Hi Susan,

You should be using GridView to determine which old items should be made obsolete.

While I agree it would be useful to have a "Start date" for an item, you can use the "Last ship date" and "Last receipt date" fields, along with the Quantities shipped This year and last year to determine whether an item has not been received or sold for a while. A new item will have no receipt or shipment date on file.
Code:
AND(
  {Qty on Hand 1} = 0,
OR(
  {Last Rcpt Date} <= DATE(1980,01,01),
  {Last Shipment Date}  <= DATE(1980,01,01)
  )
  )
_________________________
Andrew Bates