In conjunction with implementing the Bureau's Records Program, BLM offices are to retire their Federal records to the Federal Records Centers. NARA has overall government-wide oversight responsibility for government records. Records consist of books, papers, maps, photographs, sound recordings, machine-readable materials, and other documentary materials, created or received by an agency of the United States under Federal law in transacting public business, regardless of their physical form or characteristics. Records are created during the course of business and are the property of the Federal Government, and not of the individual employee. Records are preserved or suitable for preservation by that agency or its legitimate successor as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, or operations, or because of the evidential and informational value of the data in them.
Evidential value refers to the value of a record that documents the history of an organization.
Informational value refers to the value of a record that provides unique and permanent information for research purposes. Statues, art, and core or rock samples, for instance, are not records, but the test results from core samples are records. Reading files or copies of documents that are routed around the office for information purposes are not records. Drafts, worksheets, and notes . These items do not represent significant basic steps in preparing the record copy, and in most cases they are considered nonrecords.