Retention of records is vital for many reasons. It is a crucial element of accountability. It helps ensure that governments can explain to their citizens what they do with their money and the way in which decisions are made. It also serves to satisfy the human desire to know the past, allowing people to reflect on the past and see how things have changed. It is an essential aspect of good governance, and is the foundation for a democratic society. It also serves as a foundation for privacy protection since it stops organizations and businesses from storing sensitive information for a long time. This would be against the principles of good business management, and could lead to legal action.
The federal and state governments oversee the retention of public records. It is up to agencies to research and understand their requirements for keeping records, and then create records schedules that meet these requirements. Many agencies have designated records liaisons and officers responsible for developing policies as well as procedures and systems to ensure that the requirements in the schedules of records are met consistently and regularly by their agency.
The schedules are arranged according to record type or series. Each record series has a unique retention period that is determined by the historical or administrative, fiscal or other value of the information within the series. A handwritten record that is later incorporated into a computer data system is not generally kept as long as its original paper record.