Included are definitions of terms specific to this standard. For definitions of more
general terms please see the Glossary of Archives and Recordkeeping Terms.

Accessible:

1. The right or means of finding, using, or retrieving information.
2. Information that can be identified, located and viewed as required in a form, format or medium that is readable or interpretable or can be interrogated when necessary over time.

Authenticity:

An authentic record is one that can be proven:

a) to be what it purports to be
b) to have been created or sent by the person purported to have created or sent it
c) to have been created or sent at the time purported.

To ensure the authenticity of records, organisations should implement and document policies and procedures which control the creation, receipt, transmission, maintenance and disposal of records to ensure that records’ creators are authorised and identified and that records are protected against unauthorised addition, deletion, alteration, use and concealment.

Business Activity:

An umbrella term covering all the functions, processes, activities and transactions of an organisation and its employees to produce a product and/or service in the conduct of normal business practice.

Comprehensiveness:

The records framework manages records resulting from the entire business activities of the organisation.

Format:

1. The physical or electronic appearance, design, layout, plan, shape, size, method or medium in which information is recorded, organised, structured or carried, for example paper files, computer printout, photographs, microfilm, machinereadable records, plans, cards, volumes.
2. A format is a pre-established layout for data. A computer program accepts data as input in a certain format, processes it, and provides it as output in the same or another format. All data is stored in some format with the expectation that it will be processed by a program that knows how to handle that format.

Integrity:

The integrity of a record refers to it being complete and unaltered. Integrity is
protected via control measures, such as, access monitoring, user verification, authorised destruction and security.

Record:

1. Means information, whether in its original form or otherwise, including
(without limitation) a document, a signature, a seal, text, images, sound,
speech; or data compiled, recorded, or stored:

(a) in written form on any material; or
(b) on film, negative, tape, or other medium so as to be capable of being reproduced; or
(c) by means of any recording device or process, computer, or other electronic device or process.

2. Information created, received and maintained as evidence and information by an organisation or person, in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business.

Reliability:

A reliable record is one with contents that can be trusted as a full and accurate
representation of the transactions, activities or facts to which they attest, and can be depended upon in the course of subsequent transactions or activities. Records should be created at the time of the transaction or incident to which they relate, or soon afterwards, by individuals who have direct knowledge of the facts or by instruments routinely used within the business to conduct the transaction.

Useability:

A useable record is one that can be located, retrieved, presented and interpreted. It should be capable of subsequent presentation as directly connected to the business activity or transaction that produced it. The contextual linkages of records should carry the information needed for an understanding of the transactions that created and used them. It should be possible to identify a record within the context of broader business activities and functions.

Vital records:

Those records that are essential for the ongoing business of an agency, and without which the agency could not continue to function effectively. The identification and protection of such records is a primary object of records management and disaster planning.