CDIA Records Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which retention schedule trigger is used when records must be kept for a period starting from the date a contract expires?
- Creation date trigger
- Event-based trigger (Correct answer)
- Fixed-date trigger
- Receipt date trigger
Correct answer: Event-based trigger
An event-based trigger starts the retention clock from a specific business event, such as contract expiration, rather than the record's creation date.
Question 2: Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), what obligation does an organization have regarding potentially relevant electronically stored information (ESI) once litigation is reasonably anticipated?
- Migrate all ESI to read-only media
- Issue a litigation hold to suspend routine destruction (Correct answer)
- Encrypt all ESI and restrict access
- Immediately produce all ESI to opposing counsel
Correct answer: Issue a litigation hold to suspend routine destruction
Once litigation is reasonably anticipated, organizations must issue a litigation hold that suspends normal retention and destruction schedules for potentially relevant records.
Question 3: What is the primary purpose of a records inventory in a records management program?
- To assign monetary value to each record series
- To identify and document all record series, locations, and formats (Correct answer)
- To automatically apply retention schedules to digital files
- To create backup copies of all physical records
Correct answer: To identify and document all record series, locations, and formats
A records inventory identifies and documents all record series, their physical or digital locations, formats, and volumes, forming the foundation for a retention schedule.
Question 4: Which standard specifically addresses the long-term preservation of electronic documents in PDF format?
- ISO 15489
- PDF/A (ISO 19005) (Correct answer)
- MoReq2010
- DoD 5015.02
Correct answer: PDF/A (ISO 19005)
PDF/A (ISO 19005) is an ISO standard defining a subset of PDF for long-term archiving and preservation of electronic documents.
Question 5: In records management, what does 'vital records protection' primarily address?
- Encrypting all organizational records with AES-256
- Identifying and safeguarding records essential to resume operations after a disaster (Correct answer)
- Shredding obsolete records to protect sensitive data
- Implementing access controls to prevent unauthorized record modification
Correct answer: Identifying and safeguarding records essential to resume operations after a disaster
Vital records protection focuses on identifying records critical to business continuity and ensuring they are protected and recoverable after a disaster or emergency.
Question 6: A disposition authority in records management is best described as:
- A software tool that automatically deletes files after their retention period
- An official approval granting permission to destroy or transfer records (Correct answer)
- A classification label applied to records at the point of creation
- A legal hold notice sent to custodians during litigation
Correct answer: An official approval granting permission to destroy or transfer records
A disposition authority is the official sanction — typically from a government agency or senior management — authorizing the destruction or transfer of records after their retention period.
Question 7: Which concept describes grouping records with common characteristics and retention requirements into a single manageable unit?
- Record series (Correct answer)
- File plan
- Metadata schema
- Classification taxonomy
Correct answer: Record series
A record series is a group of related records filed or maintained together because they relate to the same subject, activity, or have the same retention requirements.
CDIA Records Management 2
Which retention schedule trigger is used when records must be kept for a period starting from the date a contract expires?