Latest News updated 7/23/07

The NIH Office of Management Assessment has added information to their website titled “Moving Inactive Records Out of the Office.” This new guidance expands upon the NIH Manual Chapter 1742 and will assist you in identifying records in your office, determining their retention and disposition schedule, and easy-to-follow instructions on moving records to the National Records Center for storage and destruction. View Website.

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Records Management

What is Records Management?

Records management concerns the planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training, promoting, and other managerial activities involved with respect to records creation, maintenance, use, and disposition in order to achieve adequate and proper documentation of the policies and transactions of the Federal Government and effective and economical management of agency operations.

Records may have any physical form or characteristics. Records may be on paper, microfilm, magnetic tapes, cards, disks, or any other material. They may be letters, memoranda, reports or other materials commonly found in office files. They may also be laboratory notebooks, instrument readings, photographs, sound recordings, motion pictures, maps, books, drawings, data bases or in any other form or format.

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What are personal files?

Personal files are those documents that relate only to an individual's personal affairs and do not affect the conduct of agency business. Papers or other documents that a person creates or receives in connection with the performance of official duties are government records and must be treated as such.

Even correspondence marked "personal", "confidential", or "private" is an official record if it relates to official activities. If private, personal correspondence contains portions which require official action or response, those portions which require official action or response must be extracted and made a part of official files. Research notes and reports created by scientists working at NIH are official records that belong to the government, not the individual researcher. In some cases, even diaries, appointment books and other schedules of personal activities are considered government records.

Personal files kept in NIH offices or other facilities must be designated as personal and must be maintained apart from official records.

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What are Non-Records?

1. Nature: Some items by their very nature are non-record. They include blank forms, routing sheets, transmittal sheets and reproduction materials such as stencils and offset plates.
   
2. Relationship to records: Documents such as transcribed stenographic materials, working papers and drafts that are used in creating official records are non-record. Identical duplicates of all records maintained in the same file are non-record. Follow-up materials, such as "tickler" or suspense copies of correspondence that are used to facilitate operations but not to document those operations are non-record. Note: indexes and other finding aids to records are themselves record material.
   
3. Use: Any materials used exclusively for reference purposes are non-record. They include library collections, vendor catalogs, journals and similar materials. Copies of records, which are maintained solely for reference purposes, are also non-record if no administrative action is taken on them.
   
   Materials used solely for exhibit or display are non-record, unless they describe the operations, policies, procedures or accomplishments of NIH.
   
   Stocks of publications and processed documents kept for distribution are non-record, but one copy of each publication must be kept as a record in the office responsible for issuing it.
   
   Documents created or used in fringe activities, such as carpool locators, charitable fund drives and employee recreation and welfare activities are not government records.
   
   Non-record materials should be removed from NIH files as soon as they are no longer needed.
   
   Caution should be used in applying the term non-record. Improper application of this qualification may be equivalent to the illegal disposition of government records.
   
   When removing or destroying non-record materials, take care that any documents which are sensitive, confidential, or subject to the Privacy Act are protected from unauthorized disclosure.

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Record Management Responsibilities

A particular office is responsible

1. for applying the recordkeeping and disposal instructions from the NIH Records Control Schedule to its files;
2. initiating requests to transfer records to WNRC or withdraw records from WNRC;
3. boxing and marking its records, as instructed in the 1742 Transfer, Withdrawal And Destruction of Records At The Washington National Records Center Section E.5.b. and 5.c., before transfer to WNRC; and
4. preparing forms and other paperwork necessary for sending, withdrawing or disposing of records at the WNRC and transmits the paperwork to their respective IC Records Officer for review and clearance.

All employees are warned that destruction or removal of government records other than as authorized in an approved records schedule is a serious offense that could lead to adverse action against the individual.

All official record management regulations are stated in the NIH MI Policy on Records Management and can be found at: http://www1.od.nih.gov/oma/manualchapters/management/1743/. This includes any recent changes to record keeping requirements for your particular area. Always check this site for updates and changes to record management policies.

For other questions or information on Records Management, please contact
Chanta Harrington, Management Analyst (301) 402-3570