GLOSSARY

APPENDIX 1

Section 1. Definitions

Access. The permission to consult records.

Accession.

\(1\) To take over records from an agency for storage when they are no

longer being used.

\(2\) A body of records so taken over (by a Federal Records Center, for

example).

Accountable Officers Accounts. Specific documents prepared by
accountable

officers, required by the General Accounting Office to be kept for
audit.

Also called \"site audit records.\"

Active Records. Current records which must be kept in HUD offices due to

frequent reference. (This usually means records that are used more than

once per file drawer per month.)

Administrative Records. See \"Housekeeping Records.\"

Administrative Value. In appraisal, the usefulness of records to an
agency

in conducting current business.

Administratively Restricted Information. Privileged or other

nonsecurity-classified information in records sometimes marked \"For

Official Use Only\" or \"Limited Official Use\" to prevent unauthorized

disclosure. See \"Classified Information.\"

Appraisal. Deciding the value and thus the disposition of records based
on

their administrative uses, evidential and informational or research
value,

arrangement, and relationship to other records.

Architectural Drawings. Graphic and engineering drawings that show

information needed to plan and construct buildings.

Archival Value. The finding by appraisal that records are worthy of

permanent preservation by the National Archives. See \"Historical
Value.\"

Archives.

\(1\) The permanently valuable records, in whatever form, that are
created

or received by an agency for its official purposes and made a part of

its official documentation.

\(2\) An agency set up to preserve and make such records available for
use,

or a building in which such records are kept (the National Archives,

for example).

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Audiovisual Records. Motion pictures, still pictures, sound recordings,

video recordings, and related documentation.

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Records. Records of systems for
recording

and processing data on magnetic media. Also called electronic or

\"machine-readable\" records.

Case File. A file with records on a specific action, event, person,
place,

project or other subject. Sometimes called \"project file\" or
\"transaction

file.\"

Classified Information. Records or information requiring safeguards

against unauthorized disclosure to protect national security.

Closed File. A file (usually in a series) on which action is assumed to
be

complete and to which no papers are to be added.

Convenience File. A file of nonrecord, informational papers kept near
the

user\'s desk for immediate reference.

Cubic Feet. A measurement of the volume of records.

Current Records. See \"Active Records.\"

Custody. The maintenance of guardianship of records by the agency that

made them or its successor, a Records Center, or the National Archives.

Cutoff. Ending (closing) files at regular intervals to permit their

transfer, retirement, or destruction in complete file blocks. Under this

process, a file is closed regularly at the end of a specified time or an

event, and a new file is set up. Also called \"file break.\"

Design and Construction Drawings. See \"Architectural Drawings.\"

Disposal. Physical destruction of textual records; removal of data from

magnetic tapes by deleting, scratching or erasing; physical destruction
of

other media which cannot be erased and reused or salvaged.

Disposal Authority. The legal authority for destroying records, obtained

from the Archivist of the United States and, for certain series, from
the

Comptroller General.

Disposal List. A document giving one-time authority for destroying
certain

nonrecurring records.

Disposition. A broad term which can mean:

\(1\) Destruction of records.

\(2\) Retirement of records to a Federal Records Center or transfer to
the

National Archives.

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\(3\) Transfer of records from one office or agency to another.

\(4\) Donation to a non-Federal group or person.

Emergency Destruction. Destroying records under abnormal circumstances,
as

provided by law or regulations.

Evidential Value. The value of agency records to document its
organization

and operations.

File Break. See \"Cutoff.\"

File Custodian. The person named to set up and operate a file station.

Also called \"recordkeeper.\"

Fiscal Value. The usefulness of records for information about an
agency\'s

financial transactions and obligations.

General Records Schedules. Records disposition schedules issued by the

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), listing
administrative

records common to several or all Federal agencies. Use of the GRS is

mandatory.

Historical Value. The usefulness of records for historical research on
the

agency that made them or for information about persons, places, events,
or

things. See also \"Research Value.\"

Holding Area. Agency space assigned for the temporary storage of
inactive

records before their retirement to a Federal Records Center. Also called

\"staging area.\"

Housekeeping Records. The budget, fiscal, personnel, supply, and other

records relating to operations normally common to all agencies, in
contrast

to records on a specific agency program. See \"Program Records.\"

Inactive Records. Records which are seldom used but which must be kept,

temporarily or permanently (in offices, Federal Records Centers, or

archives), because of legal or historical and research value.

Informational Value. The value of records based on the information they

contain on matters the agencies deal with, instead of information on the

agencies themselves.

Inventory.

\(1\) A survey of office files before developing a schedule. Generally

includes series titles, inclusive dates, use, volume, arrangement, and

duplication.

\(2\) A detailed inventory listing is a finding aid used to reference

records stored in a Federal Records Center or transferred to other

agencies or between HUD offices.

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Legal Value. The usefulness of records as evidence of legally
enforceable

rights or obligations of governments and/or private persons.

Maceration. Destroying records by shredding or chopping so they can\'t
be

read or put together again.

Machine-Readable Records. See \"Automatic Data Processing Records.\"

Maintenance of Records.

\(1\) For current records: All operations which are part of the upkeep
of

an organized filing system. Includes classifying, indexing, sorting,

filing, and referencing records.

\(2\) For records in a Federal Records Center or archives: Their proper

storage, protection, and repair if needed.

Microfilm.

\(1\) In general, the process of making a miniature photographic copy of
a

document.

\(2\) The term also applies to a long strip or roll of film that is
16mm,

35mm, 70mm, or 105mm in width and has a series of micro images.

Microform. Any miniaturized form containing micro images, such as

microcards, microfiche, and microfilm.

Noncurrent Records. Records that are no longer needed for current
business

and so can be retired to a Federal Records Center or destroyed.

Nonrecord Material. Papers (or other media) not meeting the requirements

for \"record material.\" Include stocks of publications, directives,
library

material, duplicate copies of record material (such as reading files),

catalogs, and papers of transitory value (such as drafts, worksheets,

informal notes, and routing slips). Nonrecord materials should be

destroyed when no longer needed.

Offer. A document requesting NARA\'s selection of records for permanent

retention and immediate or future transfer to the National Archives
without

going through the scheduling process. An offer can cover:

\(1\) Unscheduled records no longer being created, or

\(2\) Unusually significant records which are part of a series scheduled
as

disposable.

Official Files. See \"Record Material.\"

Permanent Records. Records appraised by NARA as having lasting value

because they:

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\(1\) Document the organization and functions of the Federal agency that

created or received them, and/or

\(2\) Contain significant information on persons, things, problems, and

conditions with which the agency dealt.

Program Records. Records of the policies, plans, procedures and
day-to-day

operations of an agency in carrying out its assigned functions.

Record Copy. The copy of a document specifically intended to be kept as
a

record. Also called \"official file copy.\"

Record Material. Papers, photographs, maps, or other documentary

materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, which have

documentary or evidential value. Such papers, created or received in the

course of agency business, are kept as evidence of its organization,

functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other
activities

because of their informational value. Also called \"official files.\"

Record Set. The group of serial issuances (e.g., press releases,

handbooks, or notices) that, among many groups of copies, is kept to
serve

as the official record.

Records Disposition Schedules. A complete listing and description of

records created or received which gives their authorized retention and

disposition instructions. Schedules provide for the periodic retirement
of

records to Federal Records Centers as well as for their final disposal
or

retention. Also called \"records control schedules.\"

Research Value. The usefulness of records for research by the
Government,

private organizations, and scholars. See also \"Historical Value.\"

Retention Period. The period of time that records must be kept. Records

are kept in offices while active and in Federal Records Centers or the

National Archives after they become inactive.

Retirement. Movement of inactive records to Federal Records Centers for

storage.

Sampling. Selecting part of a body of similar records for retention to

represent the whole.

Schedule Item. A type or group of records separately listed and
described

in a records disposition schedule.

Scheduled Records. Records given retention periods and disposition

authority in HUD records disposition schedules or General Records

Schedules.

Screening. Removing from a group of records any material eligible for

destruction. Also called \"purging\" or \"weeding.\"

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Series. A separately kept group of files with similar traits such as

similar subject matter, a single system of arrangement, similar types of

papers within each folder, and the like. Each record series is the
largest

practical grouping of separately organized and logically related
materials

that can be treated as a single unit for disposal purposes.

Shelf List. Series-by-series list of records arranged in the order in

which they are retired to a Federal Records Center and arranged there on

the shelves or stacks. (Prepared on SF 135 and SF 135A.)

Source Documents. Documents supplying input data for ADP records
systems.

Staging Area. See \"Holding Area.\"

Tickler File. A file set up by date to help select records for disposal

when they become due.

Textual Records. Handwritten or typed materials or copies, as distinct

from cartographic, audiovisual, and ADP records.

Transaction File. See \"Case File.\"

Transfer. The movement of records out of office space and equipment to
the

National Archives, another Federal agency or elsewhere within HUD.

Unscheduled Records. Records not having an authorized disposition.

Includes records covered by an SF 115 approved before May 14, 1973, for

which no final disposition was given (i.e., the disposition instruction
was

\"permanent,\" \"retain,\" \"disposal not authorized,\" or the like).

Working Papers. Rough notes, calculations, or drafts used in preparing
or

analyzing other documents.

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APPENDIX 1

Section 2. Abbreviations

ADP Automatic (or automated) data processing

ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange

CFR Code of Federal Regulations

cu. ft. cubic foot (feet)

DRMO Departmental Records Management Officer

EBCDIC Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code

EMF Employee medical folder

FRC Federal Records Center

GAO General Accounting Office

GRS General Records Schedule(s)

IPS Office of Information Policies and Systems

IRM Information resources management

NARA National Archives and Records Administration

NARS National Archives and Records Service (Now reorganized as NARA)

NPRC National Personnel Records Center

OF Optional form

OPF Official personnel folder

POH Primary organization head

RG Record group

RMLO Records Management Liaison Officer

SF Standard form

U.S.C. United States Code

WNRC Washington National Records Center

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