Records Series
A group of related records that are used and filed as a unit and share a common retention period — the basic building block of a records inventory and retention schedule.
A records series is a set of related records arranged and managed as a single unit because they result from the same activity, have the same form, or serve the same function. Examples include “purchase orders,” “personnel files,” or “board meeting minutes.”
The series is the fundamental unit of records scheduling. A records inventory identifies records series; appraisal assigns each series its value; and the retention schedule sets a retention period and disposition action for each. Grouping records into series — rather than treating every individual document separately — is what makes retention scheduling manageable. Broad groupings of series into a few categories produce a “big bucket” schedule.