Well The International Standard for Records Management (ISO 15489 for those who dont know it) talks about disposition of records. If you wanted to be true to the standard, then disposition it should be. However, I am a firm believer in using a simpler word instead of a more complex one. It is also appropriate to use the most appropriate word - so if it makes more sense to use the term 'retention' rather than 'disposition' (or the simpler 'disposal') then use 'retention'. The reasons for a particular term making more sense than others will depend on many factors, including context, organisational environment, regional idioms, etc. For what it is worth, the National Archives of Australia issues Records Disposal Authorities, because they authorise the disposal of records after certain periods of time. Of course, they also identify what stuff should be kept as 'national archives', but this could be seen as a case of disposal authorisation not given. Because we call them this, it would be reasonable to assume that agencies in our jurisdiction also call them by the same name - it would get confusing if they didn't. John Lovejoy I speak for myself, not my employer (for what its worth, I use this disclaimer so that my views are not taken to be the official views of my employer - sometimes i speak for them, but not on this occassion) List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance