Glossary
For a comprehensive list of archival terms, please go to:
Archivist's Glossary
ACCESSION
The process of "accessioning" a record group into the University Archives involves the transfer of
the legal title and the physical transfer of materials. The legal title is assigned in the Transfer
Agreement form. Once the records arrive at the Bentley Library, a member of the staff will
document the acquisition in the donor file and in the accessions database.
ACID-FREE
The chemical characteristic of having a pH of 7.0 or greater. The Archives uses acid- free paper,
file folders, and boxes for preservation of permanent records. See also ARCHIVES BOX.
ACTIVE RECORDS
The period while a matter is active. Generally, records move through phases of activity. Active records are records currently in use or
that are considered open. However, some departments might consider a matter active to be different from department to department. For example student files created in college departments have a active + 1 year retention. Some departments hold on to these files past a students matriculation because they believe the student might come back. In this example the active period could be the life of the student. Still other departments feel that a student file becomes inactive once he no longer matriculates, therefore defining active by enrollment.
ADMINISTRATIVE VALUE
The usefulness of records to the office of origin for carrying out its day-to-day activities.
APPRAISAL
Appraisal is the process of determining the value of records--it is making a decision on what
needs to be kept for administrative, legal, historical, and fiscal use. While appraisal is one of the
most discussed principles in archival science, office personnel also make numerous appraisal
decisions. The University Archives is interested in maintaining records that contain significant
information about the activities, policy, and goals of a unit. Significant records would also include
related documents that reflect the actions, motives, and underlying causes leading to changes
within a unit or that illuminate an important aspect of the university history or development of a
specific academic discipline.
ARCHIVES
(1) The non-current records of an organization or institution preserved because of their continuing
value. (2) The agency responsible for selecting, preserving, and making available records
determined to have permanent or continuing value. (3) The building or part of a building where
archival materials are located.
ARCHIVES BOX
A cardboard storage container made from acid-free materials intended to house archival
materials.
ARRANGEMENT
Arrangement refers the work process our staff undertakes once records are transferred and
accessioned into the University Archives. The process is based on accepted archival principles,
particularly the concepts of provenance and original order. The processes associated with
arrangement usually include packing, foldering, labeling, and shelving.
BOX INVENTORY
A listing of the contents of all the boxes that comprise a collection, folder by folder; this listing may
also include indications of which materials have been moved to oversize boxes or map drawers
or transferred to other storage areas such as the photograph, memorabilia, or audio-visual
collection. See also CONTAINER LIST.
BULK DATES
Dates of those documents that constitute the largest part of a collection, record group, subgroup,
or series. Bulk dates are used to inform researchers of the chronological or period strength of
archival materials, particularly when inclusive dates are misleading.
BUSINESS RECORDS
Records of regularly conducted activity. A memorandum, report, record, or data compilation, in any
form, of acts, events, conditions, opinions, or diagnoses, at or near the time by, or from
information transmitted by, a person with knowledge, if kept in the course of a regularly conducted
business activity, and if it was the regular practice of that business activity to make the
memorandum, report, record, or data compilation, all as shown by the testimony of the custodian
or other qualified witness, unless the source of information or the method or circumstances of
preparation indicate lack of trustworthiness. Four qualities of a Business Record:
- It must be made at or near the time of the event that it records;
- It must be made by or from information transmitted by a person with knowledge of the event;
- It must be made in the course of a regularly conducted business activitiy; and
- It must have been the regular practice of that business activity to make a document or data compilation.
COLLECTION
An artificial accumulation of materials devoted to a single theme, person, event, or type of
document acquired from a variety of sources. A general term used to describe groupings of
archival or manuscripts materials.
CONFIDENTIAL RECORD
Student files; personnel files; intellectual property; or any records that contain Social Security
Numbers, Student ID numbers, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, etc.
CONTAINER LIST
A listing of the contents of all the boxes that comprise a collection, folder by folder; this listing may
also include indications of which materials have been moved to oversize boxes or map drawers
or transferred to other storage areas such as the photograph, memorabilia, or audio-visual
collection. See also BOX INVENTORY.
CONTEXT
Context refers to the organizational, functional, and operational circumstances in which
documents are created and/or received and used. Context plays an important role in informing
researchers about events and actions that may have occurred just a few years or many years
ago. SEE APPRAISAL
CORRESPONDENCE
Letters (administrative or personal), memoranda, postal cards, and electronic mail
communications. Over the past fifteen years, however, electronic mail has become a primary
means of communication. As in the paper-based environment, a system for the management of
important communications needs to be established in the digital environment. See the procedures
manual for email best practices.
CREATOR
Person, office or other entity that generates records.
CREATING OFFICE
See CREATOR.
CUBIC FEET
A standard measure of the quantity of archival materials on the basis of the volume of space
occupied. For example, a typical 12 x 12 x 12 archives box occupies 1 cubic foot (cu. ft.).
DEED OF GIFT
A signed, written instrument containing a voluntary transfer of title to real or personal property
without a monetary consideration. Deeds of gift to archives and manuscript repositories frequently
take the form of a contract establishing conditions governing the transfer of title to documents and
specifying any restrictions on access or use.
DESTROY
Destruction through recycling or placement in garbage recepticles.
DESTROY CONFIDENTIAL
Destruction via shredding.
DIGITAL RECORDS
Digital records are all records, regardless of their digital format, prepared, owned, used, in the
possession of, or retained by university administrators, faculty acting in administrative capacities,
and staff of university units in the performance of an official function.
DISPOSAL
A disposal process that results in the obliteration of records.
DISPOSITION
Materials' final destruction or transfer to an archive as determined by their appraisal.
DOCUMENT
A written paper, recording, photograph, computer file, or other item that bears the original, official,
or legal form of something and can be used to furnish evidence or information. Letters to an
individual, business reports, architectural drawings, photographs, videos, and computer files are
all examples of documents.
ELECTRONIC MAIL (E-MAIL)
Any memo, letter, note, report, or communication between individuals and groups that is stored
and/or transmitted in a format that requires an electronic device to capture and access.
ENCRYPTION
The process of rendering plaintext unintelligible by converting it to ciphertext that can be read
only by those with the knowledge to decode the plaintext from the ciphertext.
EVIDENTIAL VALUE
The usefulness of records as the primary or legal evidence of an organization's authority,
functions, operations, transactions, and basic decisions and procedures.
FILE FOLDER
Filing unit, preferably made from acid-free materials; titles of file folders are listed in the box
inventory in a FINDING AID.
FINDING AID
General term used to describe the various research tools the Archives creates to provide
information about its holdings; types of finding aids prepared by the department include BOX
INVENTORIES (or CONTAINER LISTS) and COLLECTION GUIDES.
FISCAL VALUE
The usefulness of records for information about the financial transactions and obligations of an
organization.
HISTORICAL VALUE
The usefulness of records for historical research concerning an organization's functions and
development, or for information about persons, places, or events.
IN-ACTIVE RECORDS
Non-permanent or permanent records used rarely. See ACTIVE RECORDS for disposition
recommendations.
INCLUSIVE DATE
The dates of the oldest and most recent items in a collection.
INDEFINITE: Records with an indefinite retention period are documents
(including email and other electronic records) which have significant
administrative, legal, and/or fiscal value; further, they have an enduring
historical value and therefore may be accessioned by and maintained in
an archive forever.
INFORMATIONAL VALUE
Factual data about the persons, events, problems, and conditions of the record creator, and
which may be useful for historical research or other studies.
INTELLECTUAL CONTROL
A series of measures, such as box and folder inventories, card catalog entries, and indexes that
enable users of records to find the information they need.
INTERMEDIATE: Records with an intermediate or short-term retention
period are documents (including email and other electronic records) of
significant administrative, legal, and/or fiscal value having a definitive
life, typically ten (10) years or less. Upon expiration of that retention
period, the records should be disposed in an appropriate manner as soon
as possible, providing there is no legal hold.
LEGAL VALUE
The usefulness of records to contain evidence of legally enforceable rights or obligations of the
government or private persons.
LIFE CYCLE
The theory that the paperwork of an institution goes through distinct phases: records are created,
used for some purpose, stored or filed for future reference, evaluated, and eventually disposed of
or transferred to an archives for permanent retention.
LONG-TERM: Records with a long-term retention period are documents
(including email and other electronic records) which have significant
administrative, legal, and/or fiscal value and have a life that is typically
longer than ten (10) years. Upon expiration of that retention period, the
records should be disposed in an appropriate manner as soon as possible,
providing there is no legal hold.
MIGRATION
The process of moving data from one information system or storage medium to another to ensure
continued access to the information as the system or medium becomes obsolete or degrades
over time.
OFFICE OF ORIGIN
The office in which a given record or record series was originally created or accumulated. See
CREATOR
OFFICIAL RECORD
An official record is a record that in law is legally recognized and judicially enforceable as
evidence of an act or event.
ORIGINAL ORDER
The archival principle of not intermingling records from different creating bodies.
PERSONAL PAPERS
Personal papers refers to papers created or accumulated by an individual, belonging to him or
her, rather than papers created by a university unit. Papers of members of the university faculty
are considered personal papers. Further information on faculty papers is available within the
forms section of the website.
PRELIMINARY INVENTORY
A type of finding aid that is created upon accession of new materials to an archive or manuscript
repository. The preliminary inventory usually contains a box or folder level listing, but usually does
not attempt to arrange items in a collection into series or other groupings. See also CONTAINER
LIST.
PROCESSING
The activities of accessioning, arranging, describing, and properly storing archival materials.
PROVENANCE
The origin of records or original source of the materials in a collection. The section in a finding aid
that describes how the University Archives acquired the collection in question.
PUBLIC RECORD
Section 149.011 of the Ohio Revised Code, defines “Records” as including any document,
device, or item, regardless of physical form or characteristic, including an electronic record as
defined in section 1306.01 of the Revised Code, created or received by or coming under the
jurisdiction of any public office of the state or its political subdivisions, which serves to document
the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the
office.
RECORDS CENTER
A records storage facility established to provide storage of inactive, permanent and non-
permanent records before final disposition.
RECORD GROUP
A body of organizationally related records established on the basis of PROVENANCE with
particular regard for the administrative history of the record-creating institution or organization.
For example, University Archives record groups include the Board of Trustees and the College of Business.
RECORD-KEEPING SYSTEM
Coordinated policies and procedures that enable records to be collected, organized, and
categorized to facilitate their management, including preservation, retrieval, use, and disposition.
RECORDS MANAGEMENT
Or RM, is the practice of identifying, classifying, archiving, preserving, and destroying records.
The ISO 15489: 2001 standard defines it as "The field of management responsible for the
efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use and disposition of
records, including the processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and information about
business activities and transactions in the form of records".
RECORD SUB-GROUPS
Smaller (than record groups) bodies of organizationally related records placed within a record
group to correspond to the subordinate administrative units that collectively form the record
group.
RECORDS RETENTION/DISPOSITION SCHEDULE
The RRDS is the form used to secure approval for the disposition of all public records. It
describes the life cycle of records and their disposition after a retention period has ended.
RESEARCH VALUE
The usefulness of records for research by the government, business, private organizations,
individuals, and scholars. See also HISTORICAL VALUE.
RESOURCE GUIDE
List of materials in an archive or manuscript repository that relate to a certain subject or theme.
RETENTION
The process of holding documents for use.
RETENTION PERIOD
The maximum and minimum lengths of time that a record must be kept by law or policy.
RETENTION SCHEDULE
The timetable and description of a records series' lifecycle, including instructions for disposition.
For University Records, the retention schedule takes the form of the Records
Retention/Disposition Schedule (RRDS).
SCHEDULING
The process of analyzing and appraising the value of a given set of records, and then preparing a
retention schedule showing the disposition of the records.
SERIES
A grouping of file units or documents arranged in accordance with a unified filing system or
maintained by the records creator as a unit because of some relationship arising out of their
creation, receipt, or use. For example, correspondence or meeting minutes are typical series
designations within an archival/manuscript COLLECTION or RECORD GROUP.
TRANSFER
The movement of records from one custodian to another. Usually moving records from active or
semi-active office files to off-site storage or to the University Archives.
TRANSIENT: Transient or transitory records have a very short-lived
administrative, legal or fiscal value and should be disposed in an
appropriate manner once that administrative, legal or fiscal use has
expired, providing there is no legal hold. Typically the retention is not a
fixed period of time and is event driven; it maybe a short as a few hours
and could be as long as several days or weeks. Transient/transitory
records may include, but are not limited to:
- preliminary drafts (when superseded)
- memoranda (paper-based or email) pertaining to scheduling
an event
- documents designated as superseded or as-updated
- user copies and/or duplicates (not original document)
- routing slips
UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
The University Archives is the repository for a broad range of materials, including official office
records, printed publications, photographs, and memorabilia, documenting the history and
present activities of a university.
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