Archives, Public Records, and Records Management
Archives have existed since ancient times. According to James O'Toole (1990), the term "archives" was originally used to "designate all collections of written records" (p. 28). In the modern world, however, the word "archives" is commonly used in three different senses. First, archives are documents that are created or accumulated by an individual or an organization in the normal course of business. Second, archives are the independent agencies or programs within institutions that are responsible for selecting, preserving, and providing access to archival documents. Finally, archives are the buildings or repositories that house collections of archival documents.
To understand the nature of archival documents in the first sense of the word, it is helpful to make a distinction between records and archives. Records are all information, regardless of format, that is produced or accumulated in the normal course of affairs by an individual or an organization and is maintained in order to provide evidence of specific transactions. Archives are those records that are deemed to have continuing value and are therefore retained beyond the period in which they are actively used. (The archives of individuals are sometimes referred to as "personal papers" or "manuscripts.") Thus, archives constitute a smaller portion of the entire documentary universe than do records.
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