>>You may have been able to tell I intensely dislike
>>subjective retention period terms like "permanent".

I'm sorry, maybe I'm just feeling argumentative, but
what is subjective about the word "permanent."  It
means forever.  Period, and of story.  You can argue
that nothing in this world, including the world
itself, is technically permanent, but I think you're
missing the point - the intent of the retention period
of "permanent" is to keep the record around as long as
possible.  Now that could mean changing format (paper,
electronic, microfilm, etc.) 

Kentucky became a state in 1792 (15th state), we have
territorial records older than that - some exist only
on microfilm, but the "record" is still there.  The
original 13 states, and NARA, I'm sure have records
older than what we have.  European archives have
records that are thousands of years old.  

I agree with what someone pointed out in an earlier
post, go with the dictionary says.

By the way, KY's Public Records Law (KRS 171.580)
defines "Historical records" as:

"(1) To accept for deposit in the State Archives and
Records Center the records of any state or local
agency or of the General Assembly that are determined
by the
department to have sufficient historical or other
value to warrant their continued preservation;"

"Permanent" seems to me to be pretty objective.  A
truly subjective term is "indefinite."

Mark J. Myers
Electronic Records Specialist
Public Records Division 
Kentucky Dept. for Libraries & Archives
300 Coffee Tree Road, P.O. Box 537
Frankfort KY 40602-0537
Phone:  502.564.8300 ext. 244
Email:  [log in to unmask]



__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com 

List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance