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Â鶹ÊÓƵemployees need to be able to distinguish between official, transitory, and personal records to accurately apply the correct Records Retention Schedule and Disposition Authority (RRSDA) to the records in their custody and/or under their control. 

This guideline provides detailed information to help Â鶹ÊÓƵemployees:

• distinguish between official, transitory, and personal records;
• understand their obligation for managing official and transitory records; and
• understand when transitory records can be destroyed. 

What are Official Records?

Official records are evidence of the University’s administrative activities, transactions and decisions. These records are created, received and accumulated by all university departments, governing bodies of the University, and individuals engaged in university business. 

Official records: 

• contain information that has ongoing business value;  
• are required to support business operations; 
• document and provide evidence of business transactions; 
• are required by legislation; and/or 
• have future business, fiscal, research or legal value.

 Official records are the property of Â鶹ÊÓƵand must:

• be stored securely to ensure only authorized users have access to them;  
• be retained and disposed of in accordance with an approved RRSDA; and 
• remain in the custody of the University when employees leave their position. 
  

RRSDAs are policy documents that outline how long records are to be kept and what their final disposition will be (e.g., permanent retention by the Â鶹ÊÓƵArchives or destruction). For more information about RRSDAs see the Directory of University Records.  

What are Transitory Records?

Transitory records are records that have temporary usefulness and are only required for a limited period in order to complete a routine action or to prepare a subsequent draft or final version. Transitory records:

• have no further value beyond an immediate and minor transaction;
• are produced or received in the preparation of other records which supersede them;
• are not needed as evidence of a business activity; and
• are not required to meet legislative or regulatory obligations. 

Common types of transitory records

Transitory messages are casual or non-substantive messages that are of only short-term use and are not needed to document an action, activity or decision. 

Transitory drafts are preliminary or incomplete drafts that do not contain significant annotations, comments, approvals, or substantial changes. 

Transitory copies are duplicates of existing records made for convenience or reference. These copies are not authoritative copies and are not required to provide evidence of actions, decisions, or consultation. 

Transitory information from external sources is solicited and unsolicited information from external sources that is used solely for short term reference purposes (e.g. extra copies of publications, promotional materials, etc.). 

Rough notes and working materials consist of preliminary, incomplete, or unused information recorded or gathered for the purpose of creating other documents, aiding memory, and/or facilitating a routine action. 

Transitory systems information is information found in, or derived from, the University's digital information systems, which consists of information of temporary usefulness generated for, or resulting from, computer system operations (e.g., information exported from the student records system to automatically verify a student's enrollment status). 

In most cases data extracts, reports, or printouts from databases which duplicate content of those databases is also transitory; however, if thre extracted data becomes part of another administrative activity, and is edited or altered during this activity, then the data becomes part of the records of that activity. 

Retention of Transitory Records

In accordance with RRSDA 1996-061, Transitory Records, Â鶹ÊÓƵemployees are empowered to destroy transitory records in their custody and/or under their control provided they ensure that the records:

• are not relevant to an ongoing Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) requests;
• are not related to ongoing litigation; and 
• are destroyed in a secure and confidential manner. 

What are Personal Records?

Personal records are any records created by Â鶹ÊÓƵemployees that are not related to Â鶹ÊÓƵbusiness, such as personal correspondence, or documents accumulated while attending a professional conference. 

A special class of personal records are records created that support teaching and/or research activities. Teaching and research records include, but are not limited to:

• research and study notes;
• records created to support publications;
• teaching materials (e.g., lecture notes lecture presentations, slide decks, etc.); and/or
• records related to independent research projects and publications of faculty, staff and students. 

These records are the property of individuals who create them, as such they are not considered official records of the University and therefore are not subject to RRSDAs or FIPPA. However, teaching and research records document important activities of Â鶹ÊÓƵand may have archival value. Faculty who are nearing retirement should consider donating their teaching and research records to the Archives. Please consult Guidelines for Donating Faculty Papers for more information. 

FIPPA and Legal Holds

Official records and transitory records are subject to FIPPA and legal discovery. When a FIPPA access request is received, the ability to routinely destroy transitory records is suspended until the request has been processed and any appeal or appeal period has been completed - under FIPPA it is considered an offence to wilfully destroy records during this time. Please contact the Information and Privacy Archivist if you are unsure the status of records related to an information request. 

Similary, transitory records related to actual or pending litigation, or any kind of government investigation must not be destroyed. This restriction begins from the moment any employee gains knowledge that legal action or a government investigation is reasonably foreseeable and remains in effect until removed by Â鶹ÊÓƵGeneral Counsel and the University Secretary. 

Sources Consulted

Government Records Services, Province of British Columbia (2021). Transitory Information Records Management
Guide [PDF]. Retrieved September 24, 2021, from, 

Government of Alberta, Data, Information and Privacy Services Division, Data, Information and Records Services Branch (2021). Official and Transitory Records: A Guide for Government of Alberta Employees [PDF]. Last accessed September 24, 2021.

University of Waterloo, Records Management (2021). Destroy Transitory Records [website]. Retrieved September 24, 2021, from,