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
Generally, records move through phases of activity. Active records are records currently in use or
that are considered open. It is best practice to transfer permanent historical records to the
University Archives when the records are viewed as inactive. Non-permanent inactive records
should be sent to Records Center or kept in office until destruction.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Miller
College of Business. For a complete listing of processed record groups in the University Archives,
please click here.

RECORD-KEEPING SYSTEM
Coordinated policies and procedures that enable records to be collected, organized, and
categorized to facilitate their management, including preservation3, 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.
The Archives and Special Collections Research Center has created several resource guides;
click here to view the complete list.

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.

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.

Records Management Forms

Records Transfer Form

Records Inventory Form

Records Disposal Form

Official and Non Offical Records

Official Records: reflects the final, official recorded position of an organization related to the specific content of the record. Official records reflect the intent of an organization both to commit to a position and to record that position. These records reflect the information and position that the organization believes is true and complete, will rely upon to conduct its affairs and hopes others will also rely upon. These will be the records an organization will likely attempt to introduce into evidence as "business records" under the rules of evidence. Official records consequently must be subject to rigorous procedures for creation, modification, and destruction under a records management and a records retention program.

Unofficial Records: Official records can be distinguished from drafts, work-in-progress, handwritten notes, copies of documents, word processing, electronic documents used to create official signed documents, unsigned letters and other material that is either in a preliminary state of development or has not yet been authorized or approved by an appropriate person. These "unofficial records" do not yet reflect the official position of the organization and remain subject to change before completion.

Legal example: In S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co. (695 F.2d 253[7th. Cir. 1982]), plaintiff destroyed handwritten notes regarding the condition of products damaged in shipment after converting the information to a typed memorandum documenting his findings. An employee testified that the notes were destroyed because they were illegible to others and that all the necessary information had been included in the memorandum.
The court rejected the defendent's claim that relevant information contained in the notes could help determine whether the findings in the memorandum were accurate, and accepted the records destruction. Even though the notes were not destroyed under any company policy, the court found no reason to believe that the plaintiff destroyed the notes in bad faith. Although the court did not distinguish between official and unofficial records, the court did conclude that the important information from the hand written notes had been transferred to the final memorandum.

Duplicate Records: The Uniform Rules of Evidence permit the admission of duplicate records. See: Fed. R.Evid. 1003.

Non-Record Material: consists of library material, printed publications, commercially-available computer software, blank forms and other materials that do not reflect the recorded position of the organization.

Note: The above information comes from Skupsky and Montana, Law, Records and Information Management: The Court Cases, Information Requirements Clearinghouse (1994).