Code of Federal Regulations Title 39. Postal Service § 39.262.4 Records

(a) Permanent record. A record determined by the Records Office or the National Archives and Records Administration as having sufficient historical or other value to warrant continued preservation. (All other records are considered temporary and must be scheduled for disposal.)

(b) Corporate records. Those records series that are designated by the Records Office as containing information of legal, audit, obligatory or archival value about events and transactions of interest to the entire corporate body of the Postal Service. Corporate records are distinguished from operational records, which have value only in their day-to-day use, and from precedential files, which have value only as examples.

(c) Active record. A record that contains information used for conducting current business.

(d) Inactive record. A record that contains information which is not used for conducting current business, but for which the retention period has not yet expired.

(e) Vital records. Certain records which must be available in the event of a national emergency in order to ensure the continuity of Postal Service operations and the preservation of the rights and interests of the Postal Service, its employees, contractors and customers. There are two types of vital records:  Emergency Operating Records and Rights and Interests Records.