English: Records Life Cycle.

The records life cycle consists of three stages:

• creation or receipt of the record;
• maintenance and use of the record; and
• disposition of the record (either destruction or transfer to the permanent holdings of the National Archives).

Conceptually, Federal records span the period of time that they are in agency custody. The records life cycle concept ensures that agencies consider records management requirements throughout the life of a record, and not just at the point of disposition when the record is no longer needed by the agency.