Many e-mail messages need to be retained longer than these periods of time. Employees are responsible for ensuring that e-mail messages with longer retention periods remain accessible until the appropriate Retention and Disposal Schedule authorizes their destruction. Transitory messages are records that have very limited administrative value and should be retained until they no longer serve a purpose. Transitory messages do not set policy, establish guidelines or procedures, document a transaction or become a receipt. For instance, an e-mail message notifying employees of a meeting would only have value until the meeting is held.
Agencies have many options for storing e-mail, each of which has benefits and disadvantages.
Administrators and information technology staff should agree upon which option works best for agency staff. Regardless of which option an agency selects, a procedure for all staff to follow should be written and distributed to affected individuals. E-mail messages should be organized in a way that makes them easy to find. E-mail may be organized by subject, or by case number, or by some other system. Regardless of which technique is used, e-mail folders should be coordinated with any paper or other electronic filing systems that are in place.