NARA Guidance for Flexible Scheduling

1. Guidance for Flexible Scheduling David B. Brown, Special Assistant Office of the Archivist – Washington, DC RACO 2005

2. What is a traditional schedule? • Basic unit for organizing and controlling files is a series or electronic system • Agency records series and systems are shown as separate items • Usually arranged primarily by organization or function RACO 2005

3. NARA Guidance • NARA Bulletin 2005-05 Guidance for Flexible Scheduling • Issued as Memo to Agency Records Officers NWM 18.2005 on April 22, 2005 RACO 2005

4. What is flexible scheduling? • Provides for concrete disposition instructions that may be applied to groupings of information and/or categories of records • The difference from the traditional scheduling approach is that the unit to be scheduled is not the individual records series or an electronic system RACO 2005

5. What is a “big bucket” or large aggregation schedule? • Type of flexible schedule • Allows disposition instruction(s) to apply to multiple series or systems • Supports the business needs of agencies • Provides the documentation necessary to protect legal rights and ensure government accountability RACO 2005

6. How do you develop a “big bucket” or large aggregation flexible schedule? • Determine if a “big bucket” or large aggregation flexible schedule meets agency business needs • Review reliable existing schedules to determine if existing records series can be grouped into “big buckets” or large aggregations • Contact your NARA appraisal archivist for consultation and guidance. RACO 2005

7. How do you develop a “big bucket” or large aggregation flexible schedule?, Cont’d • Conduct functional or business process analysis • Identify records series that come from work process(es) • Determine values for records series and/or larger groupings of records RACO 2005

8. How do you develop a “big bucket” or large aggregation flexible schedule?, Cont’d • Group like record series/systems into larger aggregations or buckets • Name these larger aggregations or buckets • Determine the value of records within each aggregation, bucket, or series RACO 2005

9. How do you develop a “big bucket” or large aggregation flexible schedule?, Cont’d • Submit schedule to NARA along with any documentation accumulated during the schedule development process • Crosswalks to previously approved schedules • Materials that document the agency’s business process • Information concerning the specific file units subsumed under each aggregation, bucket, or series RACO 2005

10. Whatassistance is available from NARA? • NARA’s Life Cycle Management Division provides assistance and advice to agency records officers in the Washington, DC, area http://www.archives.gov/records_management/policy_and_guidance/appraisal_and_scheduling.html • The Records Management staff in NARA's regional offices provides assistance to records officers across the country http://www.archives.gov/facilities/index.html RACO 2005