(i) library and museum material made or acquired and preserved solely
for reference or exhibition purposes; or
(ii) duplicate copies of records preserved only for convenience.
Recorded Information: includes all traditional forms of records, regardless of physical
form or characteristics, including information created, manipulated, communicated, or
stored in digital or electronic form.
Q3. Can I remove any text messages or conversations from my mobile devices?
A. Yes, you may remove text messages and conversations that are not federal records or
are federal records that are authorized for disposition, unless they are subject to an
independent preservation obligation (such as a litigation hold or an active unfulfilled
FOIA request). If an independent preservation obligation applies, then the message
should be retained, regardless of its status as a federal record, until the preservation
obligation no longer applies.
Under the Federal Records Act, personal messages that do not deal with the transaction
of government business can be deleted. In addition, text messages that constitute
transitory or intermediary records can also be deleted if you are confident the
information in the text messages is no longer required. If you are unsure, consult your
Bureau Records Officer before deleting.
Transitory Records: Records required to be preserved only for a short time (generally
less than 180 days) and that are not required to meet legal or fiscal obligations, or to
initiate, sustain, evaluate, or provide evidence of decision-making, which may be
dispositioned when no longer needed for business use. Transitory Records include, but
are not limited to:
o messages coordinating schedules, appointments, and events
o transmittal documents such as e-mail, letters, cover memos, and facsimile cover
sheets that do not provide evidence of approval, concurrence, or decision-
making, or include substantive comments
o received copies of circulated internal information such as agency instructions,
notifications, circulars, newsletters, and email blasts to employees
o messages received from agency distribution lists or listservs
o “to-do” or task lists and assignments
Intermediary Records: Records of an intermediary nature, meaning that they are
created or used in the process of creating a subsequent record. To qualify as an