Records Management Program at MIT
Institute Archives and Special Collections

Glossary of Records Management Terms*

Active Records
Records referred to on a frequent basis, e.g., more than once a month per file drawer. Active records should be kept in office.

Administrative Records
Records documenting the daily operation and administration of an office.

Archival Records
Records of enduring value, documenting the history and the development of the organization.

Archives
A repository for archival records. Also a collection of archival records (records of enduring value).

Barcode
A symbol representing the data in the form of a printed series of parallel bars of various widths, and spacing, to be read by an optical scanner, associated with a numerical value.

Case Files
Groupings of records that pertain to a specific person, place, thing, event, or program. Not to be confused with subject files.

Charge-out Card (Out Card)
Card inserted in place of documents removed from a file that identifies the records, the person withdrawing them, and the date they were taken.

Chronological Files
Copies of outgoing correspondence, arranged in chronological order.

Chronological Filing
Filing in sequence according to date.

Closed File
A file folder to which no documents will be added.

Convenience (Duplicate) File
A set of records created for convenient reference that duplicates official materials kept at Office of Record.

Correspondence
All formats intended to convey information to or from individuals within or outside an organization.

Current Records
Records providing current or most recent information. Those records may include both active and inactive records.

Cutoff
An event or date triggering a change in the status of the records, from active to inactive, and the beginning of their retention period. A termination of a contract or closing of a legal case may be an example of a cutoff event. The end of the fiscal, calendar, or academic year provide examples of cutoff dates.

Disposal
The final removal, whether for destruction or formal transfer to another agency, e.g., records storage center or archives, of records that have reached the end of their retention period.

Disposition
Any means of changing the location or physical format of the records. Includes destruction by shredding or recycling, digitizing, microfilming, duplication, or transfer.

Essential (Vital) Records
Records essential to resume or continue operations of the organization, including records necessary to recreate the organization’s legal and financial position, and to fulfill obligations to the organization, its students and employees, and to outside parties.

Files Classification Scheme
A comprehensive listing of files classifications and their retention schedules.

Format
The physical form in which material appears – books, slides, photographs, film, recordings, etc.

Functional Filing
A method of organizing records by the function they serve.

Historical Value
The usefulness of the records for documenting an organization’s policies, key personnel, major activities, programs, processes, transactions, and events.

Inactive Records
Records that do not have to be readily available, but that have to be kept for legal or historical purpose.

Journal
In accounting, a register of similar transactions, such as payroll or sales, that are posted to the general ledger.

Lateral Files
Files which are stored from left to right rather than from front to back. Includes side-opening filing cabinets and shelf filing equipment.

Legal Value
The usefulness of records as evidence supporting an organization’s transactions, activities, claims, and obligations.

Life Cycle of Records
The records management premise that records pass through three stages: creation, maintenance and use, and disposition.

Medium (Media)
The physical form of recorded information. Includes paper, film, magnetic tapes and disks, CDs, etc.

Microform
A generic term for any media containing micro-images, e.g., microfilm or microfiche.

Non-record Material
Material that does not need to be filed or that can be destroyed after a short retention. Includes drafts, worksheets, routine replies, and extra copies of documents created for convenience.

Numerical Filing
Filing in which the primary arrangement is numerical.

Office of Record
The office assigned responsibility for custody and maintenance of specific records. Generally the office in which they were originally created and filed.

Official Files
Original records, including official copies of outgoing correspondence, that document policy, operations and programs, property, financial transactions, and legal obligations of the organization.

Open Shelf Filing
A method of filing records vertically on shelves rather than in conventional filing cabinets.

Permanent Records
Records of indefinite, long-term value. Typically no more than 5% of all records holdings.

Primary Classifications
The most general categories under which records can be filed.

Program Records
Records documenting the unique functions for which an office is responsible, as opposed to administrative records documenting the daily operations.

Proprietary Records
Records containing confidential or highly sensitive information. Access to those records is restricted to eliminate the possibility of illegal or otherwise undesirable disclosure.

Records
Recorded information of any kind and in any form, either originated or received by an organization. Include papers, correspondence, forms, books, photographs, films, sound recordings, maps, drawings, and other documents.

Records Center
A low-cost facility for the controlled maintenance, retrieval, and disposal of inactive records. A commercial records center, operated by a private company, houses records of many organization on a fee basis.

Records Creation
The production or reproduction of any record.

Records Inventory (Survey)
A survey of records conducted to identify the size, scope, and complexity of an organization’s records. It should precede the process of developing or modifying records retention schedules and provide information on the title of each record series, inclusive dates, quantity, arrangement, relationships to other record series, and description of content.

Records Management
The systematic control of all records from their creation or receipt through processing, distribution, organization, and retrieval to their ultimate preservation and disposition.

Records Management Liaison
The person responsible for an office’s records management procedures, including file organization and maintenance, records surveys, records transfer, and records disposition; and for maintaining contact with the Records Management Program.

Records Manager
The person assigned primary responsibility for the records management program.

Records Retention Schedule
A comprehensive schedule of record series (by office or department), indicating for each series the length of time it is to be maintained in office areas, in a records center, and when and if such series may be digitized or microfilmed, destroyed, or transferred to the Archives.

Records Series
A group of identical or related records that are used, filed, and disposed of in the same way.

Records Values
The usefulness of records for operating, administrative, legal, fiscal, and historical purposes.

Reference (Background) Material
Published, publicly available information held for consultative or research purposes.

Retention Period
The length of time records must be kept before they are eligible for destruction or archival preservation. The retention period begins at a cut-off date (e.g., the end of the fiscal, calendar, or academic year) or is triggered by a cut-off event, such as a termination of employment, contract closure, etc.

Retrieval
Locating and delivering records for use.

Scheduled Records
Records for which there is an official records retention schedule.

Secondary Classification
The second most general class of categories by which records can be filed.

Subject File
A file in which documents are arranged by subject. Not to be confused with a case file.

Supporting Files
Include duplicates of official records, working papers, ephemera, and other records not covered under the definition of official records.

Tertiary Classification
The most specific and least general categories under which records can be filed.

Transfer
The change in physical custody of records from one organization or unit to another, e.g., from an office to a records center.

Transitory Records
Routine correspondence with short-term records value, to be destroyed after the action covered by this correspondence is completed.

Vital Records
Records containing essential information, necessary for the resumption of operations after a disaster, the reestablishment of the legal and financial status of the organization, and for the determination of the rights and obligations of individuals and corporate bodies with respect to the organization.

__________________

*Based on Taking Control of Your Office Records: A Manager's Guide, Katherine Aschner, ed. (White Plains, N.Y.: Knowledge Industry Publications, 1983).