Sec. 188.2. Definitions

As used in this Part:

(a) Agency means any department, division, board, bureau, office, council, commission, authority, public benefit corporation having statewide responsibility, or a separate unit of the executive branch of state government created or established by law or executive order, but shall not include the Executive Chamber.

(b) Archives facility means a facility administered by the director for the preservation and controlled use of archival records transferred from agencies and the judiciary, or a facility that is approved by the director as having an equivalent capacity to ensure the physical security and control of archival records.

(c) State Archives means the organizational unit within the State Education Department which has responsibility to administer the State and local government archives and records management programs.

(d) Commissioner means the commissioner of education.

(e) Director means the Assistant Commissioner of Education who is director of the State Archives.

(f) Disposition means the authorized action to dispose of the records of an agency or the judiciary by destruction, transfer to another agency or branch of government, or transfer to an archives facility.

(g) Record series means a group of related records that result from the same activity and can be evaluated together for disposition and other management purposes. Usually, the records in a record series are arranged under a single filing system or are otherwise kept together as a unit.

(h) Records means all books, papers, maps, photographs, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any agency of the State or by the judiciary in pursuance of law or in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved or appropriate for preservation by that agency or its legitimate successor as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities, or because of the information contained therein, but shall not include the records of the Executive Chamber. Library or museum material made or acquired and preserved solely for reference or exhibition purposes, extra copies of documents preserved only for convenience of reference, and stocks of publications and of blank forms shall not be deemed to constitute records.

(1) Active records means records that are frequently referenced or otherwise frequently used for conducting current business.

(2) Archival records means records that are designated by the director for continuous preservation because they have enduring administrative, legal, fiscal, educational, historical, or other research value to State government and/or its citizens. Such term is not used as a synonym for computer-generated records that are stored off-line.

(3) Electronic records means those records which are stored in a form that can be read or processed only by means of a computer.

(4) Inactive records means records that are infrequently referenced or otherwise infrequently used for conducting current business.

(5) Vital records means selected records which, in the event of a disaster, are essential to the resumption or continuation of government operations, to the re-creation of the legal and financial status of State government, or to the protection of and fulfillment of obligations to the citizens of the State. Such term is not used as a synonym for official birth, death, and marriage records.

(i) Records center facility means a facility maintained by the director for the secure storage, servicing and protection of inactive records prior to their disposition by destruction, transfer to another agency or branch of government, or transfer to an archives facility.

(j) Records management means the planning, organizing, directing, controlling and other activities needed for effective records creation, records maintenance and use, and records disposition.

(k) Records retention and disposition schedule means a document that prescribes the legally required minimum retention periods for records and the final disposition of records and may also describe where and in what form records must be kept.

(l) Retention period means a period of time, expressed in terms of an event which must occur and/or the time which must elapse, before records may be disposed.