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Organizations can define and use information management policies on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 sites to enforce compliance with corporate business processes or legal or governmental regulations for the management of information. Information management policies enable site administrators or list managers to control how content is managed.

Apply a site collection policy to a list, library, or list content type

Create a new information management policy for a list, library, or list content type

Apply a site collection policy to a list, library, or list content type

If information management policies have already been created for your site as site collection policies, you can apply one of these site collection policies to a list or library. If a list or library supports the management of multiple content types, you cannot specify an information management policy that applies to the entire list or library. Instead, you need to define an information management policy for each individual list content type that is associated with that list or library. (Instances of a site content type that are associated with a specific list or library are known as list content types.) You must have the Manage Lists permission to change the information management policy settings for a list or library.

1. Open the list or library for which you want to specify an information management policy.
2. On the Settings menu , click List Settings, or click the settings for the type of library that you are opening.

   For example, in a document library, click Document Library Settings.

3. Under Permissions and Management, click Information management policy settings.

    Note    If the list or library supports the management of multiple content types, select the content type for which you want to specify an information management policy, and then click OK.

4. In the Specify the Policy section, click Use a site collection policy, and then select the policy that you want to apply from the list.

    Note    If the Use a site collection policy option is not available, no site collection policies have been defined for the site collection.

5. Click OK.

Create a new information management policy for a list, library, or content type

You can define an information management policy that applies only to a specific list or library. If you create an information management policy this way, you cannot reuse this policy on other lists, libraries, or sites. If a list or library supports the management of multiple content types, you cannot define an information management policy that applies to the entire list or library. Instead, you need to define an information management policy for each individual list content type associated with that list or library. (Instances of a site content type that are associated with a specific list or library are known as list content types.) You must have at least the Manage Lists permission to change the information management policy settings for a list or library.

1. Open the list or library for which you want to specify an information management policy.
2. On the Settings menu , click List Settings, or click the settings for the type of library that you are opening.

   For example, in a document library, click Document Library Settings.

3. Under Permissions and Management, click Information management policy settings.

    Note    If the list or library supports the management of multiple content types, select the content type for which you want to specify an information management policy, and then click OK.

4. In the Specify the Policy section, click Define a policy.
5. Click OK.
6. On the Edit Policy page, in the Name and Administrative Description section, type a brief description for the policy you are creating.

    Note    You can specify names only for information management policies that are defined in the Site Collection Policies list.

7. In the Policy Statement section, type a descriptive statement that explains the purpose of the policy to users. This statement is displayed when users open documents or items that are subject to the policy. It should explain what policy features apply to the content or what special handling is required for the content. A policy statement can be up to 512 characters long.
8. In the next sections, select the individual policy features that you want to add to your information management policy.
9. To require that documents that are subject to this policy have labels, click Enable Labels, and then specify the settings that you want for the labels.

   How?

   1. To require users to add a label to a document, select the Prompt users to insert a label before saving or printing check box.

      If you want labels to be optional, do not select this check box.

   2. To lock a label so that it cannot be changed after it has been inserted, select the Prevent changes to labels after they are added check box.

       Note    If you want the label to be updated when the properties for this document or item are updated, do not select this check box.

   3. In the Label format box, type the text for the label as you want it to be displayed. Labels can contain up to 10 column references, each of which can be up to 255 characters long. To create the format for your label, do the following:
      • Type the names of the columns that you want to include in the label in the order in which you want them to appear. Enclose the column names in curly brackets ({}), as shown in the example on the Edit Policy page.
      • Type words to identify the columns outside the brackets, as shown in the example on the Edit Policy page.
      • To add a line break, type \n where you want the line break to appear.
   4. In the Appearance section, select the font size and style that you want, and specify whether you want the label positioned left, center, or right within the document. Select a font and style that are available on the users' computers. The size of the font affects how much text can be displayed on the label.
   5. In the Label Size section, type the height and width of the label. Label height can range from .25 inches to 20 inches, and label width can range from .25 inches to 20 inches. Label text is always vertically centered within the label image.
   6. Click Refresh to preview the label content.
10. To enable auditing for the documents and items that are subject to this policy, click Enable Auditing, and then specify the events you want to audit.

    The Auditing Policy feature enables organizations to create and analyze audit trails for documents and to list items such as task lists, issues lists, discussion groups, and calendars. This policy feature provides an audit log that records events, such as when content is viewed, edited, or deleted. When auditing is enabled as part of an information management policy, administrators can view the audit data in policy usage reports that are based in Microsoft Office Excel and that summarize current usage. Administrators can use these reports to determine how information is being used within the organization. These reports can also help organizations to verify and document their regulatory compliance or to investigate potential concerns.

    The audit log records the following information: event name, date and time of the event, and system name of the user who performed the action.

11. To specify a retention period for documents and items that are subject to this policy, click Enable Expiration, and then specify the retention period and the actions that you want to occur when the items expire.

    How?

    1. Select a retention period option to specify when documents or items are set to expire. Do one of the following:
       • To set the expiration date based on a date property, click A time period based on the item's properties, and then select the document or item action (for example, Created or Modified) and the increment of time after this action (for example, the number of days, months, or years) when you want the item to expire.
       • To use a workflow or custom retention formula to determine expiration, click Set programmatically.
    2. Under When the item expires, specify what you want to happen when the document or item expires. Do one of the following:
       • To enable a specific action to happen to the document or item (such as deletion), click Perform this action, and then select an action from the list.
       • To start a workflow on the document or item, click Start this workflow, and then select the name of the workflow.

          Note    This option is available only if you are defining a policy for a list, library, or content type that already has a workflow associated with it.

12. To require that documents or items subject to this policy have barcodes, click Enable Barcodes, and then select the Prompt users to insert a barcode before saving or printing check box if you want to prompt users to insert barcodes.
13. When you finish selecting the options for the individual policy features that you want to add to this information management policy, click OK to apply the policy features.