The Archive Schedule provides guidance for standard categories of archive-designated material. It is a living document and will be modified/expanded as experience dictates.
This standard retention schedule can be extended after demonstration by the content owner that older content is regularly and routinely accessed by the public. Note that while the HHS Website Content Lifecycle Management (CLM) calls for content to be reviewed annually, content can be re-evaluated at any time within the one-year timeframe as warranted.
| Type of Content | Timeline for Move to Archive* |
|---|---|
| Administration specific | Change of Administration |
| Advisory Committee material | FACA Standard (3 years) |
| Agendas | Do not archive |
| Announcements | Do not archive |
| Appeals, legal (of HHS decisions) | Standard Schedule* |
| Blogs | When retired |
| Brochures | Do not archive |
| Budget, financial, and performance documents | Standard Schedule* |
| Content, Program | When superseded |
| Funding & announcements | When next cycle occurs |
| Grant Applications | When next cycle occurs |
| Guidance | When superseded |
| Health Emergency Sites | One year after closure |
| Incident Related Sites | One year after closure |
| News releases | Standard Schedule* |
| Meeting Announcements | Do not archive |
| Mini-sites | When retired |
| Natural Disaster Sites | One year after closure |
| Policies | When superseded |
| Plans | When superseded |
| Presentations | Do not archive |
| Regulations | When superseded |
| Reports to Congress | Standard Schedule* |
| Reports, Research, Studies | Standard Schedule* |
| Resigning Officials (political) | Upon retirement (blogs, speeches, videos) |
| Speeches | Change of Administration Or Standard Schedule (whichever is earlier)* |
| Testimony | Change of Administration Or Standard Schedule (whichever is earlier)* |
| Training Announcements | Do not archive |
| Websites | When retired |
* The standard retention schedule for dated reference materials is to archive annually, retaining two full years on the live site. For example, 2018 news releases should be archived in January 2021, keeping at least two full years and no more than three years of content available.
