The RIM/IG profession has been hampered for years by the lack of a single, consistent definition of "record."  However, I've found that distinguishing a "record" from a "document" helps considerably and our approved policies use both terms as needed.  A "record" generally means documents that must have retention applied and formal disposition procedures used to dispose of them.  A "document" is anything else that is discoverable or must be produced in response to a public record request.  The old adage "all records are documents, but not all documents are records" is based on this terminology use.  Our City Attorney (and many other attorneys I have worked with over the years) considers "documents" to be records for legal purposes, and thus the confusion over the definitions.  By using "record" and "document" as defined above, we can satisfy both the attorneys and the RIM/IG needs of the organization.

Ginny Jones 
(Virginia A. Jones, CRM, FAI) 
Records Manager 
Information Technology Division 
Newport News Dept. of Public Utilities 
Newport News, VA 
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