall be main-
tained:
(a) The integrity of the original records shall be pre-
served on the photographic or microphotographic copies.
The preservation of the integrity of the records implies that
the photographic or microphotographic copies will be ade-
quate substitutes for the original records in that they will
serve the purposes for which such records were created or
maintained. Specifically, the term "integrity of the records"
is defined to mean
(1) that the photographic or microphotographic copies
will be so arranged, identified, and indexed that an
individual document or component of a records series
can be located with reasonable facility, and
(2) that the photographic or microphotographic copies
will contain all significant record detail needed for
probable future reference.
(b) The film stock used, and the processing thereof, shall
comply with the specifications of the National Bureau of
Standards for permanent records.
(c) The provisions for preserving, examining, and using
the photographic or microphotographic copies of the original
records shall be adequate.
(d) Whenever the agency deems that the original photo-
graphic or microphotographic negative of permanently val-
uable records is deteriorating or will deteriorate as a result
of use or other causes, the agency shall deposit the original
photographic or microphotographic negative with the Na-
tional Archives, retaining for its own use a service print if
desired.
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Standards r micro arming ords, a brief title of the records series, the: first
The National Archives Council regulations, cited and last dates included in the records series, and
above, define the standards that should be maintained the file arrangement, if not otherwise obvious,
in photographic cr microphotographic reproduction. 2. A reel number target in characters that can be
These standards relate to read without magnification, and
1. The preservation of the integrity of the original 3. Space targets to separate file units or to indicate
records on film; the beginning of minor file subdivisions.
2. The quality of the film stock and its processing, If the records are not arranged in a self-indexing pat-
3. The provisions for preserving, examining, and tern, additional targets should be provided. (For in-
using the film produced, and formation on various types of targets, War Depart-
4. The preservation of film containing ment Technical Manual 12-257, Microfilming of
valuable record. permanently Records, pages 25-35, may be consulted.)
PRESERVATION OF THE INTEGRITY OF RECORDS. The cartons in which the film rolls are placedshould
Although the term "integrity of the original records" also be adequately identified. The identification
is defined in some detail in the Council regulations, a should include the reel number, the name of the of-
is
of certain elements of the definition is fice, the title of the records series, and the names of
desirable. the file units at the start of the reel, at: space targets,
The findability of individual documents or com- and at the end of the reel.
ponents of a file is one of these elements. The ease The legibility of the film is another element to be
with whichparticular items can be located on a film considered. In the definition of "integrity of the
roll depends upon the character of the records and original records," it is provided that the microphoto-
their arrangement. Documents on a film roll can be graphs should contain "all significant record detail
consulted only one at a time and cannot be readily needed for probable future reference." This phrase
subjected to comparison, for references cannot be -again allows latitude in the interpretation of the stand-
made to various documents simultaneously. An indi- ards of microphotographic reproduction. Entries on
vidual document on film roll can be easily used if it a microphotograph need not be legible if they -do not
is an integral unit in' the sense that it is intelligible contain "significant record detail." Legibility is -es-
without reference to tither units, or if it is organized sential only for those entries for which the record is
under an intelligible avid usable system of arrangement. being retained.
Thus census schedules, each of which contains com- QUALITY OF FILM STOCK AND ITS PROCESSING.
plete information on it given person, business, or the The film stock used and the processing thereof should
like, are integral units: that can be readily located and comply with the specifications of the National Bureau
be Standards for permanent records. The films should
consulted. Similar 1 documents in a simple alpha-
y be as suitable for permanent records as the best a paper
betical, chronological,: or numerical arrangement can pap
be found readily under a letter of the alphabet, by date, records.
or by number. Generally speaking, a group of records PRESERVING, EXAMINING, AND USING THE FILM.
that is divided into a single primary file arrangement, Provision for such matters must be adequate if the
uncomplicated by st:cdndary and tertiary subdivisions, film is to take the place of the original records. (See
can be copied on film without making their use War Department Technical Manual 12-257, Micro-
difficult. filming of Records, pages 49-51, for details.)
When documents cannot be used individually be- SECURITY COPY. Provision for the preservation
cause of their chara.eter and their arrangement, edit- of a security copy of film should be made: if the records
ing and indexing are necessary to show their content contained on the film are deemed by the agency to
be of permanent value.
and the organizational relationshi
s on fil
Th
p
m.
e
phrase, "located with reasonable facility," is included
in the definition of "integrity of the original records"
to provide sufficient flexibility to meet practical con-
siderations that must be taken into account in any
microfilming project. : The amount: of indexing and
identification required to provide for location "with
reasonable facility" varies according to the character
and arrangement of each group of records. If the
records are arranged in a self-indexing pattern, each
film roll, as a minimum, should be identified by
1. A title target that should give the name of the
office originating 1or having custody of the rec-
222
Responsibilities
The regulations of the National Archives Council
establish standards for microphotographic reproduc-
tion, it should be noted, when this reproduction is
done with a view to the disposal of the original records.
An agency should therefore submit a request for au-
thority to dispose of the original records to the Archi-
vist of the United States on Standard Form 115. In
executing this form, the agency representative should
certify that
the records will have ceased to have sufficient value to war-
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rant retention Approved For Release 22O
h
it angina
orm y virtue o t e act that
the microphotographic copies, made in accordance with stand-
ards of the National Archives Council, will be adequate sub-
SWO~ for the original records.
The Archivist of the United States will approve the
disposal of the original records on condition of their
being photographed or microphotographed in ac-
cordance with the regulations of the National Archives
Council. The Archivist's approval for disposal is
thus contingent upon the maintenance of the standards
established by the Council.
Responsibility for adhering to the standards is
placed at the point where it can best be discharged,
namely in the Government agency where the photo-
graphic reproduction is being done. The agency
must certify that the photographic copies will be ade-
quate substitutes for the original records. To make
this certification, the agency must adhere to the stand-
ards that are designed to accomplish this purpose. To
insure that the microphotographs can be located with
reasonable facility, the agency must devise adequate
procedures for arranging, identifying, and indexing
the documents on film. To insure that the micro-
photographs will contain all significant record detail
needed for probable future reference, the agency must
inspect the documents on film to see that they are
properly reproduced. If the agency has no facilities
for inspection, it may avail itself of the inspection
service rendered by the National Archives' photo-
graphic laboratory. Ordinarily, however, the sub-
mission of film samples to the National Archives is not
required. To insure that the microphotographs will
have the quality of permanency, the agency must
obtain film stock and provide for the processing there-
of in a manner that will meet the specifications of
the National Bureau of Standards for permanent rec-
ords. It may submit film samples to the Bureau of
Standards to have residual hypo or other tests made.
To insure that the microphotographs will be preserved
and will be available for examination and use, the
agency must make certain provisions for their main-
tenance and servicing.
The responsibilities of the National Archives are
limited to the records that are its particular concern,
namely the records of permanent value that are being
photographed or microphotographed. If the micro-
photographed records are permanently valuable, the
request for authority to dispose of them "shall be ac-
companied by a statement of procedures to be
followed in preserving the integrity of the original
records." These procedures relate to arranging,
identifying, and indexing records on film. They will
be reviewed by the National Archives when it receives
a request for authority to dispose of the original rec-
ords. If the procedures satisfy the National Archives,
the request for authority to dispose of the original
records will be approved. If the microphotographic
copy of permanently valuable records is deteriorating
or will deteriorate as a result of use or other causes,
the agency should deposit the original photographic or
microphotographic negative with the National
Archives, retaining for its own use a service print if
desired.
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Chapter 7
HOW SHOULD RECORDS BE DISPOSED OF?
The disposal of re-,ords, it has been noted, is the
negative aspect of the problem of records disposition.
It is not a negative activity, however, in the sense that
no positive results ar ? achieved from it. The expe-
ditious and systematic disposal of useless records is of
utmost importance to the economical and efficient
management of current records. It is important even
to the preservation of permanently valuable records,
for only by the elimination of the useless and the
ephemeral can the ever-increasing accumulations of
Government records be brought under control for
research and other us,?s.
The disposal of useless records, therefore, should be
planned as carefully as the retention of permanently
valuable records is planned. In carrying out a pro-
gram-for the disposal oaf records, the following steps
are necessary:
-Step 1. Evaluate the record accumulations of the
agency.
This evaluation should be made when the agency's
records are analyzed in the manner suggested in chap-
ter 4 of this manual. The analysis should have two
immediate results:
1. Of the records that have already accumulated, it
should identify the ones that are unessential to
an agency's operations and have no enduring
value.
2. Of the records that have already accumulated
and that will continue to accumulate, it should
identify the ones that will become unessential to
an agency's operations after a specified period of
time or on the occurrence of specified events and
that have no enduring value.
Step 2. Obtain authorizations to dispose of value-
less records.
The procedures end policy of the United States
Government with respect to the disposal of records are
stated in the Records Disposal Act of July 7, 1943, as
amended July 6, 1945 (57 Stat. 380; 59 Stat. 434),
and in the regulations 'of the National Archives Coun-
cil issued pursuant thereto on July 29, 1949.
It should be noted at the outset that no authoriza-
tion is required to dispose of "nonrecorrd materials."
Under section 1 of the act a distinction is made be-
tween "records" and "nonrecord materials." This
distinction has been discussed in detail in chapter 2 of
this manual. In excluding certain types of material
from the definition of the word "records," the Rec-
ords Disposal Act gives agencies discretion to destroy
at their own convenience considerable bodies of ma-
terial without obtaining prior authorization from Con-
gress. Nonrecord materials may thus be disposed of
without following the regular procedures for obtaining
disposal authorizations. It is the responsibility of
each agency to determine whether certain of its papers
are records or nonrecord materials. This must be
done carefully. Whenever doubt arises as to whether
certain papers are nonrecord materials, it should be
presumed that they are records. A presumption in
favor of the nonrecord character of the materials
would be diametrically opposed to the intent of the
Records Disposal Act and to all other policies regard-Aft
ing Government records.
It should be noted further that the procedures pre-
scribed in the act are exclusive and that no records of
the United States Government should be alienated or
destroyed except in accordance with the provisions of
the act.
-TYPES OF AUTHORIZATIONS. Authorizations to
dispose of records fall into three types:
1. Authorizations that must be obtained by the
agency,
2. Authorizations that are obtained by the National
Archives, and
3. Emergency authorizations.
Authorizations that must be obtained by the
agency are provided for in section 3 of the Records
Disposal Act. They consist of two types:
. Disposal lists, which consist of itemized identifica-
tions of records in the custody of an agency that are
proposed for disposal because they are not needed. by
it in the transaction of its current business and they
do not appear to have sufficient value to warrant their
further preservation by the Government. Disposal
lists provide authorization to dispose immediately of
records that have already accumulated. and will not
accumulate in the future-records that will not be
recurrent.
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1 A 7 ssive and
Disposal schedules, which consist of itemized identi- tion in the genera e u e i -
fications of records of a specified form or character not mandatory.
that either have accumulated in the custody of an To date six of these general schedules have been
agency or that may accumulate at any time after the issued covering the following types of records:
submission of such a schedule and that (a) are pro- No. 1. Personnel records,
posed for disposal after the lapse of specified periods No. 2. Deferment records,
cified events because No. 3. Records of information services and rela-
f
spe
of time or on the occurrence o
tions with the public,
they will not then have sufficient value to warrant their further preservation by the Government or (b) No. 4. Mail and postal records,
do not have sufficient value to warrant retention in No. 5. Fiscal and accounting records, and
their original form because microphotographic copies, No. 6. Bankruptcy records of United States courts
made in accordance with the standards established in of bankruptcy.
regulations of the National Archives Council, are It is expected that additional general schedules will
adequate substitutes for the original records. be issued from time to time covering other types of
It should be emphasized that schedules are key records in common use. Records officers will be
instruments in a continuing program for disposing of furnished copies as they are issued.
records of an agency or a subdivision of an agency. Disposal tables, which consist of itemized identifica-
A schedule, therefore, should be prepared carefully, tions of records, compiled and issued by the Archivist
so that it will provide a practicable and workable of the United States, that have previously been ap-
method of eliminating records. The test of the effec- proved for disposal by Congress. Authority for the
tiveness of a schedule is whether the records covered issuance of tables is provided for in section 8 of the
by it can actually be removed and disposed of at the act. A table may cover recurrent and/or nonrecur-
end of the retention period. Every step in preparing rent material.
the schedule should be taken with the purpose of Emergency authorizations are of two types:
facilitating this final operation. Detailed instructions Under section 10 of the act, authorization is granted
for preparing the forms used for disposal lists and dis- to dispose of records without following the regular
posal schedules will be found in the last part of this procedures "whenever the Archivist and the head
chapter. of the agency that has custody of them shall jointly
Authorizations that are obtained by the National determine that any records in the custody of any
agency of the United States Government are a con.
prop-
f two Arc ener are hedul types: tinuing menace to human health or life or to prop-
+~.
General schedules, which consist of itemized identi- ert ." In such a case the head of the agency or his
fications of records of a specified form or character authorized representative should notify the Archivist
common to several or all Government agencies that in writing that he has determined that the records
either have accumulated or may accumulate in such constitute a menace. If the Archivist concurs in this
agencies and that are proposed for disposal after the determination, he will direct the immediate removal
lapse of specified periods of time or on the occurrence of the menace by destruction of the records or by other
of specified events because they apparently will not appropriate means. After records found d to be a
then have sufficient value to warrant their further appmenace have been disposed ec the Arunist she a of, v
preservation by the Government. Authority for the be notified in writing of the time and manner of
issuance of general schedules is provided in the second disposal.
paragraph of section 4 of the act, which was added by Under section 11 of the act, authorization is granted
an amendment approved July 6, 1945. The authori- to dispose of records outside the territorial limits of
nations contained in general schedules are effective the continental United States without following the
immediately and should be utilized whenever possible. regular procedures whenever, "during the existence
It should be noted, however, that the retention periods of a state of war between the United States and any
established under the general schedules have been other nation or when hostile action by a foreign power
fixed by the National Archives in the light of its past imminent," the head of the agency that has
experience as to the reasonable life expectancy of such appears custody of them determines that their retention
records. If the experience of a holding agency indi- "would be prejudicial to the interests of the United
sates that the periods are not long enough, it may re- States" or that they "occupy space urgently needed
thin the records as long as it needs them. On the for military purposes and are . . . without sufficient
other hand, if an agency believes that the recom- administrative, legal, research, or other value to war-
its retention periods should be shortened, it is their continued preservation." In such a case
its privilege to make such recommendations on separate rant
schedules, which, if approved, will supersede the au- the official who directed the disposal of the records
thorization in the general schedule. The authoriza- should submit a written report thereon to the Archivist
25
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 describing ~avi~t~r crf suc recor s an stating
photographic or microphotographic
h
w
en and where the disposal was accomplished.
TYPES OF CLEARANCES. The following three
types of clearances are implicit in and in some in-
stances are specifically required by the Records Dis-
posal Act:
1. Agency clearances,
2. Archival clearance, and
3. Congressional clearance.
Agency clearance's of several types are required:
In submitting lists or schedules of records proposed
for disposal, the agency indicates that (a) such records
are not needed by it in the transaction of current busi-
ness, and (b) they do not appear to have sufficient
administrative, legal,, research, or other value to war-
rant their further preservation by the Government.
Agency officials are responsible for determining the
value of records for current or future operations of
their agency. Thy should make their determina-
tions carefully and after consulting officials who use
the records in current: operations.
In submitting lis?s or schedules of records proposed
for disposal, the ag,?ncy is responsible under section 9
of the Records Disosal Act for determining that no
accounting records are: disposed of which come within
the purview of that section, which provides:
Records pertaining to claims and demands by the Govern-
ment of the United States or against it, or to any accounts
in which the Government of the United States is concerned,
either as debtor or creditor, shall not be disposed of by the
head of any agency under any -authorizations granted pur-
suant to the provisions of sections 6, 7, and 8 of this Act,
until such claims, demands, and accounts have been settled
and adjusted in the General Accounting Office, except upon
the written approval of the Comptroller General of the
United States.
It should be noted ghat under this provision the au-
thorizations contained in general schedules issued by
the Archivist do not relieve an individual. agency from
responsibility for obtaining the approval of the Comp-
troller General of the United States to dispose of
records -pertaining to claims and demands by or
against the Government or to any accounts in which
the Government is concerned. If an agency prepares
lists or schedules covering records pertaining to un-
settled and unadjusted accounts, the written approval
of the Comptroller General should be obtained con-
currently with the submission of the lists or schedules.
In submitting lists or schedules of records of which
microphotographs have been or will be made, the
agency certifies that such records have been or will be
reproduced in accordance with the regulations of the
National Archives Council and, as a consequence
thereof, do not appeatt to have sufficient value to
warrant their further preservation by the Government.
Agency officials, therefore, are responsible for adher-
ing to the standards for the reproduction of records by
26
:processes estab-
lished by regulations of the National Archives Council,
as described in chapter 6 of this manual.
Archival clearance of all lists and schedules is re-
quired. When a list or schedule has been completed
and all necessary approvals within the agency have
been obtained, it should be submitted to the National
Archives in accordance with section 3 of the Records
Disposal Act. The records described in each item
on the list or schedule are then appraised within the
National Archives. In its appraisals the National
Archives will recommend either the approval or dis-
approval of the disposal of each of the items on the
list or schedule. If, in the course of appraisal by the
National Archives, it appears that certain items can-
not be reported to Congress without revision, an. op-
portunity is usually given the agency informally to
amend them. Such amendments and any amend-
ments the agency wishes to make on its own initiative
can -be effected by having the official who signed the
list or schedule initial the necessary changes or by sub-
mitting a letter to the National Archives before the list
or schedule is transmitted to Congress specifying the
changes desired and enclosing revised. pages if the
changes are substantial. Items may be withdrawn by
the agency from a list or schedule at any time before
its submission to Congress.
Congressional clearance of all lists and schedules
is required. After the appraisal has been completed
by the National Archives, the list or schedule with an
accompanying appraisal report is transmitted by the
Archivist to Congress, where it is referred to the joint
Committee on the Disposition of Executive Papers.
This committee makes a report of its examination of
and recommendations on the lists and schedules to the
Senate and the House of Representatives. If favor-
able, this report constitutes the disposal authorization.
Step 3. Utilize the disposal authorizations that are
obtained.
The preparation and the submission of disposal lists
and schedules accomplish little unless the records cov-
ered are promptly removed and disposed of. Con-
sideration should therefore be givento two problems:
1. The application of lists and schedules, and
2. The methods of disposal.
APPLICATION OF LISTS AND SCHEDULES. Lists
and schedules do not apply themselves., and to see
that they are put fully into effect will require a con-
stant and diligent follow-up on the part of the records
officer. It should be noted that except for general
schedules initiated by the Archivist the: law makes
mandatory the disposal of records covered by ap-
proved lists and schedules.
Applying lists. Lists are less difficult to apply than
schedules. Since they relate only to bodies of records
already in existence and ready for disposal and since
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their purpose has been accomplished once those par-
ticular bodies are disposed of, lists do not present a
problem of continuing application. Approved dis-
posal lists covering records of headquarters offices are
best put into effect by the records officer himself or a
member of his staff, who should visit the offices hav-
ing custody of the listed records to see that the records
are removed from the files and disposed of. The
problem is less simple when the list covers records of
field offices. The best device in such a case is to send
to each field office instructions to dispose of the rec-
ords covered and to require it to report promptly when
that has been done. It is seldom advisable to dupli-
cate the list itself and send it out in lieu of instructions.
Applying disposal schedules. The problem in-
volved in putting disposal schedules into effect is not
so much one of seeing to the destruction of those rec-
ords that are ready for disposal when the schedule is
approved as it is one of seeing thereafter to the regu-
lar disposal of affected records as they attain the age
specified in the schedule.
The retention period specified in a disposal schedule
will often be considerably longer than the period the
records will be in active use, because certain records
have to be kept for a time after they have become
noncurrent for possible. reference in connection with
claims, investigations, and the like. For example, an
agency's copies of pay rolls may not be used in the pay-
roll office for more than 6 months after they are pre-
ared, but it may be necessary for the agency to keep
them for another 2 or 3 years for possible use in reply-
ing to exceptions taken to accounts. It is highly de-
sirable in such cases to transfer the records as soon as
they have become noncurrent to a records depository.
Many records can be scheduled for disposal as soon
as their immediate administrative use has ended, how-
ever, and to route such records through an intermedi-
ate depository before disposing of them involves a
needless expense. But to insure their prompt disposal
in the offices in which they are kept the records officer
must maintain a close control over the records in all
offices and file rooms. Two devices have proved effec-
tive for this purpose. One is for the records officer to
maintain a tickler file with a card for each item on an
approved schedule. Working from this file he can
send reminders quarterly or annually to each office
that has the custody of records ready for disposal,
indicating the records that should be removed from
the files and destroyed and asking for a report of the
action taken and the quantity of records involved.
The other device is to have all requests for space or
filing equipment for the storage of records clear
through the records officer before administrative ac-
tion is taken on them. The records officer can then
determine to what extent the space and equipment
needed could be provided by the prompt disposal of
CIA-RDP78-04718AO02700210015-5
scheduled records and can recommend disapproval of
the request if schedules have not been fully applied.
This is a very effective instrument of control and often
makes possible important economies.
Requiring reports. It will be found very helpful
to require regular reports on the quantity of records
disposed of and the amount of space and equipment
thereby freed. Such reports are essential not only to
assure the application of disposal lists and schedules
but to ascertain the savings that have been effected by
the disposal program.
METHODS OF DISPOSAL. Under the provisions
of section 2 of the Records Disposal Act, the National
Archives Council is required to issue regulations gov-
erning, among other things, the actual methods by
which records authorized for disposal are to be dis-
posed of. Regulations of the Council adopted July
29, 1949, authorize the following three methods only:
Selling as waste paper. The normal method of
disposing of records is to sell them as waste paper. If
it is employed, however, the records must first be
macerated or otherwise treated to destroy their record
content or the contract for their sale must include a
clause prohibiting their resale as records or documents.
Maceration or some other such treatment is advisable
in the case of confidential records. Section 14 of the
Records Disposal Act provides that "all moneys
derived by agencies of the Government from the sale
of records authorized for disposal under the provisions
of this Act shall be paid into the Treasury of the
United States unless otherwise required by existing law
applicable to the agency."
Destroying by burning or otherwise. If the
records cannot be sold to advantage or if the agency
believes it necessary in order to prevent the disclosure
of information prejudicial to the interests of the
United States or of individuals, they may be destroyed
by burning or otherwise.
Transferring to non-Government agencies. The
records may be transferred, with the approval of the
Archivist of the United States and without cost to
the United States Government, to any government,
organization, institution, corporation, or person that
has made application for them. The decision as to
whether the records are to be transferred to an appli-
cant is made by the agency that has custody of them,
but they cannot be transferred without the approval of
the Archivist. This method of disposal is desirable
in rare cases, chiefly for field records that have sub-
stantial State or local interest but that have been au-
thorized for disposal because the information in them
is duplicated in headquarters files. It should not, of
course, be employed for records containing confiden-
tial information.
Requests for the Archivist's approval of the transfer
of records may come either from the agency to which
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application o e trans er ias been ma a or directly he Arc rvist wil not approve transfers of records
.from the applicant. If the agency requests approval, that contain information the revelation of which is
it is not necessary for it to transmit the original appli- prohibited by law or would be contrary to the public'
cation or a copy of it, providing the request for ap-
proval contains all the information necessary for the
Archivist to make his decision. Applications received
directly from the applicant are considered as requests
for the Archivist's approval, and in the letter transmit-
ting such applications to the agency concerned the
Archivist's approva.. or disapproval of the transfer will
be given.
interest. Nor will he approve transfers to a foreign
government unless it has a legitimate interest in the
records, nor to a private individual or business cor-
poration unless the records are necessary to the opera-
tion of properties transferred by the Government to
the individual or corporation. Otherwise the Archi-
vist will normally approve the transfer of records that
have been authorized for disposal.
INSTRUCTIONS ON THE USE OF DISPOSAL FORMS
Under section 2 of the Records Disposal Act the
National Archives C6.uncil is required, among other
things, to promulgate: regulations which establish the
procedures for the compiling and submitting to the
Archivist of the United States of lists and schedules
of records proposed for disposal. In pursuance of
this provision the Council adopted regulations on
July 29, 1949, readi:zgsin part as follows:
Whenever lists or schedules are submitted to the Archivist of
the United States in compliance with provisions of Sec. 3
of the above-mentioned Act, they shall be submitted on
Standard Forms, to be promulgated by the National Archives,
and in accordance wit:i instructions on the use of such forms
issued by the Archivist. The said lists or schedules shall be
accompanied by samples of the several items proposed
therein for disposal unless samples of such items have been
submitted with lists an i schedules previously submitted to the
Archivist and unless the Archivist shall have waived this
requirement.
Two Standard Forms are available for use in re-
questing authority to dispose of records. The use of
these forms is mandatory. Supplies of them can be
obtained from the Government Printing Office and
should be stocked by each Government department or
independent establi;;hmment that has extensive record
accumulations. The forms made available are (1)
Standard Form 11. entitled "Request for Authority
to Dispose of Records," and (2) Standard Form 115a
entitled "Continuation Sheet for Disposal Request."
Standard Form 115 replaces National Archives Forms
8, 9, 10, 40, 108, ar..d 109. Standard Form 115a re-
places National Archives Form 100. Standard
Form 115 is reproduced on the opposite page.
General instructions
Standard Form 115 entitled "Request for Author.
ity to Dispose of Records," should be prepared in at
least five copies. T.he.first four copies should be sub-
mitted to the National Archives, and the additional
copy or copies should b-, retained by the agency. The
first copy will be keptby the National Archives as a
record of the disposal transaction. The second copy
will be sent to the Senate. The third copy will be
sent to the House of Representatives. The fourth
copy will be returned to the agency after Congressional
authorization has been obtained. This copy will
serve as a notification to the agency of the Congres-
sional authorization, and it will thus replace National
Archives Form 70 and the photostat that hitherto
served this purpose. This notification will be made in
the box in the upper right-hand corner of the form.
Standard Form 115a entitled "Continuation Sheet
for Disposal Request," should be used when more than
one page is required to itemize and identify the records
on which disposal authorization is requested. The
continuation sheet should also be submitted in four
copies to the National Archives. Continuation sheets
should be numbered consecutively in the upper right-
hand corner of the form.
Specific instructions on each entry
-ENTRIES 1, 2, and 3. These entries are intended
to show what agency's records are identified on the
form. Entry I should contain the name of the de-
partment or independent agency that is submitting
the form. Entry 2 should show the major subdivision
involved. This will be the largest organizational unit
within the agency, such as an office, a bureau, or an
administration. Entry 3 should show the minor sub-
division, such as a division or a branch. If the records
of all offices of a given class are involved, the class of
subdivisions may be entered on this line:. If the rec-
ords of field offices are involved, the field offices or
office may be entered. Records of all offices of a
given class, whether in the field or in Washington, may
be covered in a single disposal job if the activities or
functions to which they relate are similar in character.
Examples of entry 2 (major subdivision) and entry
3 (minor subdivision) follow:
(a) -Adjutant General's Office
Administrative Services Division
(b) Census Bureau
Foreign Trades Division
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w
O
~
N Z
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O
a
4
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NU
0.
r1
8
0
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29
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 dA prov d For.Release 2001/08/10 : CIA-RDP78-04718AO02700210015-5
(c) Pro u i n an ar eting Administration
Marketing Facilities Branch
(d) Food and Drug. Administration
Field Inspecciori Service
(e) Soil Conservation Service
All Regional Offices
(f) Farmers Home Administration
All State Directors Offices
If not all items identified on a given form apply to
records of the same office or class of offices, center
headings should to inserted under entry 8 to indicate
the offices. For example, entry 1 might read: "De-
partment of the Interior," andentry 2: "Geological
Survey." Above the first body of records itemized on
the form :might be the center heading, "Office of the
Director," which would indicate that the items that
follow relate to records of that office only. Below
that group of itemized records, a second center head-
ing, "Geologic Branch," would introduce the next
group and indicate its applicability.
ENTRIES 4 and -5 These entries are intended to
identify and to h-:lp locate the person to whom in-
quiries regarding the records should be directed.
Entry 4 should give: the name of the person in the
department or independent agency with whom a rep-
resentative of the National Archives may confer about
the records. Entr;, 5 should give the telephone exten-
sion number of this person.
ENTRY 6. This entry is intended to show what
kind of authorization is requested. Only one kind of
authorization should hbe requested on any given form.
The following kinds of authorizations may be
requested :
1. To dispose immediately of records that have
already accumulated. In this case box A should
be marked with an "X," and the completed form
is a list as di iti iguished from a schedule.
2. To dispose at . some definite future time or
periodically at stated intervals, or to dispose on
the occurrence of some definite future events, of
records that h we accumlated or that will recur-
that will accumulate or continue to accumulate.
In this case box B should be marked with an "X,"
and the completed form is a schedule.
3. To dispose o E records as soon as it has been
established that (1) microphotographic copies
have been made in accordance with the stand-
ards contain el in regulations of the National
Archives Council and (2) they are adequate sub-
stitutes for the paper records. In this case box
C should be marked with an "X," and the com-
pleted form is a schedule.
The date on which this authorization is requested, the
signature of the person authorized to act for the head
of the agency in matters pertaining to the disposal of
records, and his title should be entered on the appro-
priate lines. All four copies submitted. to the National
Archives should be signed.
ENTRY 7. In the left-hand colurrin the items of
records identified on the form should be numbered in
sequence.
ENTRY 8. In the body of the form the records
proposed for disposal should be properly itemized and
clearly identified. Here the question is not "'What
agency's records?" or "What kind of authorization?"
but "What records?" In filling in this information
carefully note the following points :
Point 1. State in center headings what office's
-records are involved if all records described on the
form are not those of the same office.
Point 2. Indicate the type of records involved if
they are other than textual records, for example, if
they are photographic records, sound recordings, or
cartographic records.
Point 3. Itemize and identify the bodies of records
proposed for disposal. It is very important to identify
clearly the records included in the item and to distin-
guish them from other records, however similar. The
identification ought to be so clearly stated that a per-
son. who had no part in preparing the form would
know from reading it precisely which records are
meant. The itemization and identification will vary
with each type of records.
a. Paper records. Take the following steps in item'
izing and identifying textual records:
(1) Determine first the unit of records that is to be
identified as a single item. Records that areso closely
related that they can be logically and practically
treated as a unit for purposes of disposal should be
regarded as a single item. The disposability of rec-
ords, then, determines how they should be itemized.
Records may be disposable as separable units because
they relate to the same subject or becausethey result
from the same activity or function. Thus all records
relating to a subject on which documentation is not to
be preserved or. all records relating to routine opera-
tions of a given class of offices may be! grouped as a
single item. If records are grouped for descriptive
purposes by subject, by activity, or by function, how-
ever, each component part of such -a grouping should
be listed as a single item whenever reasonable doubt
exists as to the advisability of disposing of certain of
the component parts. Chapter 3 on What Values
Do Records Have? will be helpful in determining
which records ordinarily will be approved for disposal.
If the component parts of a grouping are listed sep-
arately, they should be numbered consecutively under
entry number and should not be numbered as item la,
lb, Ic under a general grouping.
It should be emphasized that records are disposable
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 Appprro, a For Release 2Q 1/08/10
as separable units ohly it a the documents wit in the
units can be destroyed, and only if all of them can be
destroyed simultaneously. An item should not cover
lkw~ both documents to be retained and to be destroyed, or
documents to be retained for varying periods. It
should, therefore, correspond to the way records can
be removed for disposal. Very often it will be found
that records that should be removed are so inter-
mingled with those that should be preserved that it
would be impossible to apply a disposal authorization.
When this situation is encountered the records officer's
job is to revise the filing system so that records can be
effectively removed as they become useless.
(2) Describe the units of records so accurately that
any misunderstanding as to their identity will be
avoided. Their physical types, such as correspond-
ence, forms, reports, or tabulations may be given first,
followed by a further breakdown. Correspondence
files may be broken down into incoming and outgoing
or both, and into reading files or chronological files.
Form records may be identified by form number and
title with an additional description of the purpose and
use of the form if the title is not self-explanatory. If
the numbers and titles of forms are subject to frequent
change, however, it is desirable to state simply the
transaction to which the forms relate. For example,
if records are identified only as "Form 34, Requisition
for Supplies," and this form is replaced by "Form 29,
Request for Office Supplies," the item is no longer
applicable. An item describing the records as "Forms
used for the requisition of office supplies" would still
be applicable. Reports may be identified by their
nature (whether statistical or narrative), by their con-
tent (whether progress, survey, inspection), or by their
frequency (whether daily, monthly, or annual).
After the physical type has been identified, further
description of the records can be provided in terms
of (a) the subject or program to which they pertain,
or (b) the activity or function that resulted in their
creation. An alternative method of describing rec-
ords is to identify first the subject, the program, the
activity, or the function to which the records relate
and then to indicate that they consist of various physi-
cal types. However the records are described, it is im-
portant that (a) all types of documents included in
the group of records itemized for disposal be clearly
specified and (b) the types of records excluded from
the group, if reference to such types is made in the
description, should also be clearly specified. In speci-
fying the types of records to be included in an itemized
group, the use of certain phraseology to give coverage
to the descriptive information is permissible under
certain circumstances. In describing records relat-
ing to routine transactions, for example, the words
"related documents or working papers," or "equivalent
forms" may be used. The word "miscellaneous"
should be avoided whenever possible.
CIA-RDP78-04718AO02700210015-5
(3) Provide, if practicable, additional information
that will assist in making an appraisal of the records.
Statements justifying the disposal of items are not re-
quired but, if supplied, they will greatly facilitate ap-
praisal and therefore expedite action by the National
Archives. Information may be supplied on the rela-
tionship of the records proposed for disposal to other
records that are to be kept. Physical duplication may
be indicated by specifying the type of copy proposed for
disposal. Content duplication may be indicated by
specifying the types of summary records that contain
essentially the same information as that contained
in the records proposed for disposal. The function
served by the records may also be stated, and this in-
formation would be helpful in determining if they are
essential to the documentation of the function. In-
formation of these types pertaining to a particular item
should follow the description of the item and should
be indented below it.
Below are examples of items under entry (8) ; item
(b) includes appraisal information:
(a) Plant inspection reports, re-inspection reports, work-
ing forms 6-431, 6-432, and 6-433 used by inspec-
tors in gathering data for plant inspection reports,
pertaining to the operations of inspectors under the
Facility Security Program. 1942-1944.
(b) Records pertaining to the Facility Security Program,
consisting of (1) plant inspection reports, (2) re-
inspection reports, and (3) working forms 6-431,
6-432, and 6-433 used by inspectors in gathering
data for plant inspection reports. 1942-1944.
Inspectors operated under provisions of Executive
order dated May 19, 1942, which set up a Facility
Security Program, giving data on mines production,
mines employment, mines facilities guarding against
acts of sabotage, fire, explosion, and employees
health hazards, and recommendations thereto made
by said inspectors.
Records of the Wage Stabilization Program, consisting
of (1) State Wage Board daily reports, (2) wage
adjustment applications and notices of approval or
denial, (3) wage adjustment recapitulation sheets,
and (4) specifically related correspondence, 1943-47,
but excluding minutes of Wage Stabilization Board
meetings, transcripts of hearings on wage adjustments,
wage adjustment memoranda of actions, and related
policy documents.
(d) Preference Rating Certificates (Form PD-3A) or
equivalent forms, issued by War Production Board
or Civilian Production Administration during 1941-
1947.
(e) Records relating to Organizational Maintenance Oper-
ations, which consist of operations performed by first
and second maintenance echelons and involve pre-
ventive maintenance. 6 months. All record copies.
Records relating to Reconditioning Maintenance
Operations, which consist of service maintenance op-
erations performed by third, fourth, and fifth main-
tenance echelons, and concern the renovation, repair,
31
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and overhauling! or rebuilding in order to return that is, whether master or matrix or service copy.
All record copies.
b. Microphotogiaphed records. Describe the rec-
ords so accurately that any misunderstanding as to
their identity will be avoided. Do not provide addi-
tional information onthe character of the records that
is pertinent to maleing a disposition recommendation.
Instead, provide information on the "procedures to
be followed in pre: crying the integrity of the original
records" whenever such records are deemed to be
permanently valuable. The adequacy of the pro-
cedures, not the value of the original records, is the
determining factor in making the disposition recom-
mendation.
c. Photographic records. Take the following steps
in itemizing and identifying photographic records:
(1) Determine first the unit of records that is to be
identified as a single: item. List as one item all re-
lated materials of the same general class, regardless
of quantity or nurr..ber of units, that pertain to a par-
ticular project or that constitute a collection, a sep-
arable part of a collection, or some other distinguish-
able unit.
(2) Describe the units of records as follows: (a)
Identify the production, project, collection, part of a
collection, or other unit adequately by description,
title, or number, or all three. (b) Indicate the physi-
cal form of the raterials, that is, whether motion
picture films, aerial mapping films, still photographs,
or paper prints. :c) Indicate the kind of copy. If
motion pictures a:-e involved, for example, indicate
whether nitrate or acetate film is used, whether 16 or
35 mm. is used, wi.ether the copies are negatives, mas-
ter positives, and/or projection prints. If still photo-
graphs are involved? for example, indicate whether
glass plates or fihns are used, and whether both a
negative and a positive print are available. (d) Indi-
cate the quantity of materials in each item listed, giv-
ing the number of reels for motion picture films, the
number of rolls fo:,- aerial mapping films, and the ap-
proximate number of pieces for still photographs or
paper prints.
(3) Provide, if practicable, additional information
on the condition of the material or on other factors
that justify the disposal of the item.
d. Sound recordings. Take the following steps in
itemizing and identifying sound recordings:
(1) Determine the unit of records to be identified
as a single item in the same way as for photographic
records.
(2) Describe the 'unit of records as follows: (a)
Identify the production, project, collection, or part of
collection by description, title, or number, or all three.
(b) Indicate the physical form, that is, whether
aluminum disks, etc. (c) Indicate the kind of copy,
materiel -items to a state of serviceability. 6 months. (d) Indicate the number of disks.
me
e. Cartographic and related records. Take the
following steps in itemizing and identifying carto-
graphic records:
(1) Determine first the unit of records that is to
be identified as a single item. List as a single item
each group of maps, regardless of bulk or number, that
constitute a separately organized file or an entire se-
quence or class of maps selected for disposal from
among other maps.
(2) Describe the unit of records as follows: (a)
If the entire group of maps being listed as an item is
identifiable by a number or symbol representing a par-
ticular file heading or by inclusive numbers or symbols
representing an uninterrupted sequence of file head-
ings, give the number. or. symbol or inclusive numbers
or symbols. Give the title or designation of the group
of maps. Give additional descriptive data to indi-
cate the nature of its content. For example, state the
origin of the group of maps if they are not the product
of the agency, state the use to which they were put in
the agency, give the inclusive dates, that is, the date
of publication or the date of completion of manuscript
maps. (b) For each item state whether the copies
are manuscript (hand-drawn) copies; annotated
(combined hand-drawn and printed or processed)
copies; photo-processed (such as photostat) copies;
printed maps; sets or portfolios of maps in a number
of sheets; atlases; or relief models, globes, or othe
special mediums of presentation. (c) Indicate: the -?
quantity and size. Indicate the quantity in inches or
feet of total volume and/or the approximate number
of maps. Indicate whether the maps are flat-filed, in
rolls, or in some other form.
Point 4. Enter the inclusive dates or the period of
retention for each item. The information to be given
will depend upon the kind of authorization requested
under entry 6 above.
a. If box A under entry 6 has been marked with an
"X," authority is requested to dispose immediately of
records that have already been produced between cer-
tain. dates. These dates should be specified. In the
case of textual records or cartographic records, the
inclusive dates may be specified in terms of years. In
the case of photographic records or sound recordings,
the date of production or release of each item should
be specified.
b. If box B under entry 6 has been marked with an
"X," authority is requested to dispose at some future
time of records that are being produced and will con-
tinue to be produced. No dates for the records can
therefore be given; instead the retention period, that
is, the period for which the records are to be retained
by the agency from the time they were produced,
should be given. When continuing and accumulating
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records have reached the age of the retention period, "X," disposal authority is reques e o c rds that
they may be disposed of. The retention period may have been or will be microphotographed. The reten-
be variously stated so long as it is stated with definite- tion period should read: "Until ascertained that mi-
ness and certainty. It may be expressed in terms of crophotographic copies have been made in accordance
years, months, weeks, or days, for example, "6 years," with National Archives Council regulations and are
"2 months." It may also be expressed in terms of adequate substitutes for the paper records."
future actions or events. A future action or event ENTRY 9. Enter an "X" in this column if a sample
that is to determine a retention period must be ob- of textual or cartographic records is transmitted with
jective and certain. For example, the phrases "One the form. Samples need not be transmitted of photo-
year after audit and rendition of an audit report by graphic records, sound recordings, or microphoto-
the General Accounting Office," and "One year after graphed records. If a representative sample of rec-
termination of the Stove Rationing Program" indicate ords having the same form or character has been
an action and an event that are objective and certain. transmitted with a previous disposal request, the job
Such terms as "Until no longer needed" and "Until number of the transaction may be entered in the col-
the records become inactive" are not to be used. umn and transmittal of a further sample omitted.
A period of time and an event may be stated as al- ENTRY 10. Leave this column blank. The Na-
ternatives; for example, "Two years or until receipt of tional Archives will use this space to indicate if the
an audit report by the General Accounting Office, disposal of the item or items is "approved" or "dis-
whichever is earlier." approved," or if an item has been "withdrawn" at the
c. If box C under entry 6 has been marked with an request of the agency.
Before submitting a disposal job to the National Archives, check the form to
determine if the following questions have been properly answered:
What agency's records are identified on the form?
Entries 1, 2, and 3.
With whom shall the Archives representative confer about the records?
Entries 4 and 5.
What kind of authorization is requested?
Entry 6.
Are all four copies of the form signed?
Entry 6.
~l How are the items of records numbered?
Entry 7.
What are the records?
Entry 8.
When were the records produced? Or, when is disposal to be made of the
records?
Entry 8.
What samples of records were submitted for each item? Or, with what job
number were such samples previously submitted?
Entry 9.
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Appendix I
Selected Bibliography of Manuals Relating to the Disposition of Federal Records
Department of Agricj lture, Office of Plant and Operations.
Disposition of Official Records. Washington, 1944. 41 p.
(0. P. O. Publication No. 1. A revision of the edition of
1941.)
Department of the Tzcasury, Office of the Chief Clerk, Rec-
ords Administration Section. Retirement and Disposition
of Records. Washington, 1946. Loose-leaf.
National Military :Establishment, Department of the Army.
Records and Repotts: Records Adrninistration-Disposi-
tion of Records. Washington, 1949. 286 p. (Special
Regulations No. 34~-920-1.)
Tennessee Valley Authority, Property and Supply Depart-
ment, Office Service Division. Records Program of the
Tennessee Valley Authority. Knoxville, 1947. 91 p. (A
revision of the edition of 1943.)
Tennessee Valley Authority, Property and Supply Depart-
ment, Office Service Division. Scheduling and Disposal
of Records. Knoxville, 1949. 129 p. (A preliminary
draft.)
Veterans Administration. Records Management: Disposi-
tion of Noncurrent Records. Washington, 1949. 36 p.
(V. A. Manual M 3-8.)
War Department. Microfilming of Records. Washington,
1946. 94 p. (Technical Manual 12-257.)
War Department, Army Air Forces. Records Administration:
Disposition of Records. Washington, 1946. 69 p.
(A. A. F. Manual 80-0-1.)
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Appendix 11
Laws and Regulations Relating to the Disposition of Federal Records
The National Archives Act, Approved June 19, 1934, as Amended June 22, 1936, and March 3, June 8,
and June 25, 19481
[48 Stat. 1122; 49 Stat. 1821; 62 Stat. 58, 344, 10261
An Act to establish a National Archives of the United States Government, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and' House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That
there is hereby created the Office of Archivist of the United
States, the Archivist to be appointed by the President of the
United States, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate.
SEC. 2. The salary of the Archivist shall be $10,000
annually. All persons to be employed in the National
Archives Establishment shall be appointed by the Archivist
solely with reference to their fitness for their particular duties
and without regard to civil-service law; and the Archivist
shall make rules and regulations for the government of the
National Archives; but any official or employee with salary
of $5,000 or over shall be appointed by the President by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate.'
SEc. 3. All archives or records belonging to the Govern-
ment of the United States (legislative, executive, judicial,
and other) shall be under the charge and superintendence
of the Archivist to this extent: He shall have full power to
inspect personally or by deputy the records of any agency of
the United States Government whatsoever and wheresoever
located, and shall have the full cooperation of any and all
persons in charge of such records in such inspections, and to
requisition for transfer to the National Archives Establish-
ment such archives, or records as the National Archives
Council, hereafter provided shall approve for such transfer,
'Sections 3, 6a, and 8a appear as amended March 3, 1948;
section 8 appears as amended June 22, 1936, and June 25,
1948; and section 10 appears as amended June 8, 1948.
'Some of the provisions of this section have been super-
seded by the following provisions in the Independent Offices
Appropriation Act, 1939, approved May 23, 1938 (52 Stat.
421) : "Provided further, That six months after the date of
approval of this Act, notwithstanding any provisions to the
contrary in section 2 of The National Archives Act, approved
June 19, 1934, and section 1 of the Federal Register Act,
approved July 26, 1935, all persons employed in The National
Archives establishment under section 2 of The National
Archives Act and section 1 of the Federal Register Act shall
be appointed by the Archivist in accordance with the civil-
service laws and the Classification Act of 1923, as amended:
And provided further, That all persons employed under sec-
tion 2 of The National Archives Act and section 1 of the
Federal Register Act in said establishment six months after
the date of approval of this Act, regardless of the method by
which they were appointed, who do not have a competitive
classified civil-service status shall acquire such a status (1)
upon recommendation by the Archivist and certification by
him to the Civil Service Commission that such persons have
rendered satisfactory service in said establishment for not
less than six months and (2) upon passing such suitable non-
competitive tests as the Civil Service Commission shall
prescribe.
and he shall have authority to make regulations for the ar-
rangement, custody, use, and withdrawal of material de-
posited in the National Archives Building: Provided, That
whenever the head of any agency shall specify in writing
restrictions on the use or examination of records being con-
sidered for transfer from his custody to that of the Archivist
that appear to him to be necessary or desirable in the public
interest, the Archivist shall impose such restrictions on such
of the records as are transferred to his custody; and restric-
tions so imposed shall not be removed or relaxed by the
Archivist without the concurrence in writing of the head of
the agency from which the material shall have been trans-
ferred unless the existence of that agency shall have been
terminated: And provided further, That restrictions on the
use or examination of records in the custody of the Archivist
heretofore imposed and now in force and effect under. the
terms of section 3 of the National Archives Act, approved
June 18, 1934, shall continue in force and effect regardless
of the expiration of the tenure of office of the official who
imposed them but may be removed or relaxed by the Archi-
vist with the concurrence in writing of the head of the agency
from which the material has been transferred or by the
Archivist alone if the existence of that agency shall have been
terminated.
SEC. 4. The immediate custody and control of the Na-
tional Archives Building and such other buildings, grounds,
and equipment as may from time to time become a part of
the National Archives Establishment (except as the same is
vested by law in the Director of National Buildings, Parks,
and Reservations) and their contents shall be vested in the
Archivist of the United States.
SEc. 5. That there is hereby created also a National His-
torical Publications Commission which shall make plans,
estimates, and recommendations for such historical works and
collections of sources as seem appropriate for publication
and/or otherwise recording at the public expense, said Com-
mission to consist of the Archivist of the United States, who
shall be its chairman; the historical adviser of the Depart-
ment of State; the chief of the historical section of the War
Department, General Staff; the superintendent of naval rec-
ords in the Navy Department; the Chief of the Division of
Manuscripts in the Library of Congress; and two members of
the American Historical Association appointed by the presi-
dent thereof from among those persons who are or have been
members of the executive council of the said association:
Provided, That the preparation and publication of annual
and special reports on the archives and records of the Gov-
ernment, guides, inventory lists, catalogs, and other instru-
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 ments-facilirt9Yq e~~gs?sPa%1l(/~CIAoF.IP7anal1A~270(~21~OOfieg 6y the Archivist of
Bence over detailed calendars and textual reproductions. the United States, or in his name attested by the head of any
This Commission sl.alL meet at least once a year, and the office or the chief of any division of the National Archivea-
members shall serve without compensation except repayment designated by the Archivist with such authority, it shall be
of expenses actually incurred in attending meetings of the admitted in evidence equally with the original from which it
Commission.
SEC. 6. That there is hereby further created a National
Archives Council composed of the Secretaries of each of the
executive departmerts of the Government (or an alternate
from each department to be named by the Secretary thereof),
the Chairman of the. Senate Committee on the Library, the
Chairman of the House Committee on the Library,. the
Librarian of Congrns the -Secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution, and the Archivist of the United States. The said
Council shall define the classes of material which shall be
transferred to the National Archives Building and establish
regulations governing such transfer; and shall have power
to advise the Archivist in respect to regulations governing
the disposition and use of the archives and records trans-
ferred to his custody.
SEC. 6a. Whenever any records the use of which is sub-
ject to statutory limitations and restrictions are transferred
to the custody of the Are of the United States, permissive
and restrictive statut pry provisions with respect to the exam-
ination and use of such: records applicable to the head of the
agency having custody of them or to employees of that
agency shall thereafter likewise be applicable to the Archivist
of the United States and to the employees of the National
Archives Establishment respectively.
SEC. 7. The National Archives may also accept, store,
and preserve motion. picture films and sound, recordings per-
taining to and illustrative of historical activities of the United
States, and in connection therewith maintain a projecting
room for showing such films and reproducing such sound
recordings for historical purposes and study.
SEC. 8. That the National Archives shall have an official
seal which will be judicially noticed.
The Archivist of :he. United States may make: or repro-
duce and furnish authe nticafed or unauthenticated copies of
any of the documentary, photographic or other archives or
records in his custody that are not exempt from examination
as confidential or prctected by subsisting copyright, and may
charge therefor a fee sufficient to cover the cost or expenses
thereof. All such fe';s shall be paid into, administered, and
expended as a -part of ' the National Archives Trust Fund
created by section 5 of the National Archives Trust Fund
Board Act. There hail be no charge for the making or
authentication of such copies or reproductions furnished to
any department or other agency of the Government for
official use. When any such copy or reproduction. furnished
under the terms hereof is authenticated by the official seal
was made.
SEC. 8a. Any official of the United States Government
who is authorized to make certifications or determinations on
the basis of records in his custody is hereby authorized to
make certifications or determinations on the basis of records
that have been transferred by him or his predecessors to the
custody of the Archivist of the United States.
SEC. 9. That the Archivist shall make to Congress, at the
beginning of each regular session, a report for the preceding
fiscal year as to the National Archives, the said report in-
cluding a detailed statement of all accessions and of all re-
ceipts and expenditures on account of the said establishment.
He shall also transmit to Congress the recommendations of
the Commission on National Historical Publications, and,
on January 1 of each year, with the approval of the Council,
a list or description of the papers, documents, and so forth
(among the archives and records of the Government), which
appear to have no permanent value or historical interest,
and which, with the concurrence of the Government agency
concerned, and subject to the approval of Congress, shall
be destroyed or otherwise effectively disposed of.
SEC. 10. That there are hereby authorized such appro-
priations as may be necessary for the maintenance of the,
National Archives Building and the administration of the
collections, the expenses, and work of the Commission on
National Historical Publications, the supply of necessary
equipment and expenses incidental to the operations afore-
said, including transfer of records to the Archives Building
printing and binding; personal services in the District o,_.
Columbia and elsewhere; travel and subsistence and per
diem in lieu of subsistence, notwithstanding the provisions of
any other Acts; stenographic services by contract or other-
wise as may be deemed necessary; purchases and exchange
of books and maps; payment in advance when authorized
by the Archivist for library memberships in societies whose
publications are available to members only or to members'
at a price lower than to the general publiic; purchase, ex-
change, and operation of motor vehicles; and all absolutely
necessary contingent expenses, all to be expended under the
direction of the Archivist, who shall annually submit to
Congress estimates therefor in the manner prescribed by law.
SEC. 11. All Acts or parts of Acts relating to the charge
and superintendency, custody, preservation? and disposition,
of official papers and documents of executive departments'
and other governmental agencies inconsistent with the pro-
visions of this Act are hereby repealed.
Records Disposal Act, Approved July 7, 1943, as Amended July 6, 1945 s
[57 Stat. 380-383; 59 Stat. 434]
An Art to provide for the disposal of certain records of the United States Government.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That
when used in this Act, t})e word "records" includes all books,
papers, maps, photog.^aphs, or other documentary materials,
'Sections 4, 6, 7, and 12 appear as amended July 6, 1945.
36
regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or re-
ceived by any agency of the United States Government in
pursuance of Federal law or in connection with the transac-
tion of public business and preserved or appropriate for
preservation by that agency or its legitimate successor as
evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions,
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procedures, operations, or other activities of the Govern-
ment or because of the informational value of data contained
therein. Library and museum material made or acquired
and preserved solely for reference or exhibition purposes,
extra copies of documents preserved only for convenience of
reference, and stocks of publications and of processed docu-
ments are not included within the definition of the word
"records" as used in this Act.
SEC. 2. The National Archives Council shall promulgate
regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, establishing (1)
procedures for the compiling and submitting to the Archivist
of the United States of lists and schedules of records pro-
posed for disposal, (2) procedures for the disposal of records
authorized for disposal, and (3) standards for the reproduc-
tion of records by photographic or microphotographic proc-
esses with a view to the disposal of the original records.
Such regulations, when approved by the President, shall be
binding on all agencies of the United States Government.
SEC. 3. The head of each agency of the United States
Government shall submit to the Archivist of the United
States, in accordance with regulations promulgated as pro-
vided in section 2 of this Act (1) lists of any records in the
custody of the agency that have been photographed or
microphotographed in accordance with the said regulations
and that, as a consequence thereof, do not appear to have
sufficient value to warrant their further preservation by the
Government; (2) lists of any other records in the custody of
the agency that are not needed by it in the transaction of its
current business and that do not appear,to have sufficient
administrative, legal, research, or other value to warrant
their further preservation by the Government; and (3)
schedules proposing the disposal after the lapse of specified
periods of time of records of a specified form or character
that either have accumulated in the custody of the agency or
that may accumulate therein at any time after the submis-
sion of such schedules and that apparently will not after the
lapse of the period specified have sufficient administrative,
legal, research, or other value to warrant their further preser-
vation by the Government.
SEC. 4. The Archivist shall submit to Congress, at such
times as he shall deem expedient, the lists or schedules sub-
mitted to him in accordance with the provisions of section 3
of this Act, or parts of such lists or schedules, and lists or
schedules of any records in his legal custody, insofar as it shall
appear to him that the records listed in such lists or schedules
do not, or will not after the lapse of the period specified, have
sufficient administrative, legal, research, or other value to
warrant their continued preservation by the United States
Government: Provided, That the Archivist, shall not submit
to Congress lists or schedules of records of any existing agency
of the Government in his legal custody without first having
obtained the written consent of the head of such agency.
The Archivist may also submit to Congress, together with
recommendations of. the National Archives Council with
respect thereto, and at such times as he may deem expedient,
schedules proposing the disposal, after the lapse of specified
periods of time, of records of a specified form or character
common to several or all agencies that either have accumu-
lated or may accumulate in such agencies and that apparently
will not, after the lapse of the periods specified, have suffi-
cient administrative, legal, research, or other value to warrant
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their further preservation by the United States Government.
SEC. 5. Whenever the Archivist shall submit lists or sched-
ules to Congress, it shall be the duty of the presiding officer
of the Senate to appoint two Senators who, with the members
of the Committee on the Disposition of Executive Papers of
the House of Representatives, shall constitute a joint com-
mittee to which all such lists or schedules shall be referred,
and the joint committee shall examine such lists or schedules
and submit to the Senate and House of Representatives,
respectively, a report of such examination and its recom-
mendations.
SEC. 6. If the joint committee reports that any of the
records listed in a list or schedule referred to it do not, or will
not after the lapse of the period specified, have sufficient
administrative, legal, research, or other value to warrant their
continued preservation by the Government, the Archivist shall
notify the agency or agencies having such records in their
custody of the action of the joint committee and such agency
or agencies shall cause such records to be disposed of in
accordance with regulations promulgated as provided in sec-
tion 2 of this Act: Provided, That authorizations granted
pursuant to schedules submitted under the last paragraph of
section 4 of this Act shall be permissive and not mandatory.
SEC. 7. If the joint committee fails to make a report
during any regular or special session of Congress on any list
or schedule submitted to Congress by the Archivist not less
than ten days prior to the adjournment of such session, the
Archivist may empower the agency or agencies having in their
custody records covered by such lists or schedules to cause
such records to be disposed of in accordance with regulations
promulgated as provided in section 2 of this Act.
SEc. 8. Whenever it shall appear to the Archivist that
any agency has in its custody, or is accumulating, records of
the same form or character as any records of the same agency
previously authorized by Congress to be disposed of, he may
empower the head of such agency to dispose of such records,
after they have been in existence a specified period of time,
in accordance with regulations promulgated as provided in
section 2 of this Act and without listing or scheduling them.
SEC. 9. Records pertaining to claims and demands by the
Government of the United States or against it, or to any
accounts in which the Government of the United States is
concerned, either as debtor or creditor, shall not be disposed
of by the head of any agency under any authorizations
granted pursuant to the provisions of sections 6, 7, and 8 of
this Act, until such claims, demands, and accounts have
been settled and adjusted in the General Accounting Office,
except upon the written approval of the Comptroller General
of the United States.
SEC. 10. Whenever the Archivist and the head of the
agency that has custody of them shall jointly determine that
any records in the custody of any agency of the United States
Government are a continuing menace to human health or life
or to property, the Archivist shall cause such menace to be
eliminated immediately by whatever method he may deem
necessary. If any records in the custody of the Archivist are
disposed of under this section, the Archivist shall report the
disposal thereof to the agency from which they were trans-
ferred.
SEC. 11. At any time during the existence of a state of
war between the United States and any other nation or when
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hostile action by a fore,ighh power appears imminent, the head and effect as the originals thereof would have and shall
of any agency of the U nited States Government may authorize be treated as originals for the purpose of their admissibility
the destruction of and records in his legal custody situated in evidence. Duly certified or authenticated reproductions
in any military or naval establishment, ship, or other deposi- of such photographs or microphotographs shall be admitted
tory outside the territorial limits of continental United States in evidence equally with the original photographs or micro-
(1) the retention of Which would be prejudicial to the photographs.
interests of the United "States or (2) which occupy space Sac. 14. All moneys derived by agencies; of the Govern-
urgently needed for military purposes and are, in his opinion, ment from the sale of records authorized for disposal under
without sufficient administrative, legal, research, or other the provisions of this Act shall be paid into the Treasury
value to warrant their continued preservation: Provided, of the United States unless otherwise required by existing
That within six months after the disposal of any such records, law applicable to the agency.
the official who -diree,ted the disposal thereof shall submit SEC. 15. The procedures herein prescribed are exclusive
a written report thereon to the Archivist in which he shall and no records of the United States Government shall be
describe the character of such records and state when and alienated or destroyed except in accordance with the pro-
where the disposal the:reof was accomplished, visions of this Act.
SEC. 12. The Arcaivist shall transmit to Congress at the SEC. 16. The Act entitled "An Act to provide for the dis-
beginning of each re,lul ar session reports as to the records -position of certain records of the United States Govern-
authorized for disposal sunder the provisions. of section 7 of ment", approved August 5, 1939 (53 Stat. 1219), the Act
this Act and as to the records disposed of under the pro- entitled "An Act to provide for the disposition of certain
visions of sections 10 and I1 of this Act. photographed records of the United States Government, and
SEC. 13. Photographs or microphotographs of any rec- for other purposes", approved September 24, 1940 (54 Stat.
ords made in compliance with regulations promulgated as 958), and all other Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent with
provided in section 2 of this Act shall have the: same force the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.
-Resolution Concerning the Transfer of Records to the National Archives, Adopted by the National Archives
Council November 9, 1944
Whereas section 3 of the "Act to establish a National
Archives of the Unil:ed States Government and for other
purposes" (48 Stat. 1122) provides that "All archives or rec-
ords belonging to the Government of the United States
(legislative, executive, judicial, and other) shall be under the
charge and superintendence of the Archivist to this extent:
He shall have full power to inspect personally or by deputy
the records of any agency of the United States Government
whatsoever and wheresoever located, and shall have the full
cooperation ofany and all persons in charge of such records
in such inspections, :mnd to requisition for transfer to the
National Archives E: talilishment such archives, or records
as the National Arcl ives Council, hereafter provided shall
approve for such transfer';
And whereas section 6 of said act creates the National
Archives Council and auithorizes it to "define the classes of
material which shall be transferred to the National Archives
Building and establish regulations governing such transfer";
Resolved, That the Archivist of the United States be and
he is hereby authorized to requisition for transfer to the
National Archives anr archives or records in the custody of
any agency of the United States Government (legislative,
executive, judicial, ar.d other), which fall within any of the
following classes, viz:
I. Any archives or records that the head of the agency
that has the custody. of! them may offer for transfer to the
National Archives. -
II. Any archives or records that have been in existence for
more than fifty years unless the head of the agency that has
the custody of them certifies in writing to the Archivist that
theymust be retained in his custody for use in the conduct
of the regular current business of the said agency.
III. Any archives or records of any Federal agency that
has gone out of existence unless the head of the agency that
has the custody of them certifies in writing to the Archivist
that they must be retained in his custody for- use in perform-
ing transferred functions of the discontinued agency or in
liquidating its affairs.
IV. Any other archives or records that the National
Archives Council by special resolution may authorize to be
transferred to the National Archives.
Resolved further, (1) That when the Archivist shall issue
his requisition for any archives or records he shall furnish to
a duly authorized representative of the agency that has the
custody of them an inventory of the material covered by such
requisition; (2) That when, and not until, this inventory
shall have been certified to by the signatures of the repre-
sentatives of said agency and of the Archivist, respectively,
and the said archives or records shall have been delivered by
the representative of the said agency to the representative of
the Archivist either at the depository in which they are stored
or at a depository under the control of the Archivist, the said
archives or records shall pass into the legal custody of the
Archivistofthe United States; Provided, That recordsof the
Federal Government that are not in the legal custody of any
other agency of the Government shall be deemed to be in the
legal custody of the Archivist and may be transferred by him
to a depository under his control without the formalities of
issuing a requisition or delivering an inventory.
Regulations of the National Archives Council, Adopted July 29, 1949
Whereas Sec. 2 of "Ai Act to provide for the disposal of (57 Stat. 380-383, 59 Stat. 434; 44 U. S. C. 366-380),
certain records of the United States Government" approved requires that the National Archives Council promulgate
July 7, 1943, as amended by the Act approved July-6, 1945 regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of the said
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Act, "establishing procedures for the compiling and sub-
mitting of lists and schedules of records proposed for dis-
posal, procedures for the disposal of records authorized for
disposal, and standards for the reproduction of records by
photographic or microphotographic processes with a view
to the disposal of the original records," which regulations,
"when approved by the President, shall be binding on all
agencies of the United States Government"; Therefore be
it resolved, that the following regulations be promulgated:
1. Whenever lists or schedules of records are submitted to
the Archivist of the United States in compliance with pro-
visions of Sec. 3 of the above-mentioned Act, they shall be
submitted on Standard Forms, to be promulgated by the
National Archives, and in accordance with instructions on the
use of such forms issued by the Archivist. The said lists or
schedules shall be accompanied by samples of the several
items proposed therein for disposal unless samples of such
items have been submitted with lists and schedules pre-
viously submitted to the Archivist or unless the Archivist
shall have waived this requirement. Whenever said lists or
schedules include requests for authority to dispose of perma-
nently valuable records for the reason that when photo-
graphed or microphotographed the photographic or micro-
photographic copies will be adequate substitutes therefor,
they shall be accompanied by a statement of procedures to be
followed in preserving the integrity of the original records as
specified in II (a) hereof.
II. Whenever authority is requested to destroy records
that as a consequence of photographic or microphotographic
reproduction do not have sufficient value to warrant their
further preservation, the following standards shall be
maintained :
(a) The integrity of the original records shall be preserved
on the photographic or microphotographic copies. The
preservation of the integrity of the records implies that the
photographic or microphotographic copies will be adequate
substitutes for the original records in that they will serve the
purposes for which such records were created or maintained.
Specifically, the term "integrity of the records" is defined to
mean
that the photographic or microphotographic copies
will be so arranged, identified, and indexed that an in-
dividual document or component of a records series
can be located with reasonable facility, and
(2) that the photographic or microphotographic copies
will contain all significant record detail needed for
probable future reference.
(b) The film stock used, and the processing thereof, shall
comply with the specifications of the National Bureau of
Standards for permanent records.
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(c) The provisions for preserving, examining, and using
the photographic or microphotographic copies of the original
records shall be adequate.
(d) Whenever the agency deems that the original photo-
graphic or microphotographic negative of permanently val-
uable records is deteriorating or will deteriorate as a result
of use or other causes, the agency shall deposit the original
photographic or microphotographic negative with the Na-
tional Archives, retaining for its own use a service print if
desired.
III. Whenever any records shall have been authorized for
disposal in accordance with the provisions of Secs. 6, 7, or 8
of the above-mentioned Act and whenever any records of
types that have been proposed for disposal in schedules
approved in accordance with the provisions of Sec. 6 of the
said Act have been in existence for the periods specified in
such schedules, the agency or agencies having the custody of
such records shall, subject to the proviso of Sec. 6 and the
provisions of Sec. 9 of the said Act, (a) cause the said
records to be sold as waste paper: Provided that, unless the
said records shall have been treated in such a manner as to
destroy their record content, any contract for sale of them
shall prohibit their resale as records or documents; (b) cause
them to be destroyed, if they cannot advantageously be sold
or if, in the opinion of the head of the agency having custody
of said records, destruction is necessary to avoid the disclosure
of information that might be prejudicial to the interests of
the Government or of individuals; or (c) cause them to be
transferred, with the approval of the Archivist of the United
States and without cost to the United States Government,
to any government, organization, institution, corporation, or
person that has made application for them.
The above regulations supersede those promulgated by
the National Archives Council on August 15, 1945.
I hereby certify that the above regulations were unani-
mously adopted by the National Archives Council on July 29,
1949.
WAYNE C. GROVER,
Chairman of the Council.
Approved on August 22, 1949:
HARRY S. TRUMAN,
President of the United States.
By direction of the National Archives Council the pro-
mulgation of the above regulations is accomplished on
August 30, 1949, by transmittal of copies thereof to the
heads of all agencies of the United States Government.
THAD PAGE,
Secretary of the Council.
Executive Order 9784, Providing for the More Efficient Use and for the Transfer and Other Disposition of
Government Records
By virtue of the authority conferred on me by the Consti-
tution and statutes, in order to provide that Government
records may be utilized to maximum advantage and disposed
of expeditiously when no longer needed and in the inter-
est of more efficient internal management of the Govern-
ment, it is hereby ordered as follows:
1. The head of each agency shall establish and maintain
an active continuing program for the effective management
and disposition of its records. Agencies shall retain in their
custody only those records that are needed in the conduct
of their current business, and except as herein otherwise
provided, shall promptly cause all other records to be offered
for transfer to the National Archives or proposed for other
disposition in accordance with law.
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2. No records shall be transferred by one agency to the 5. No transfer of records (except in connection with a
custody of another age:. ,icy without the approval of the Di-
rector of the Bureau o l the Budget except for their retire-
ment to the National archives, as a temporary loan for of-
ficial use, or as may be otherwise required by statute or
Executive order. Any records in the custody of any agency
which, in the judgment of the Director of the Bureau of the
Budget, are not needed in the conduct of its current business
and are needed in the current business of another agency
shall be transferred to the latter agency if, in the opinion of
the Director, the public interest will be best served by such
transfer, provided that any portion of such records deemed
to have enduring value may be accessioned by the National
Archives and placed on loan to the agency to which the
records are physically transferred. In making determina-
tions concerning the transfer of records the Director shall
give due regard to thc importance of having Government
records which are not -:oofidential made generally available
to Government agencies and to the public. -
3. The Civil Service: Commission, with the approval of
the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, is authorized to
promulgate regulations, not inconsistent with law and regu-
lations of the National Archives Council, requiring and
governing the establishment, content, transfer among agen-
cies, and other disposition of personnel records, provided
that no agency shall bc required to release or transfer con-
fidential material affecting: any of its employees.
4. Except as provided in the preceding paragraph 3, the
Director of the Bureau of the Budget with the advice and
assistance of the National Archives shall conduct such in-
spections, require such reports, and issue such directives and
regulations as he may deem necessary to carry out the pro.
visions of this order.
termination or transfer of functions) shall be made hereunder
when the bead of the agency having custody of the records
shall certify that such records contain confidential informa-
tion, a disclosure of which would endanger the national
interest or the lives of individuals. Whenever any records
are transferred which contain information procured under
conditions restricting its use, the use of such. records shall
continue to be limited by such conditions. The provisions
of this order shall not be deemed to require the transfer or
other disposition of records or authorize access to records in
contravention of law or of regulations of the National Ar-
chives Council.
6. Definitions. -
(a) The term "agency" as used herein shall be deemed
to mean any executive department or independent establish-
ment, including any government corporation that is operated
as an instrumentality of the Federal Government.
(b) The term "records" as used herein shall apply to all
books, papers, maps, photographs, orother documentary ma-
terials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or
received by any agency of the United States Government in
pursuance of Federal law or in connection with the trans-
action of public or organizational business and preserved or
appropriate for preservation by that agency as evidence of
or because of its informational value in relation to its organ-
ization, functions, policies, personnel, operations, decisions,
procedures, financial transactions, and all other activities
of an administrative, management, or program nature.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
September 25, 1946.
O
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