It is the purpose of this chapter, and chapters 21, 31, and 33 of this title, to require the establishment of standards and procedures to assure efficient and effective records management. Such records management standards and procedures shall seek to implement the following goals:

(1) Accurate and complete documentation of the policies and transactions of the Federal Government.

(2) Control of the quantity and quality of records produced by the Federal Government.

(3) Establishment and maintenance of mechanisms of control with respect to records creation in order to prevent the creation of unnecessary records and with respect to the effective and economical operations of an agency.

(4) Simplification of the activities, systems, and processes of records creation, maintenance, transfer, and use.

(5) Judicious preservation and disposal of records.

(6) Direction of continuing attention on records from their initial creation to their final disposition, with particular emphasis on the prevention of unnecessary Federal paperwork and the transfer of records from Federal agencies to the National Archives of the United States in digital or electronic form to the greatest extent possible.

(7) Establishment and maintenance of such other systems or techniques as the Archivist or the Administrator considers necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter, and chapters 21, 31, and 33 of this title.

Terms Used In 44 USC 2902

  • Archivist: means the Archivist of the United States. See 44 USC 2901
  • National Archives of the United States: means those official records which have been determined by the Archivist of the United States to have sufficient historical or other value to warrant their continued preservation by the Federal Government, and which have been accepted by the Archivist for deposit in the Archivist's custody. See 44 USC 2901
  • records: has the meaning given it by section 3301 of this title. See 44 USC 2901
  • records creation: means the production or reproduction of any record. See 44 USC 2901
  • records management: means the planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training, promoting, and other managerial activities involved with respect to records creation, records maintenance and use, and records 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. See 44 USC 2901