U.S. Geological Survey

General Records Disposition Schedule

Prepared by the Geospatial Information Office

432-1-S1

May 2009

U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S.Geological Survey

Foreword

General Records Schedules (GRS) are issued by the Archivist of the United States to provide the disposal authorizations for Federal administrative records common to several or all agencies of the Federal Government. They include records relating to civilian personnel, fiscal accounting, safety and security, procurement, communications, information technology and information resources management areas, publications, printing, and other common functions. These records comprise an estimated one-third of the total volume of records created by Federal agencies. In 1978, use of the GRS was made mandatory and the disposal authorizations were mandated to be used by Federal agencies. Because these schedules are designed to cover records common to several agencies, many of the records descriptions are general.

Each agency is given the choice to either use the GRS as an appendix to their agency's own printed schedule or tailor the GRS to their agencies own particular needs and incorporate them into an agency schedule. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has chosen to use its own General Records Disposition Schedule (GRDS) supplemented by the GRS. This GRDS has been approved by the Archivist of the United States and provides the USGS with retention requirements for bureau records of continuing value and destruction requirements for records of temporary value after the expiration of a specified period of time or upon the occurrence of a specific event. The USGS GRDS is the only authorized schedule to be used for administrative bureau records. By using the USGS GRDS, bureau employees will be able to effectively and efficiently manage agency records regardless of personnel or organizational changes. In addition, implementation of consistent records management practices will ensure: 1) compliance with legal mandates and regulatory requirements; 2) reducing costs associated with managing, archiving, and retrieving records; 3) reducing the volume of records that must be managed and archived by destroying obsolete records; 4) ready access to critical information; and 5) historical or long-term records are properly maintained and available for future projects. Whether an office, employee, or contractor maintains a few or a large volume of administrative records, this GRDS must be applied to those records.

The GRDS includes a Foreword, Table of Contents, Record of Posted Changes, Information on Official Records, Guidelines on how to use Records Disposition Schedules, Changes in this Issuance, the schedule itself (Chapters 100 through 1300), a listing of Abbreviations and Definitions, and an alphabetical Subject Index.

Proper implementation of the GRDS involves carefully applying its provisions to both permanent and temporary bureau records. The schedule's final objective is to ensure authorized, appropriate, uniform, and timely disposition of bureau records.

For the program disciplines, regions, and offices of the USGS, this schedule is to be used together with the mission-specific or scientific records schedules that have been developed for the Biology, Geology, Geography, and Water Resources disciplines and the schedule developed for the records of the Special Geologic Studies Group. A mission-specific records schedule will soon be issued for the scientific records in the Geospatial Information Office. In the event that records are not covered by the GRDS or a discipline's mission-specific records schedule, contact the USGS Records Management Officer or your discipline, office, or regional Records Liaison Officer listed on the USGS Intranet Web site at: http://internal.usgs.gov/gio/irm/fmassis2.html.

The Federal records disposition and scheduling process is an essential part of the USGS Records Management Program. The preservation of official records, in any form or media, is extremely important in order to allow future researchers and historians access to the history of the USGS and preserve America's documentary heritage. These records must be complete, well-documented, easily accessible, protected from accidental destruction or loss, and arranged to best serve present and future needs.