Q: What is the difference between records management and retention?

• Author: Tompsett, Joyce
• Position: HAVE A BURNING RIM QUESTION? ASK THE EXPERT! Retention - Brief article

Records management, as defined by ISO 15489-1 Information and Documentation--Records Management--Part 1: General, is "the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use, and disposition of records, including processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and information about business activities and transactions in the form off records."

As the volume of content within organizations continues to grow, managing it becomes a business-critical undertaking. Although not all content in an organization would be considered a formal record (which ARMA International defines as "recorded information, regardless of medium or characteristics, made...