> I'm posting this after a colleague and I recently had a discussion
> regarding the appropriate terminology for retention schedule.
> 
> It has been proposed by this colleague's organization that they rename
> their retention schedule and call it disposition schedule. 

  Wowie-zowie!
 There have been a lot of expressions posted on this question and they seem 
to fall into two distinct camps... unfortunately, the vote seems to be 
pretty even as to what works best, and I guess that's the most important 
thing in ANYONE's real world situation... coming up with what works best for 
them.
 Looking through the recently published Standard from ARMA "Retention 
Management for Records and Information" (ANSI/ARMA 8-2005) 
http://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=1528 .... and NO, 
I don't "get a cut" from the sales revenue, it seems that the general 
consensus of the RIM Professionals who developed this document over a 4 year 
period thought that "Information Retention and Disposition Program" was the 
way to go.
 Similar to the comments voiced by many, I've worked in a lot of industries 
that see the use of disposal or disposition as the primary element in a 
schedule to state the most important concept being presented is "When can we 
get rid of it?", not what should we be doing to preserve or manage it while 
we have it.
 The first guidance I've routinely provided someone when I consult with them 
is to determine what information they generate or receive, who regulates 
what they're required to do with it, what value it presents to the 
organization and how long they HAVE to keep it and how much longer than that 
they may WANT to keep it. Once you determine these things, then the rest 
gets disposed of, because it's been determined to have little, if any, value 
or consequence to the organization.
 I'm accustomed to seeing a "disposition authority" or a "disposition 
instruction" provided as items in a Retention Schedule, but the primary 
focus has always been to provide guidance to ensure people understand how 
long to keep something, not how soon they can throw it out. 

And I must agree that I wrestle with the concept of using "disposition" to 
mean "disposal". My first thought with disposition is to determine what to 
do with something , and it can range from transfer, to retain permanently, 
to dispose of. My second though is to think of a person's mood or 
temperament... and I must admit, I never though of a person with a "sunny 
disposition" having much of anything to do with disposal =).
 Larry

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