A. “Borough” means any department, division, board, commission, employee, official, appointee, volunteer, or private contractor that has custody of public records.

B. “Certified copy” means a copy of a document certified as correct by the clerk.

C. “Clerk” means the borough clerk or any properly authorized assistant or designee.

D. “Confidential information” means information whose disclosure is restricted by a borough, state, or federal statute, ordinance, regulation, rule, or judicial decision.

E. “Disposition” means either the transfer of inactive records to the records center or the disposal of noncurrent records by destruction.

F. “Historical record” means those public records that are retained for purposes of history and not necessarily for business purposes.

G. “Microform” means the format in which microfilm is generated. It may be a roll, cartridge, jacket, fiche, or an aperture card.

H. “Micrographic” means the use of various forms of microfilm in the management of records and information.

I. “Physical inventory” means a complete listing of file contents by record or record series, together with sufficient supporting data to enable a proper evaluation for determining retention periods.

J. “Proprietary information” means information regarding techniques, methods, strategies, or other unique data in which a valuable property interest may be established or which may be used by one person or entity for a competitive advantage.

K. “Public records” means books, papers, files, accounts, writings, including drafts and memorializations of conversations, and other items, regardless of format or physical characteristic, that are developed or received by a public agency, or by a private contractor for a public agency, and that are preserved for their informational value or as evidence of the organization or operation of the public agency; “public records” does not include proprietary software programs.

L. “Records” means any document, paper, book, letter, drawing, map, plat, photo, photographic file, motion picture film, microfilm, microphotograph, exhibit, magnetic or paper tape, punched card, electronic record, or other document of any other material, regardless of physical form or characteristic, developed or received under law or in connection with the transaction of official business and preserved or appropriate for preservation by the borough, as evidence of the organization, function, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the borough or because of the informational value in them. The term does not include library and museum material developed or acquired and preserved solely for reference, historical, or exhibition purposes, extra copies of documents preserved solely for convenience of reference, or stocks of publications and processed documents.

M. “Record series” means a group of related records which are normally used and filed as a unit and which permit evaluation as a unit for retention scheduling purposes; a “record series” may contain both forms and correspondence.

N. “Retention period” means the period of time established in accordance with statutory or other requirements which must elapse before disposition may be made of records.

O. “Vital records” means those public records necessary to assure continuance of essential governmental operations to protect the legal and financial operation of the borough in the event of disaster or catastrophic loss of the borough’s records. [Ord. FY2010-02 §2, 2009].