Automated Support of Records Disposition

Bill UnderwoodPrincipal Research Scientist

Georgia Tech Research Institute

NARA BriefingJanuary 6, 2004

Overview

• Retrospective: Whence it came to be.

• Perspective: What it is. • Prospective: What it can be and

additional research needed.

In Retrospect

W. E. Underwood and S. L. Laib “The Language of Records Disposition,” AIAI TR 95-01, Army Research Laboratory, Atlanta, Georgia. Prepared under contract DAKF11-93-C-0043, Managing Electronic Records in an Army Office, February 1995.

S. Laib. Program Documentation for a Disposition Language Style Checker and Translator. Technical Note AIAI-TN-94-03, Artificail Intelligence Atlanta, Inc. August 1994.

W. E. Underwood, S. Laib and J. Underwood, Managing Electronic Records in an Army Office: Final Report, AIAI 97-06, August 1997.

Retrospective

• Analysis of the disposition instructions in the GRS and the US Army’s Record Schedule.

• Synthesis of a grammar for generic and specific disposition instructions.

• Semantics of disposition instructions.• Tools for syntax checking, translating,

and carrying out disposition instructions

Types of Generic Disposition Instructions

• Temporary Records– Time (Destroy after period)– Event (Destroy after event)– Time-Event (Destroy period after

event)• Permanent

– Permanent – Permanent-Event

• (Permanent. PIF after event)

Specific Disposition Instructions

Permanent. PIF after completion of Study ACTIVE PIF after completion of Study

INACTIVE Cut off at the end of the year Retire to servicing FRC after 2 years Permanent

Analysis of Combinations of instructions

Destroy after 5 years, or 1 year after termination of membership, whichever is first.

COFF 31 Dec 1994

Dest Jan 2000, or Dest Jan 1996 if membership was terminated during the year

Second Alternative Meaning

Destroy after 5 years, or 1 year after termination of membership, whichever is first.

COFF 31 Dec 1994Dest Jan 2000, or Dest 1 year after

termination of membership

Third Alternative Meaning

Destroy after 5 years, or 1 year after termination of membership, whichever is first.

ACTIVEPIF after termination of membership or Dest Jan

2000, whichever is earlier.

INACTIVECOFF 31 Dec 1994Dest Jan 1996

Combination of Instructions

1. Destroy after period, or when events [, whichever is earlier (later)]

2. Destroy after period, or period after events[, whichever is earlier (later)]

3. Destroy when events, or after period[, whichever is earlier (later)].

4. Destroy when events, or when events[, whichever is earlier (later)]

Combinations of Instructions

5. Destroy when events, or period after events[, whichever is earlier (later)]

6. Destroy period after events, or after period[, whichever is earlier (later)]

7. Destroy period after events, or when events[, whichever is earlier (later)]

8. Destroy period after events, or period after events[, whichever is earlier (later)]

Are combinations of Basic Instructions Needed?

• All the combinations of basic instructions discovered in MARKS, also appear in the GRS.

• The Federal statutes and regulations upon which NARA and Federal agencies base disposition have different retention requirements.

• Different offices within an agency may have different operational retention requirements.

• If its possible to simplify the combinations, it should be done, but was beyond the scope of the original work.

Combinations of Generic and Specific Instructions

Ex: Destroy 20 years after full production of the prototype takes place. Retire after 5 years in the current files area (FN 702-3b)

ACTIVEPIF after full production of the prototype takes place.

INACTIVECutoff at end of yearRetire to FRC after 3 yearsRetire to FRC after 3 years [Retire to FRC after 5

years]Destroy 20 years after cutoff

Retain, Hold and Keep

• Cut off annually, hold 1 year in CFA, retire to WNRC with the next regular shipment. Destroy 25 years after cutoff. (FN680-31a)

• Destroy 3 years after case is closed. Keep in CFA until destroyed. (FN 11-3a)

• Destroy after 75 years. Retain 5 years in CFA. (FN: 40-5f)

Grammar

• Disposition instruction ::= Instructions for temporary records | Instructions for permanent records | Instructions for working files | Do not Destroy. Disposition

authorization pending NARA’s approval

Grammar

Instructions for temporary records ::= (Destroy|Delete) after period

[, (or ((after|when|upon|on|at) events) | period after events) [, whichever is (earlier|earliest|later|

latest)]]…

Grammar

period ::= numeral year[s] [and (3|6)

months] | (1|3|6) month[s] | (30|60|90) days

Grammar for Specific Instructions

• Cut off (at end of (CY|FY|month)) [, or (after|on|when) events, whichever is (earlier | earliest)] |

after period | (when|after|on) event

Perspective: Tools

• Style Checker• Translate Generic to definite,

dated disposition instructions• Automated Support for Carrying

out Disposition Instructions

Tool: Style Checker

• Lex – lexical word analyzer• Yacc (yet another compiler

compiler) – syntactic analyzer and translator.

• The grammar was described in Lex and Yacc and used to construct a style checker for disposition instructions

Example: Style checker

Destroy 5 years after close of fiscal year.

<<* 11. REPHRASE USING Cut off *>>

Destroy after 5 years. Cut off at the end of the FY

Translating Generic to Specific Instructions

Generic Instruction

Destroy after 30 days

Parameterized Instruction

COFF end_of(month,year)

Dest months_after (1, month, year)

Specific DispositionCOFF Jan 31, 2004Dest Feb 28, 2004

Tools: Carrying out Disposition Instructions

• Enterprise RMAssistant– Used by Agency to create Records Schedule,

Normalize Disposition Instructions

• Office RMAssistant– Supports creating office file plan from Agency

records schedule, Creating Specific Disposition instructions from Generic, Carrying out Records Disposition, including transfer.

• Filing Assistant– Supports filing, creation of case folders,

retrieval, and indicating disposition events.

Support of Disposition Actions

• Cutoff• Transfer• Retire• Destroy

– ------------------

• Transferred• Retired

Prospects

• Standard Syntax and Semantics for Disposition Instructions

• Standard Software Tools for Syntax Checking and Translating Generic to Specific Disposition Instructions

• Standard API to Support Carrying out Disposition Instructions

Needed Research

• After creation of the grammar, it was realized that media refreshment and prescription of preservation actions might be needed in the disposition language or in a preservation language.

• Additional testing and refinement of the grammar, translation rules and semantics is needed.