Plan retention and authorized disposal
See this course’s project requirements
Assemble the fictional equipment register and its operating README from all six lessons.
Keep your working files in your own notebook or software. Save a private description, checklist, and work link in My Proof.
What to include
- Define the record schema, sample rows and quality checks.
- Document filenames, version history and the approved release.
- Justify retained fields and create a purpose-specific export.
- Specify role-based access with review and removal triggers.
- Provide a retention review schedule, hold checks and tested handoff.
Review and revise
Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.
- Meaning: fields and row definitions support consistent interpretation.
- Traceability: accepted changes and the current release are identifiable.
- Proportionality: data and access match stated purposes.
- Continuity: lifecycle decisions and handoff questions are answerable.
Want more background?
The idea in everyday life
Records may need to be retained, archived or removed at different points. The correct decision depends on their purpose and applicable organizational and legal requirements. You will use an explicitly fictional policy to practice the reasoning. You will not apply federal agency schedules to private records or delete a learner’s actual files during the course.
Retention means keeping records for a stated purpose or requirement. Decide when to review them and who can approve keeping or disposing of them.
One step at a time.
Use the sample or information you have permission to use. Keep your work as you go. You can pause between steps.
- 1
Inventory three record classes: working checkout register, approved session totals and duplicate practice exports. Name an owner for each, because an old file does not authorize its own deletion.
- 2
Use this fictional exercise policy: working registers are reviewed 30 days after session close; approved totals are reviewed after one year; duplicate exports may be removed after release verification if no hold applies.
- 3
Write the event that starts each period, the proposed action and the person who verifies applicable obligations. A review date is a decision checkpoint, not automatic permission to destroy records.
- 4
Add a hold rule: if an authorized preservation instruction applies, suspend disposal and ask the responsible owner how to proceed. Do not decide legal retention obligations from the file’s name or this course.
- 5
Simulate two records at review: an ordinary duplicate with verified release and no hold, and a duplicate under a preservation instruction. Record the first as eligible for authorized disposal review and the second as retained.
See how it works.
Fictional schedule: session S1 closes October 10, 2026. Its working register reaches the exercise’s 30-day review on November 9, 2026. The steward checks continuing use, required retention and any preservation instruction before deciding what to do. A redundant export already verified against the release may be removed under the sample policy, but a matching file under a hold stays preserved. These periods are invented for learning and are not legal recommendations. NARA’s federal guidance illustrates that inventory, scheduling and approval are distinct steps; a community club needs rules appropriate to its own context.
Did you cover these?
- Every class has an owner and trigger.
- Dates are labeled fictional exercise policy.
- Hold checks precede disposal decisions.
What to finish
A three-class retention review schedule with hold and authorization checks.
Watch for this
Interpreting a review date as unconditional deletion authority.
How can I tell I understand it?
Explain why two equally old files may require different actions.
Quick knowledge check
Answer all 3 questions. Get at least 2 right and the lesson completes automatically.
You’ll get an explanation for each answer. Signed in? Your results save to your account.
Pass the check. We’ll save the progress.
Answer all 3 questions above and get at least 2 right. You can review the explanations and try again.
Go to the knowledge checkTools, templates, and lesson sources
Tools and templates
Tools open in a new tab so you can keep your place here.
Sources and further reading
Explore the references behind this lesson.
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-10
Opened the federal records guide and its inventory/scheduling/approval sequence. Its rules concern U.S. federal agencies; all course retention periods are explicitly fictional exercise policies.
Access: Free public reading; no account or certificate is required for this Life Starter course.
Reuse: Linked for reference. Examples, activities and assessments here are original; free access alone does not grant permission to reuse source text or branding.
Report a problem with this lesson
Tell us what went wrong. Please leave out personal information and private project contents.