>For those organizations that use email auto purge policies can you share:
>
>1.       Auto-purge schedule (60, 90, 120 days, etc.)
>
>2.       How long are archives maintained?
>
>3.       Are employees allowed to search the archives for email? (retrieval
rate)
>


The use of this type of practice as a part of policy is rather risky in most
business scenarios, especially if you are subject to any regulations, or
perform work on behalf of clients.

The concept of an 'archive' when it comes to e-mail is not clearly
articulated. Most applications that bill themselves as "e-mail archiving"
are nothing more than a digital haystack, in most instances retaining a copy
of every message sent or received as a means of short-circuiting proper
records management practices.  There is a false sense of security that by
retaining a copy of everything, and organization can "remain in compliance",
but instead, they are not consistently applying their retention schedule,
retaining excess information with no record value, and creating a potential
problem for themselves in the event of a legal issue and an e-discovery
demand to produce records.

As has been discussed many times here, e-mail is a form of conveyance, not a
record series.  The model for establishing retention is based on the
content, not the container.  

A 'generally accepted recordkeeping practice' for managing e-mail is to
first determine whether the message meets the organizations definition of a
record- if it does, then it should be either removed from the e-mail
application and placed in a record management application (RMA) or 'tagged'
in some manner to allow for further processing. 

If it is is a non-record, then it can remain within the native application
and be scheduled for regular dispositioning on a pre-determined schedule, as
they have no value or required retention.

A third category would be e-mail message of a limited value, those intended
only for informational purposes  Following the Federal practice, these would
be seen as 'transitory' and can be deleted in 180 days and also may remain
within the native application.  The following is a definition of transitory
records from 36CFR: 

Transitory records are records of short-term (180 days or less) interest,
including in electronic form (e.g., e-mail messages), which have minimal or
no documentary or evidential value. Examples of transitory e-mail and other
records include, but are not limited to: (1) routine requests for
information or publications and copies of replies which require no
administrative action, no policy decision, and no special compilation or
research for reply; (2) originating office copies of letters of transmittal
that do not add any information to that contained in the transmitted
material, and receiving office copy if filed separately from transmitted
material; (3) quasi-official notices including memoranda and other records
that do not serve as the basis of official actions, such as notices of
holidays or charity and welfare fund appeals, bond campaigns, and similar
records; (4) records documenting routine activities containing no
substantive information, such as routine notifications of meetings,
scheduling of work-related trips and visits, and other scheduling related
activities; (5) suspense and tickler files or "to-do" and task lists that
serve as a reminder that an action is required on a given date or that a
reply to action is expected, and if not received, should be traced on a
given date.

Larry
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