Archives & recordkeeping glossary

Term

Definition

access

The granting of permission to:

1) use the reference facilities of an archives institution;

2) examine and study individual archives and records or collections held by an archives;

3) extract information from archives and records for research or publication.

Related concepts: Access Agreement, Access Conditions, Access Policy, Reference.

accession

1) (noun) A group of records transferred at one time from the same source. May contain part of a series or record group, or may contain one or more series or record groups.

2) (verb) The process of formally accepting and recording the receipt of records into archival custody.

Related concepts: Consignment, Deaccession, Deposit, Processing, Transfer.

acquisition

1) The terms of agreement, procedures and documentation used by archival repositories to obtain physical and legal ownership of archival materials from depositors.

2) A unit of archival material that has been recently collected or acquired.

agency

A unit at any level in the administrative hierarchy of a business, organisation or government body that creates records and has its own recordkeeping systemand creates or manages its own records in the course of its business or activities.

archives

1) Valuable records of organisations and individuals that have been selected for indefinite retention on the basis of their continuing value for legal, administrative, financial or historical research purposes.

Also referred to as archival records.

Related Concepts: Continuing Value, Permanent Records , Permanent Value.

2) An organisation (or part of an organisation) whose main function is to identify, protect and make archival records available for use. The two main types are collecting archives and institutional archives.

3) The place (building/room/storage area) where archival material is kept.

Related concepts: Repository, Archival Institution.

arrangement

The intellectual and physical process of putting archives and records into order in accordance with accepted archival principles, particularly those of provenance and original order. If, after detailed examination, the original order is identified as a totally haphazard accumulation making the records irretrievable (but not an odd, unorderly or difficult arrangement), the archivist may (after documenting the original order) impose an arrangement that presents the records objectively and facilitates their use.

Related Concepts: Arrangement and Description, Description, Processing.

authority control

An alphabetical list containing headings which are authorised or controlled so that one heading or form of heading is allowed torepresent a concept or name. It contrasts with natural language. A controlled vocabulary is also referred to as a thesaurus.

The terms in the thesaurus are controlled to ensure consistency in titling, regardless of who is titling and where the titler may be. This means that the meanings and the way in which they should be used together (their relationships) are prescribed. Controlled vocabulary includes keywords, activity descriptors, subject descriptors, related terms and non-preferred terms. The alternative to controlled vocabulary is free text.

CADSS Recordkeeping Functions

The major functions associated with an effective recordkeeping program: Control, Access, Dispose, Store and Sustain.

civilisation

Stage of advanced development ie. civilised states

classification

The process of devising and applying schemes based on the business activities which generate records, whereby they are categorised in systematic and consistent ways to facilitate their capture, retrieval, maintenance and disposal. Classification includes determining document or file naming conventions, user permissions and security restrictions on records.

collecting archives

An archival program that acquires and manages the enduringly valuable records from a number of different organisation and persons.

collection

1) A body of records and/or other items having a common source or organising theme, comprising either records of a person, family or organisation (organic collection) or records and manuscripts assembled by a collector (artificial collection).

2) The total holdings of a collecting institution.

Related Concepts: Holdings, Manuscript/s, Papers, Record, Record Group.

collective memory

Memory is the faculty by which things are recalled to or kept in mind; collective memory is that which is recorded as a whole or aggregate of or from many individual memory stores, personal and organisational archives

communications

The science, practice and/or study of imparting or conveying information.

conservation

All actions aimed at the safeguarding of cultural material for the future. Its purpose is to study, record, retain and restore the culturally significant qualities of an object with the least possible intervention.

Related concepts: Preservation, Restoration

context

The situation including the creators, their purposes, activites and circumstances that caused events to occur and records documenting them to be created and maintained.

control

An archival authority controls a record by taking the record into its jurisdiction or custody by entering into an agreement, understanding or other arrangement whereby some other person (which can include the public office that is responsible for the record) is to have possession or custody of the record. Control systems and processes associated with recordkeeping include:
  a. registration which provides evidence of the existence of records in a recordkeeping system;
  b. classification which allows for appropriate grouping, naming, security protection, user permissions and retrieval;
  c. indexing which allocates attributes or codes to particular records to assist in their retrieval; and
  d. tracking which provides evidence of where a record is located, what action is outstanding on a record, who has seen a record, when such access took place and the recordkeeping transactions that have been undertaken on the record.

copyright

The exclusive right, granted by law, of the creator of a work (or his/her assignees or employers) to make or dispose of copies of and otherwise to control the use of a literary, dramatic, musical, artistic or other work. Ownership of copyright in a work does not necessarily pass with ownership of the work itself. The laws relating to copyright are complex and require specialist legal advice.

data

Standardised symbols that can be selected, organised and combined into meaningful patterns to form information.

deed of gift

The legal agreement between the archives and the donor documenting the terms of the donation.

Also referred to as deposit agreement, instrument of gift, transfer agreement.

Related concepts: Donation, Donor Agreement.

description

The process of recording information about the nature and contents of the records in archival custody. Description identifies such features as provenance, arrangement, format and contents and presents them in a standardised form.

Related concepts: Arrangement, Arrangement and Description, Documentation, Intellectual Control, Series Description.

disposal

1) The final decision concerning the fate of records, i.e. destruction or transfer to archives. On rare occasions the disposal may be by sale or by donation.

2) A program of activities to facilitate the orderly transfer of intermediate and inactive records from current office space into low-cost or archival storage. It includes surveys, scheduling and records destruction.

3) A range of processes associated with implementing appraisal decisions. These include the retention, deletion or destruction of records in or from recordkeeping systems. They may also include the migration or transmission of records between recordkeeping systems, and the transfer of custody or ownership of records.

documents

Meaningfully structured units of recorded information, published or unpublished, in hard copy or electronic form, and managed as discrete units of information systems.

Electronically, a document is any self-contained piece of work created with an application program and, if saved on disc, given a unique filename by which it can be retrieved. To a computer, data is nothing more than a collection of characters, so a spreadsheet or a graphic is as much a document as is a word processed letter or report.

Some documents are records because they have participated in a business transaction, were created to document such a transaction and were captured and protected within a recordkeeping system. Conversely, some documents are not records because they do not function as evidence of a business transaction.

electronic records

1) Records whose informational content is usually in code and has been recorded on media such as magnetic discs, drums, tapes, punched paper cards, or punched paper tapes, accompanied by finding aids known as software documentation. The coded information is retrievable only by machine.

2) Records communicated and maintained by means of electronic equipment.

evidence

Information that tends to prove a fact. Not limited to the legal sense of the term.

forgery

An illegal facsimile record, document or work of art or literature that has been created and presented as a genuine record, document or work of art of another author in order to deceive the potential owners, experts and the public. Also, the crime of making such an illegal record, document or work of art or literature. Learn more about forgery at http://www.caslon.com.au/forgeryprofile.htm

function

The term function is used to cover all responsibilities assigned to an agency to accomplish the broad purposes for which it was established. Usually these functions are defined in the law or directives that establishes the agency. Each function of an agency may be broken down into a number of activities that may be comprised of tasks and thereafter into individual transactions.

hoax

A plan to deceive others into believing a fabricated item or circumstance is authentic or has actually occurred, such as telling the police there is a bomb somewhere when there is not one, or a deliberate deception intended to gain an advantage. Hoaxers often forge records, documents and objects as 'evidence' that their trickery is genuine. Visit the Museum of Hoaxes at http://www.museumofhoaxes.com

hologram

A recording technology that captures 6 Dimensions of Activity- movement, sound, time, colour, solidity (as in height, width, depth). What is often not explicit and can only be imperfectly discerned through observing the activity is the human motivation (intelligence, emotion, intention) behind what is unfolding.

imaging

The methods and technologies involved in making facsimile images of things ie. photography, micrographics, scanning; the act of making an image.

imperialism

Belief in the desirability of acquiring colonies and dependencies or extending a country's influence though means such as trade, diplomacy, military conquest

information

Data that has been selected, organised into meaningful patterns and recorded by the human intellect.

inquisition

An investigation or inquiry of an official or judicial nature; in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Catholic church conducted rigorous tribunals of Inquisition to identify and suppress heresy and punish heretics. These were especially severe in Spain.

institutional archives

The archival program responsible for the records of the organisational entity that houses and sustains it and for such inherited records as legitimately form a part of that entity.

Also referred to as in-house archives.

inventory

1) A basic archival finding aid that generally includes a brief history of the organisation and functions of the agency whose records are being described, as well as a descriptive list of record series or items.

2) (verb) The undertaking of such a listing project.

Related concepts: Box List, Calendar, Checklist, Consignment List, Finding Aid/s, Inventory of Agencies, Inventory of Items, Inventory of Persons, Inventory of Series, List, Shelf List.

juridical person

An individual or collective body that is officially registered for recognition and protection under the laws of the land.

knowledge

Theoretical and/or practical understanding of matters worth knowing; the sum of what is known.

life cycle of records

Successive actions that affect the integrity and usefulness of a record from the time it begins to come into existence (birth) and its ultimate destruction (death).

literacy

The ability to write and to read and understand writing

manuscript(s)

1) Pre-publication stage of a paper or article.

2) A group within private archives such as literary works or personal papers - different from records created by a corporate body.

3) a. Handwritten or typed documents, including a letterpress or carbon copy. A mechanically produced form completed in handwriting or typescript is also considered a manuscript.

    b. Documents of manuscript character usually having historical or literary value or significance. Generally used to distinguish non-archival from archival material.

Related concepts: Collection, Document/s, Manuscripts, Papers, Personal Papers.

metadata

Metadata is defined as 'data about data' or 'information about information'. It comprises information that describes or tells users about the:

• technical composition, content and nature of an information entity such as a record, article or book
• contextual circumstances & relationships the entity has had with its creators, users or other information entities
• processes/applications/uses experienced by the information entity over its lifespan

Ideally, metadata is permanently affixed to the information entity it references. For example, a book is imprinted with metadata such as its title, author, contents, pagination, index, illustrations, publisher, date of publication and so on. In cyberspace, metadata is invisibly embedded in the computer code of an electronic information object such as a web page.

microforms

The various formats in which photographically reduced copies of records on film are produced including, microfilm, microfiche and aperture cards.

official records

1) Records which are created, received or accumulated in the course of official business of an organisation.

2) In law, a record having the legally recognised and judicially enforceable quality of establishing some fact.

oral tradition

Set of practices by which societies communicate their vital knowledge and culture without writing ie. using speech, story, song, dance, art, ritual.

ordeal

Mode of deciding a suspected person's guilt or innocence by subjecting him to painful and/or dangerous physical tests. If the individual endured the tests without physical damage, he was deemed to be innocent.

original order

The order in which records and archives were kept when in active use, i.e. the order of accumulation as they were created, maintained and used. The principle of original order requires that the original order be preserved or reconstructed, unless, after detailed examination, the original order is identified as a totally haphazard accumulation making the records irretrievable (but not an odd, unorderly or difficult arrangement).

papers

1) A body of records created and/or naturally accumulated by an individual in the course of his or her activities as a person and as a member of the community

2) Usually 'working papers'; notes etc. used to create official records.

Also referred to as personal archives, personal records, private papers.

Related concepts: Collection, Documents, Manuscript/s, Papers, Private Records.

preservation

1) The actions which enable the materials in an archives to be retained for as long as they are needed i.e. the basic functions of storing, protecting and maintaining records and archives in archival custody.

2) All actions taken to retard deterioration of, or prevent damage to, cultural materials. It involves controlling the environment and conditions of use and may include treatment to maintain materials as nearly as possible in an unchanging state. Sometimes known as macro-conservation.

Also referred to as preventative conservation, preventive conservation.

Related concepts: Conservation, Restoration.

provenance

1) The agency, office or person of origin of records, i.e. the entity that created, received or accumulated and used the records in the conduct of business or personal life. Also referred to as records creator.

2) The chain of custody which reflects the office(s) or person(s) that created, received or accumulated and used the records in the conduct of business or in the course of personal life. Identifying and documenting the provenance of records is an essential part of establishing their authenticity and integrity as evidence.

3) In archival theory, the principle of provenance requires that archives of an agency or person not be mixed or combined with the archives of another, i.e. the archives are retained and documented in their functional and/or organisational context.

publication

The act of making something publicly known ie. through preparing and distributing multiple identical copies.

recordkeeping

Making and maintaining complete, accurate and reliable evidence of business transactions in the form of recorded information.

Recordkeeping includes the following:

a. the creation of records in the course of business activity and the means to ensure the creation of adequate records;
b. the design, establishment and operation of recordkeeping systems; and
c. the management of records used in business (traditionally regarded as the domain of records management) and as archives (traditionally regarded as the domain of archives administration).

recordkeeping regimes

A system of rules governing the making and maintaining of records within a given jurisdiction. The recordkeeping regime is supported by guidance and a range of tools and services, supplied directly by the governing authority or by third parties.

recordkeeping systems

Information systems that are specifically designed to capture, protect, store and manage data or documents as reliable records for as long as they are needed to satisfy business, legal, fiscal and historical requirements.

record(s)

1) Recorded data or information of any kind and in any form, created or received and accumulated by an organisation or person in the transaction of business or the conduct of affairs and subsequently kept as evidence of such activity through incorporation into the recordkeeping system of the organisation or person. Records are the information by-products of organisational and social activity.

2) A record is any recorded information produced or received in the initiation, conduct or completion of an institutional or individual activity and that comprises content, context and structure sufficient to provide evidence of the activity.

record series

Those records or archives having the same provenance which belong together because they are part of a discernible filing system (alphabetical, numerical, chronological, or a combination of these), they have been kept together because they result from the same activity, or they are of similar formats and relate to a particular function.

Also referred to simply as series.

Related concepts: Commonwealth Record Series (CRS) System, Controlled Series, Controlling Series, Document Series, File/s, Inventory of Series, Record, Series Consignment.

Records Continuum

A visual and theoretical model that comprises a consistent and coherent regime of recordkeeping processes from the time of the creation of records (and before creation, in the design of recordkeeping systems), through to the preservation and use of records as archives.

records management

The discipline and organisational function of managing records to meet operational business needs, accountability requirements and community expectations.

Thus records management is concerned with the following:

a. managing the records continuum, from the design of a recordkeeping system to the end of the record's existence
b. providing a service to meet the needs, and protect the interests, of the organisation and its clients
c. capturing complete, accurate, reliable and useable documentation of organisational activity to meet legal, evidential and accountability requirements
d. managing records as an asset and information resource, rather than as a liability
e. promoting efficiency and economy, both in the management of records and in organisational activity as a whole, through sound recordkeeping practices.

reference

1) The range of activities involved in providing information about or from the records and archives including making them available for access, lending them to creators/owners and providing copies or reproductions of records.

2) The citation of the sources of information used for registration purposes.

Also referred to as reference services, research services.

Related concepts: Access, Access Policy, Research.

register

1) (noun) A log or list of brief descriptions of matters or things (accessions, series, letters sent or received, actions taken) usually in a single sequence (chronological or numerical) which serves as a finding aid to the matters or things listed.

2) (verb) To enter a description of specific holdings.

remembrancers

Officials empowered or entrusted by authority to collect debts and/or keep an official-sanctioned record or societal memory.

repository

The building or room, or part thereof, either designed specifically or adapted for the purpose of storage of archives and/or intermediate records. The term records centre is sometimes used as an alternative, but usually in referring only to the functions of processing and storage of temporary value records that will ultimately be destroyed.

See also Archives (3)

societal memory

The collective memory of a whole culture or society and generally comprises the sum total of all the existing archival holdings within the society's jurisdiction.

survey

1) a. An examination of archival records to ascertain their provenance, original order, and inter-relationships, prior to commencing full arrangement and description processes.

   b. An examination of active or intermediate records noting briefly their nature, systems of arrangement, date ranges, quantities, function, physical condition, reference activity and rates of accumulation.

2) To undertake a systematic inspection of records and the recording of information about them as described above.

See also Appraisal, Disposal.

transaction

unique identifiers

Because records are produced by the thousands, critical access points for identifying individual records as unique to enable ongoing management and use must be part of each record's metadata. These essential identifiers that include:

1. Name of individual or organisation involved in activity or who had responsibility for the activity or transaction which caused the record to be made
2. Functional title or topic naming the event, project, product, function, business work/activity or transaction that caused the record to be made - this category is frequently chosen as the basis for the primary classification scheme.
3. Location (geographic, political, organisational) of transaction, event, activity and/or of record in custody
4. Unique Identifier (usually a specific number or symbolic code is assigned to each record)
5. Date or date range documenting when a record was made, printed or used and/or participated in new work transactions
6. Record type/form/genre (identifying its as a letter, minute, report, invoice)
7. Information content of record - lists key topics covered within body of record. This access point is often used as a focus for generating index terms.

The seventh access point-- the subject matter of the record-- is the one that is most contentious. Again, as David Bearman says, 'Records are of, not about, activity'. The 'aboutness' factor is something that forms in the mind of the beholder and differs depending upon the framework of knowledge held by that individual. Content is, however, the most frequently used term in searching for information; therefore, it is important to address subject matter in a meaningful way, but not to spend so much time articulating it in detail that the volume of transactions flowing through your system cannot be documented. There are several measures that can be used to give reasonable access to content without requiring line by line examination or detailed indexing.

For instance, a record series can be scanned quickly to identify the most common

types of records held within the file;

• types of information contained within each of those types of records
• recurrent names of persons, events or categories of activity

These seven access points can be programmed into the software and made an integral part ie. metadata of each 'smart document' upon creation. Search engines can access metadata faster and more accurately.

vital record(s)

Records deemed essential to reconstruct and continue operations of the agency and to protect its organisational interests in the event of a disaster or an emergency affecting the conduct of business.

See also Security Copy.