You've put it off long enough. That filing cabinet from 1997, the SharePoint site no one can explain, the banker's boxes marked "Important?", they're taking up space and creating risk, and nobody remembers what's inside. You need to dispose of them, but you can't just throw old records away. You need a structured approach that documents what you reviewed, what you kept, and what you destroyed.
This template provides a working disposition log you can adapt for large-scale cleanout projects involving legacy records where the original creators are long gone.
What This Template Is For
Use this disposition log when you're tackling a bulk disposition project, not routine, schedule-driven destruction, but the kind where you're opening containers of mystery records and making retention decisions on the fly. This log serves three purposes:
- Compliance documentation. If auditors or legal counsel ask what happened to records from 2003, you'll have a record of your review process and disposition authority.
- Workflow management. When you're working through twenty-seven cubic feet of files (or more), you need a way to track which boxes you've reviewed, which need archival appraisal, and which are ready for destruction.
- Institutional memory. Future records managers will thank you for documenting what you found and why you made the decisions you did.
Prerequisites
Before you start filling out this log, you need:
- Your Records Control Schedule. You'll be mapping found records to specific series and retention requirements.
- Archival review procedures (if applicable). State agencies often have mandatory archival review for certain record types before disposition. Check your schedule's archival code column or equivalent.
- Physical inventory. Number your boxes or containers sequentially before you start reviewing contents. Maintain original filing order where possible.
- A decision-maker. Identify who has authority to approve disposition decisions for records where the retention status isn't clear-cut.
The Template
Create a spreadsheet or database with these columns:
Container ID | Location | Folder/File Title | Date Range | Volume (cubic ft) | Schedule Series | Retention Met? | Archival Review Required? | Review Status | Disposition Authority | Action Taken | Date | Analyst Notes
Column Definitions
Container ID: Sequential number (Box 1, Cabinet A-Drawer 2, etc.). Keep it simple.
Location: Where you found it. Be specific enough that someone could relocate related materials if needed.
Folder/File Title: Record exactly what's on the label, even if it's unhelpful. If there's no label, write "Unlabeled" and add a brief content description in Analyst Notes.
Date Range: Earliest and latest dates you can identify in the records. If you can't determine dates, note "Unknown, estimated 1990s" or similar.
Volume: Approximate cubic feet. You don't need precision; you need a sense of scale for destruction vendor quotes and storage planning.
Schedule Series: The specific retention schedule series these records fall under. If you're not sure, note your best guess and flag for review.
Retention Met?: Yes/No/Unclear. Base this on the date range and the retention requirement in your schedule. If unclear, involve your legal or compliance team.
Archival Review Required?: Check your Records Control Schedule. Some jurisdictions require archival review before disposing of certain record types, even if retention is met.
Review Status: Pending/Submitted/Approved/Not Required. Use this to track your archival review workflow.
Disposition Authority: Citation to the specific schedule series and version that authorizes disposition. Example: "Local Schedule 1050-02, v. 2019."
Action Taken: Destroyed/Transferred to Archives/Retained as Reference/Pending. Be specific about destruction method if relevant (shredded, recycled, secure vendor).
Date: When you completed the action.
Analyst Notes: This is your escape valve. Document anything unusual: "Appears to be Michael Heskett's original draft schedules, historical significance." Or: "Label says 'Schedule Development: UT' but contains only blank forms." Or: "Unable to identify record type, forwarded sample to legal."
How to Customize It
For electronic records cleanup: Add columns for file path, file format, and whether you've confirmed the records aren't under legal hold. Drop "cubic feet" and use "file count" or "GB" instead.
For multi-team projects: Add an "Assigned To" column so you can distribute boxes among staff and track who's responsible for each container's review.
For projects with tight deadlines: Add a "Priority" column (High/Medium/Low) based on space urgency, legal risk, or audit exposure.
For agencies with complex archival workflows: Expand "Review Status" into multiple columns: Date Submitted, Reviewer Name, Date Approved, Transfer Scheduled.
If you're using this for routine disposition: You probably don't need this level of detail. This template is designed for the messy, one-time cleanout projects where you're making discovery decisions, not executing a predetermined schedule.
Validation Steps
Before you destroy anything:
Spot-check your schedule citations. Pick five random entries and verify you've cited the correct series and that retention is actually met. One wrong citation can invalidate your entire disposition authority.
Confirm no legal holds. Query your legal hold system (or your legal department) to ensure none of these record types are subject to active litigation or investigation.
Review your archival submissions. If you flagged records for archival review, don't proceed with destruction until you have written approval. Archives divisions can take weeks to respond; plan accordingly.
Get sign-off. Have your Records Management Officer, compliance lead, or designated authority review and approve the log before you schedule destruction. Keep their approval email or signature.
Photograph representative samples. Before destruction, take photos of a few typical folders or file labels. You're not creating evidentiary records, but visual documentation helps if someone later asks "What exactly did we throw away in 2024?"
After destruction, keep this log itself according to your schedule's retention requirement for disposition documentation, typically three to seven years, sometimes permanent. This log proves you followed a defensible process. Without it, you just threw away old files and hoped for the best.
