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 GLOSSARY OF ARCHIVES AND RECORDKEEPING TERMS

> GLOSSARY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS


> ACCESS

  1. > The "right, opportunity, [or] means of finding, using, or retrieving information". (ISO 15489-2001, Part 1, 3.1)

Or

  1. > The availability of records / archives for consultation as a result of both legal authorisation and the existence of finding aids. (International Council on Archives, Dictionary of Archival Terminology)

> ACCESS AUTHORITY

A legal instrument authorising an access classification made by the administrative head of a public office when records are transferred to the control of the Chief Archivist or are 25 years old. (Previously, under the Archives Act 1957, Archives New Zealand entered into access agreements for public archives with the creating or custodial organisation.)

> ACCESSION

"(n.) A group of records or archives from the same source taken into archival custody at the same time.

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

Accessioning provides basic physical and intellectual control over material coming into an archives. See also Deaccession." (KA, p.460)

> ACCOUNTABILITY

The "principle that individuals, organisations, and the community are responsible for their actions and may be required to explain them to others." (ISO 15489-2001, Part 1, 3.2)

> ACCURATE

See FULL AND ACCURATE RECORDS

> ACQUISITION

"The process by which archives add to their holdings by accepting material as a transfer, donation, loan or purchase. See also Deposit." (KA, p.460)

> ACTIVE RECORDS

"Those records required for the day-to-day functioning of an agency or person. Also referred to as current records. See also Inactive records." (KA, p.461)


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> ACTIVITY

"Activities are the major tasks performed by an organisation to accomplish each of its functions. Several activities may be associated with each function. [...]
...an activity may be performed in relation to one function, or it may be performed in relation to many functions." (DIRKS, Glossary, p.3)

> AD HOC OR ONE-OFF DISPOSAL AUTHORITY

"[A] non-continuing approval, not intended to set a precedent, which provides a particular disposal action for a specific set of circumstances." (KA, p.468)

> ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

"That part of a finding aid that describes:

  1. > the history of an agency or a group of related agencies, its organisational structure and functional responsibilities; or
  2. > the highlights of the life and career of a person or family. The administrative history of a person is also referred to as a biographical note." (KA, p.461)

> AGENCY

In the GAIMS system of archival description, this refers to "a body, business, organisation or institution that creates or manages its own records in the course of its business or activities. In the case of large organisations or institutions, subordinate parts such as departments, sections, units, regional or branch offices may be regarded as separate agencies." (KA, p.461)

> AGENCY CODE

An alphabetical, numerical or alpha-numeric code, assigned by Archives New Zealand to each agency with which it has a relationship. This uniquely identifies a government agency for the purposes of linking that agency to transfers, disposal authorities, etc.

> AMBIENT FUNCTIONS

"High level functions that define and provide context and meaning to the activities of records creators in any domain other than the native organisation or recordkeeping system of the records creator." (DIRKS, Glossary, p.4)


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> APPRAISAL

  1. > The process of evaluating records to determine which are to be retained as archives, which are to be kept for specified periods and which will be destroyed. This step should precede a disposal decision.

Or

  1. > "The process of evaluating business activities to determine which records need to be captured and how long the records need to be kept, to meet business needs, the requirements of organisational accountability and community expectations." (AS 4390-1996, Part 1, 4.3)

> APPROVED REPOSITORY

A body (such as a museum, a library, an archive, or an iwi-based or hapu-based repository) approved by the Minister responsible for Archives New Zealand as a repository for public archives under the PRA.

> ARCHIVAL ACCESS

Public access to records classified as 'open access records' under the PRA.

> ARCHIVAL PROGRAMME

An "agency or programme responsible for selecting, acquiring and preserving archives, making them available, and approving destruction of other records". (From the definition of Archival authority, ISO 15489-2001, Part 1, 3.4)

> ARCHIVAL PAPER

"Specially formulated paper that is chemically stable (less prone to deterioration) and physically durable (able to withstand frequent use). It is suitable for creating records of long-term or permanent value." (AAHA, p.108)

> ARCHIVAL VALUE

"The values [...] that justify the continuing retention of records as archives.

> ARCHIVES

  1. > "Those records that are appraised as having continuing value. Traditionally the term has been used to describe records no longer required for current use which have been selected for permanent preservation. Also referred to as permanent records.
  2. > The place (building/room/storage area) where archival material is kept. See also Repository.
  3. > An organisation (or part of an organisation) responsible for appraising, acquiring, preserving and making available archival material. [...]" (KA, p.463)

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> ARCHIVES POLICY

"An official statement broadly but comprehensively outlining the purpose, objectives and conditions that define the scope of archival activities, the authority under which they operate and the services offered to clients." (KA, p.463)

> ARCHIVING

"A computing term that has little to do with archival concepts and practices. It refers to the procedure for transferring unappraised non-current information or data from the active system [...]." (KA, p.464)

> ARCHIVIST

"A person [...] responsible for the management or administration of archives and/or records by appraising and identifying records of continuing value, by documenting and preserving archives in their context and enabling and facilitating their continuing use. Traditionally used for a keeper or custodian of archives." (KA, p.464)

> ARCHWAY

Archway, previously known as GLADIS [Government Locator, Archival Documentation and Information System], is an automated documentation system that manages:

  1. > Information about government records;
  2. > Information about the context in which they were created; and
  3. > The core archival business processes (appraisal, transfer and description) that generate this information.

Archway was developed in the first instance to provide access to information about Archives New Zealand's holdings through web-based finding aids. It also contains contextual data about the structure and functions of government and how they have interacted over time. It is designed to support other activities undertaken by Archives New Zealand, such as appraisal. Potentially, the system will support interdependencies between Archives New Zealand and agency systems in the creation and management of records. See www.archway.archives.govt.nz

> 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. See also Description, Original order." (KA, p.464)

> ARTEFACTS

"Objects, not being records, retained because of their informational value or because of their relationship with the records or archives." (KA, p.464)

> AUDIT TRAIL

See DOCUMENTING RECORDS TRANSACTIONS


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> BASIC ACCESS SERVICES

Basic access services comprise: registration of new users, availability of finding aids, provision of facilities or channels for records to be viewed, and advice on the location and availability of specified records and use of finding aids.

> BUSINESS ACTIVITY

An "umbrella term covering all functions, processes, activities and transactions of an organisation and its employees. This includes public administration as well as commercial business." (AS 4390-1996, Part 1, 4.6)

> BUSINESS CLASSIFICATION SCHEME

"An articulation of the functions and activities of the organisation derived from the analysis of the business activity. The business classification scheme contains terms and scope notes that represent and describe functions, activities, transactions, or other elements, and shows their relationships. The structure of the scheme is hierarchical, moving from the general to the specific. [...]" (DIRKS, Glossary, p.4)

> BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING

Involves the identification of vital records, without which a business could not continue to run, and the establishment of policies, plans, and procedures to ensure the protection of these records. See also Disaster Plan.

> BUSINESS SYSTEM

"A system designed to enable the realisation of desired business outcomes and outputs through the efficient management and facilitation of interrelated business processes." (DIRKS, Glossary, p.4)

> CAPTURE

"A deliberate action which results in the registration of a record into a recordkeeping system. For certain business activities, this action may be designed into electronic systems so that the capture of the records is concurrent with the creation of records." (DIRKS, Glossary, p.4 taken from AS 4390-1996, Part 1, 4.7) See also Registration.

> CLASS

"A group of documents or an identifiable sub-division of a series, record group or archive having common characteristics or the same archival value. Sometimes this term is used to mean series. Also referred to as disposal class. See also Series." (KA, p.465)

> CLASSIFICATION

The "systematic identification and arrangement of business activities and/or records into categories according to logically structured conventions, methods, and procedural rules represented in a classification system". (ISO 15489-2001, Part 1, 3.5)


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> COLLECTION

  1. > "An accumulation (usually artificial) of documents or papers of any provenance brought together (sometimes purchased) on the basis of some common characteristic, e.g. subject or means of acquisition or medium. In common use in manuscript libraries and other collecting archives. See also Archive (2), Holdings.
  2. > An arbitrarily defined unit of records or archives often used for personal papers or record group. See also Papers." (KA, p.465)
  3. > Do not use for the holdings of a government or business archive.

> COMPUTER-GENERATED RECORDS

See ELECTRONIC RECORDS

> CONSERVATION

"The physical aspects and processes of preservation of original archival materials.

> CONSERVATOR

"A person, professionally educated, trained and experienced, responsible for the physical preservation of archival (and other) materials." (KA, p.465)

> CONTEXT

"The knowledge necessary to sustain a record's meaning or evidential value. Context describes the who, what, where and why of record creation and management." (SRNSW)

> CONTINGENCY PLANNING

See BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING and DISASTER PLAN

> CONTINUUM

  1. > See Records continuum
  2. > The name of Archives New Zealand's suite of recordkeeping standards and advice publications.

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> CONTROL

"Control systems and processes associated with records management include:

> CONTROLLED VOCABULARY

"An alphabetical list containing terms and headings which are authorised or controlled so that only one heading or form of heading is allowed to represent a particular concept or name. It contrasts with natural language. A controlled vocabulary is also referred to as a thesaurus." (DIRKS, Glossary, p.6 taken from Kennedy & Schauder, p.291)

> CONTROLLING LOCAL AUTHORITY

"The local authority that controls the local authority record; includes any successor to that local authority." (PRA, s4)

> CONTROLLING PUBLIC OFFICE

"The public office that controls the public record. In relation to a public archive, the controlling public office is the public office that has the power to determine conditions of access to the public archive. A controlling public office includes any successor to that public office." (PRA, s4)

> CONVERSION

The "process of changing records from one medium to another or from one format to another". (ISO 15489-2001, Part 1, 3.7)
Conversion may also be used as part of a preservation strategy.

> COPYING

Reproducing or recording the work in any material form, including storing the work in any medium by any means. (cf. Copyright Act 1994)


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> 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 the ownership of the work itself. The laws relating to copyright are complex and require specialist legal advice." (KA, p.466)

> CREATE

"The act of making a record of a document or information originating in or received by an organisation." (DIRKS, Glossary, p.6, attributed to State Records Authority NSW)

> CREATOR

"The person or agency which creates, receives and accumulates or otherwise brings into existence documents and records. See also, Donor." (KA, p.466)

> CULTURAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

An issue facing Archives New Zealand and other agencies controlling government records is that some information may be traditionally or collectively owned through many generations past and future, e.g. whakapapa and waiata. Consequently, copyright, patent, and other intellectual property rights legislation may not offer sufficient protection for Māori as those pieces of legislation deal primarily with the rights of individuals rather than collective rights.

> CURRENT RECORDS

See ACTIVE RECORDS

> CUSTODY

"The physical management of records or archives. Custody refers to where and with whom records are stored. It does not necessarily include legal ownership." (AAHA, p.111)


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> DATA LOGGER

Small computer which saves or 'logs' temperature and humidity readings over a designated period. A computer and commercially available software are required to download and analyse the data generated.

> DEACCESSION

"The process of removing material from the care and custody of an archives, either because the material has been reappraised and found to be unsuitable for the archives' holdings, or because the legal owner has requested its return, or because it has been agreed to transfer it to another archives. Deaccessioning is a serious matter which requires careful consideration and documentation. See also Accession." (KA, p.466)

> DEFERRED TRANSFER

The transfer to Archives New Zealand of a particular public archive of 25 years or over may be deferred for a period mutually agreed between the Chief Archivist and the administrative head of the public office. In the case of census records their transfer to Archives New Zealand is deferred for 100 years. The Chief Archivist may also require the deferred transfer of electronic records, and a Minister of the Crown may defer the transfer of records certified to contain information likely to prejudice the security or defence of New Zealand. (Based on the PRA s22)

> DEPOSIT

"An addition to the holdings or collection of an archives. A deposit is usually a transfer of material but may also be a donation or a loan for either a short-term or indefinite period. See also Acquisition." (KA, p.467)

> DESCRIPTION

"The process of recording information about the nature and content of the records in archival custody. The description identifies such features as provenance, arrangement, format and contents, and presents them in a standardised form. See also Arrangement, Finding aids." (KA, p.467)

> DESTRUCTION

"The physical disposal of records of no further value, for example by incineration, shredding or pulping [or deleting from an electronic system]. See also Appraisal, Disposal, Temporary records." (KA, p.467) (Refer also to Archives New Zealand Fact sheet, Methods of Destruction)


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> DIGITAL

"When applied to information, documents, etc., this refers to information stored in a form based not on human readable symbols but on a binary encoding, which can be manipulated by computers (and thereby made readable by humans)." (JISC-PRO, Appendix 3: Glossary, p.16)

> DIGITAL SIGNATURE

"A signature in an imaging system which can be read by special software. The software can match key characteristics of a signature on different documents." (Kennedy and Schauder, p.292)

> DISASTER PLAN

"A written procedure setting out the measures to be taken to minimise the risks and effects of disasters such as fire, flood or earthquake, etc, and to recover, save and secure the vital records should such a disaster occur. Part of preventive conservation. See also Vital records." (KA, p.467) See also Business continuity planning.

> DISCOVERY

See METADATA - DISCOVERY

> DISCHARGE REGISTER

The publicly available register of public records discharged under the PRA.

> DISCHARGED RECORD

A record that no longer has status as a public record and is no longer subject to the PRA.
A record that is discharged becomes the property of the person to whom it is discharged.

> 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 donation.
  2. > A programme of activities to facilitate the orderly transfer of intermediate and inactive records from current office space into lowcost or archival storage. It includes surveys, scheduling, and records destruction." (KA, p.467)

Under the PRA, "disposal, in relation to a public record or local authority record, means:

  1. the transfer of control of a record; or
  2. the sale, alteration, destruction, or discharge of a record." (PRA, s4)

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> DISPOSAL AUTHORITY

"[A] formal instrument that defines the retention periods and consequent disposal actions authorised for classes of records which are described in it." (AS 4390-1996, Part 1, 4.10)

A formal authorisation issued by the Chief Archivist under section 20 of the PRA. For the records of Archives New Zealand, authority for disposal is given by the Minister responsible for Archives New Zealand.

> DISPOSAL CLASS/ES

"[C]lasses of records performing or recording similar activities and therefore having the same retention period and disposal action." (AS 4390-1996, Part 1, 4.11)

> DISPOSAL SCHEDULE

  1. > "A systematic listing of records created by an organisation or agency which plans the life of these records from the time of their creation to their disposal. A disposal schedule is a continuing authority for implementing decisions on the value of records specified in the schedule.

A disposal schedule lists:

  1. > General disposal schedules cover functions common to a number of agencies, typically used by government archival authorities to cover functional areas such as Personnel, Finance and Stores.
  2. > A recent development in appraisal methodology is the view that functional analysis is more efficient than records analysis in producing records schedules. The resultant disposal schedules are based on function or activity within function, either across a range of related organisations or to provide a specific disposal schedule for a particular agency." (KA, p.468) See also Disposal, Disposal authority, Disposal trigger, Sentencing.

> DISPOSAL SENTENCE

"The specification as to whether records are to be retained and if so for how long, or when they are to be destroyed." (KA, p.468)

An example of a disposal sentence is: 'transfer as a public archive five years after last action'. See also Disposal schedule, Sentencing and Disposal trigger.


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> DISPOSAL TRIGGER

"In disposal schedules the event or activity which indicates that the active life of the record is over and the disposal sentence can be applied." (KA, p.468)

Examples of disposal triggers are: last action on file; whether superseded; etc. See also Disposal schedule.

> DISPOSITION

The "range of processes associated with implementing records retention, destruction, or transfer decisions which are documented in disposition authorities or other instruments". (ISO 15489-2001, Part 1, 3.9) See also Disposal.

> DOCUMENT

  1. > "Recorded information regardless of medium or form.
  2. > The smallest complete unit of record material, e.g. a letter, photograph, report. See also Item." (KA, p.468)

> DOCUMENTING RECORDS TRANSACTIONS

"Records systems should contain complete and accurate representations of all transactions that occur in relation to a particular record. These include the processes associated with individual records. Such details may be documented as part of the metadata imbedded in, or associated with, a specific record. Alternatively, they may be recorded as audit trails which should be kept at least as long as the document to which they relate is retained." (ISO 15489-2001, Part 1, 8.3.2)

> DOCUMENT IMAGE PROCESSING

"The technologies and processes whereby an image of a document is captured, stored and retrieved in electronic form. See also Image, Optical disk." (KA, p.469)

> DOCUMENT TRAIL

"The process of producing evidence based on the tracing and tracking of all authenticated sources of recorded information, regardless of medium, on a given matter." (KA, p.469) See also Documenting records transactions.

> DONATION

"A voluntary deposit of records, involving the transfer of legal ownership as well as the custody of archives. See also Transfer." (KA, p.469)


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> DONOR

"A person or organisation that has donated records to the archives. See also Creator." (KA, p.469)

> ELECTRONIC RECORDS

"Records capable of being processed in a computer system and/or stored at any instant in a medium which requires electronic or computer equipment to retrieve them." (KA, p.469)

Includes the digitised form of paper records.

> EMULATION

Emulation occurs when a system or a program performs in the same way as another system or program. This makes one system functionally indistinguishable from another, e.g. entering, viewing and retrieving data has the same result in both systems. Often the subject for emulation is a popular but superceded computer.

> ENTITY/ENTITIES

"The component parts of a business activity referred to in descending order as an organisation's functions, activities and transactions." (DIRKS, Glossary, p.7)

> EPHEMERA

Items of a temporary nature, often mass produced for particular purposes, and usually of low value that are expected to be current for a very short time. They may be retained for their information or graphic specimens, particularly for exhibitions, e.g. invitations, flyers or junk mail. (Adapted from AAHA, p.112)

> ESTRAY/S; ESTRAY RECORDS

A record that has been removed without proper authority from the possession of a public office, Archives New Zealand, or another legitimate custodian, e.g. an attractive map or photograph 'souvenired' by a retiring government official, or a document stolen from Archives New Zealand. A protected record removed from the possession of a local authority is also an estray. The PRA gives the Chief Archivist powers to inspect and recover estrays. (PRA, s4)

> EVIDENCE

"[I]nformation that tends to prove a fact. Not limited to the legal sense of the term." (AS 4390-1996, Part 1, 4.14)


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> FILE

"(n) An organised unit of documents, accumulated during current use and kept together because they deal with the same subject, activity or transaction and which may or may not be fastened together with or without a cover. The unit may be paper or electronic.

(v) The action of placing documents in a predetermined location according to an overall scheme of control." (KA, p.470)

> FINDING AIDS

  1. > "The descriptive media, published and unpublished, manual or electronic, created by an archives or an archival programme, to establish physical or administrative and intellectual control over records and other holdings. Finding aids lead both archives staff and users to the information they are seeking from or about archives. Basic finding aids include guides (general or repository, subject or topical), descriptive inventories, series registers, accession registers, card catalogues, special lists, shelf and box lists, indexes, and, for machine-readable records, software documentation. See also Description, Guide, List, Location index, Shelf list.
  2. > The registers, indexes and filing system guides produced by the agency or person who created the records, also referred to as control records or contemporaneous finding aids." (KA, p.471)

> FONDS

See RESPECT DES FONDS

> FOLIO

  1. > "A single leaf of paper or page of a register usually numbered only on one side.
  2. > The number assigned to the leaf or page." (KA, p.471)

> FORMAT

  1. > "The physical medium in which information is recorded or carried, e.g. paper files, computer printout, photographs, microfilm, [electronic] records, plans, cards, volumes, etc.
  2. > A selection of descriptive elements set out in a prescribed manner and sequence so that the resulting description will be standardised for all types of records." (KA, p.471)

> FULL AND ACCURATE RECORDS

Full and accurate records are:


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> FUNCTION

"[T]he largest unit of business activity in an organisation or jurisdiction." (AS 4390-1996, Part 1, 4.15)

> FUNCTIONAL APPRAISAL

Functional appraisal methodology begins by defining the functions and activities which government agencies perform and identifying the archival records needed to document these functions fully over time. See also Appraisal.

> FUNCTIONAL RECORDS

"Records created by an organisation to help carry out its business role. The functions and their associated records are specific to an organisation as opposed to housekeeping records that document functions common to all organisations. Also referred to as operational records." (AAHA, p.113)

> FUNCTIONAL RECORDS DISPOSAL SCHEDULE

A disposal schedule covering the disposal of an organisation's functional records. (Based on NSWGR, p.17) See also Disposal schedule.

> FUNCTIONS THESAURUS

A keyword thesaurus, produced and maintained by an agency, that contains keywords, descriptors and forbidden terms. A thesaurus that reflects the unique functions of an agency. (Based on NSWGR definition of Functional Thesaurus, p.17)

> GAIMS

Government Archives Integrated Management System. The system for controlling archival description that was adopted by Archives New Zealand in 1986 and modified for the Archway implementation. GAIMS is a metadata schema for describing records and the contexts in which they were created. It is based on the Australian Series System.

> GENERAL DISPOSAL AUTHORITY (GDA)

A disposal authority issued by the Chief Archivist that covers records common to multiple public offices e.g. financial records. A GDA does not authorise disposal of records specific to the functions of a public office. See also Disposal authority and Disposal schedule.

> GENERAL HOUSEKEEPING RECORDS

Records usually disposed of on a daily basis by most staff members. These are not records that relate to an organisation's primary duties and responsibilities. For guidance on general housekeeping records, see Archives New Zealand General Disposal Authority GDA3: General Housekeeping Records.


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> GUIDE

  1. > "A finding aid providing summary or broad level descriptive information about archives.
  2. > A finding aid describing the holdings relating to a particular topic, subject, period, geographical area, type or category of archives. See also Finding aids." (KA, p.471)

> HOLDINGS

"The whole of the records and archival materials in the custody of an [institutional or organisational] archives. See also Archives (2), Collection." (KA, p.471)

> HTML (HYPERTEXT MARKUP LANGUAGE)

"A standard language used for marking up World Wide Web pages with format styles and links within the same and different documents." (Kennedy and Schauder, p.295)

> HUMIDITY

"The concentration of moisture in the atmosphere. See also Relative humidity." (KA, p.471)

> HYGROTHERMOGRAPH

See THERMOHYGROGRAPH

> IMAGE / IMAGING

"A reproduction of a document on media such as film, microfilm or optical disk. See also Document image processing." (KA, p.472)

> IMAGING

See DOCUMENT IMAGE PROCESSING

> INACTIVE RECORDS

"Those records no longer required for the conduct of business and which may therefore be transferred to intermediate storage, archival custody, or be destroyed. See also Active records, Disposal (2)." (KA, p.472)

> INDEXING

The "process of establishing access points to facilitate retrieval of records and/or information". (ISO 15489-2001, Part 1, 3.11)


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> INFORMATION

  1. > "Knowledge communicated or received concerning some fact or circumstances; news. Information has content and structure, but requires something else, such as its place in a record, to give it context." (AAHA, p.114)
  2. > "Information (whether in its original form or otherwise) that is in the form of a document, a signature, a seal, data, text, images, sound or speech." (Electronic Transactions Act 2002, s5)

> INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

"A professional field concerned with optimising the uses of information, using both social and technical approaches." (Kennedy and Schauder, p.296)

> INFORMATION SYSTEMS

"[O]rganised collections of hardware, software, supplies, policies, procedures and people, that store, process and provide access to information." (AS 4390-1996, Part 1, 4.17)

> INTELLECTUAL CONTROL

"The control established over the informational content of records and archives resulting from ascertaining and documenting their provenance, and from the processes of arrangement and description." (KA, p.472)

> INTERMEDIATE RECORDS

"Those records that are required so infrequently in the conduct of current business that they can be transferred from offices to separate storage areas. Also referred to as non-current records or semi-current records. See also Disposal (2)." (KA, p.472)

> INTERMEDIATE STORAGE

"A low cost, warehouse-style repository or storage area where inactive or intermediate records are housed and referenced pending their ultimate destruction or transfer to archives. Also referred to as Secondary storage. See also Repository." (KA, p.472)

> ITEM

"The smallest discrete unit of record material which accumulates to form a series (i.e. a file or part file in a series of files; a volume in a series of volumes, etc.). Sometimes the term is also used as equivalent to Document (2). Also referred to as record item. See also Document." (KA, p.473)

> KEYWORD

"Pre-determined, prescribed and controlled descriptors which represent broad functions undertaken by an organisation."

> KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

The creation of value from an organisation's intellectual and knowledge-based assets.


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> LEGACY SYSTEM

"Previous generation/version information technology architectures and their contents whose dysfunctionalities need to be overcome in deploying new generation/version information technology." (Kennedy and Schauder, p.296)

> LIFECYCLE

"An approach to viewing records management through a lifecycle model. It divides the records into five major phases of existence: creation, distribution, use, maintenance and disposal. As part of the disposal it may enter into the archives or be destroyed." (JISCPRO, Appendix 3: Glossary, p.16).

Current records management theory and methodology in Australasia favours the concept of the records continuum over that of the lifecycle model.

> LIST

"An enumeration of records or archives for the purposes of establishing control and/or providing information." (KA, p.473) See also Transfer lists, Finding aids (1), Shelf list.

> LOCATION INDEX / LOCATION GUIDE

"A finding aid, manual or electronic, providing the physical location in the repository of all holdings. See also Finding aids (1), Shelf list." (KA, definition of 'Location index', p.473)

> LOCAL AUTHORITY

A regional council or territorial authority. This includes:

  1. a council-controlled organisation;
  2. a council-controlled trading organisation; and
  3. a local government organisation. (PRA, s4)

> LOCAL AUTHORITY ARCHIVE

A local authority record that:

  1. is no longer in current use by the controlling local authority; or
  2. has been in existence for 25 years or more (whether or not in current use); and

includes:

  1. a protected record; and
  2. a local authority record that the controlling local authority resolves is worth permanent preservation." (PRA, s4)

> LOCAL AUTHORITY RECORD

"A record or class of records in any form, in whole or in part, created or received... by a local authority in the conduct of its affairs." (PRA, s4)


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> MAINTAIN

"[To retain] records in identifiable recordkeeping systems over time in accordance with appraisal decisions. Records that are required to be maintained should be accessible, their integrity should be protected and, where necessary, they should meet the conditions or requirements identified in order to meet business needs, organisational accountability and community expectations. This may include migrating records across successive systems and other preservation strategies." (DIRKS, Glossary, p.9)

> MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY/REPOSITORY

See ARCHIVES (3)-COLLECTING ARCHIVES

> MEMORABILIA

"Material having sentimental or historical value to the creator, the creator's family or to collectors. See also Ephemera." (KA, p.473)

> METADATA

"Data describing context, content and structure of records and their management through time." (ISO 15489-2001)

METADATA - DISCOVERY

"[D]iscovery metadata enables you to learn about the existence of a resource, while retrieval metadata enables you to get your hands on it." (McKemmish, Cunningham, and Parer, unpaginated)

METADATA - RECORDKEEPING

Structured or semi-structured information that enables the creation, management and use of records through time and within and across domains in which they are created. Recordkeeping metadata can be used to identify, authenticate, and contextualise records and the people, processes, and systems that create, manage, and use them. (PAMF)

> MICROGRAPHICS

"The use of photographic processes to produce reduced-sized images (usually too small to be read without magnification) of textual or graphic material on high-resolution fine grain-film stock. [...]" (KA, p.474) Includes microfiche, microfilm and microform.

> MIGRATION

The "act of moving records from one system to another, while maintaining the records' authenticity, integrity, reliability, and usability". (ISO 15489-2001, Part 1, 3.13)


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> MINISTER'S PAPERS

Records created or received by a Minister while holding office as a Minister of the Crown. (PRA, s4)

> MODELLING

"The act of creating a simplified abstract representation of a system for the purposes of describing, understanding, and/or analysing that system." (DIRKS, Glossary, p.10)

> NON-TEXTUAL RECORDS

"Items of a pictorial or graphic nature, as opposed to written or textual, e.g. photographs, films, illustrations, diagrams, plans, etc." (KA, p.474)

> NRAM (NATIONAL REGISTER OF ARCHIVES AND MANUSCRIPTS)

A web-based guide to archival and manuscript holdings of archives, libraries, museums, galleries, schools, and societies across New Zealand. NRAM's listings may be searched or browsed by a number of criteria. See www.nram.org.nz

> NZGLS (NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT LOCATOR SERVICE)

  1. > Defines the structure of the descriptions government agencies will apply to their information and services (NZGLS Metadata Standard);
  2. > Defines the terms used to describe information and services. (NZGLS Thesauri);
  3. > Ensures that government agencies have appropriate tools to capture, manage, and apply the descriptions to the information and services. (NZGLS Metadata management)

> OFFICIAL INFORMATION ACT 1982 (OIA)

An Act to make official information more freely available, to provide for proper access by each person to official information relating to that person, to protect official information to the extent consistent with the public interest and the preservation of personal privacy, and to establish procedures for the achievement of those purposes. (Official Information Act 1982)

> ONE-OFF DISPOSAL AUTHORITY

See AD-HOC OR ONE-OFF DISPOSAL AUTHORITY

> OPEN ACCESS RECORD

A public record or a local authority archive that has been classified as open access and to which public access has not been prohibited. For public records to be open access records they must also have been in existence for at least 25 years or have been transferred to the control of the Chief Archivist. (PRA, s4)


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> OPEN SYSTEMS

"Systems (usually operating systems) that are not tied to a particular computer system or hardware manufacturer. An example is the UNIX operating system, with versions available for a wide variety of hardware platforms." (DIRKS, Glossary, p.10)

> OPTICAL DISK

"A specially coated disk onto which information is recorded in analogue or digital form by a laser. The information can be retrieved by having a laser read the disk and the result decoded by a microprocessor into sounds or images. See also Document image processing." (KA, p.475)

> ORAL HISTORY

"A sound recording, or a transcript of an aural record, resulting from a planned interview with an individual to systematically capture personal accounts and opinions. See also Public programmes." (KA, p.475)

> 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 [where possible]. See also Arrangement." (KA, p.475)

> OUTREACH

"[A]ny organisation's involvement with or influence in the community..." (Concise Oxford Dictionary, 9th Ed., p.969)

> PAPERS

"The accumulation of an individual's records, also referred to as personal papers. See also Collection (2)." (KA, p.475)

> PARLIAMENTARY RECORD

"A record presented to, or belonging to, the House of Representatives or any of its committees." (PRA, s4)

> PERMANENT PAPER

"Acid-free paper, with a protective alkaline buffer and a pH of 8 to 10, containing low levels of undesirable substances such as lignin and acidic sizing. Also referred to as non-acidic paper [or alkaline-buffered] paper." (KA, p.475)

> PERSONAL PAPERS/ARCHIVES/RECORDS

See PAPERS


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> PHYSICAL CONTROL

"The control established over the physical aspects (such as format, quantity and location) of the archives and records in custody." (KA, p.476)

> PRESCRIBED RECORD

A record declared to be a prescribed record by the Chief Archivist by means of a notice in the Gazette. The Chief Archivist may use this power in relation to a record not held by the relevant public office, a local authority record not held by the local authority, or a private record. A person may not transfer a prescribed record without giving the Chief Archivist the first option to purchase the record. Details of records which are prescribed records are entered in a public register with Archives New Zealand. (PRA s4 and s38)

> PRESERVATION

The "processes and operations in ensuring the technical and intellectual survival of authentic records through time". (ISO 15489-2001, Part 1, 3.14)

> PRIVACY

"The right of a living person to be secure from the unauthorised disclosure of or access to information contained in records and archives of a private or confidential nature about himself/herself or his/her immediate family." (KA, p.476)

> PRIVATE RECORD

"A record that is not created in, or received by, a public office or local authority, and that is not a Minister's paper." (PRA, s4)

> PROTECTED RECORD

A local authority record declared by the Chief Archivist to be a protected record by notice in the Gazette. A local authority must provide for the adequate protection and preservation of its protected records. Protected records must not be disposed of without the authorisation of the Chief Archivist. The list of local authority protected records is known as the "Local Government Schedule." (PRA, s40)

> PROVENANCE

  1. > "The agency, office, or person of origin of records, i.e. the entity which 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 the 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. See also Respect des fonds." (KA, p.476)

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> PUBLIC ACCESS

The right of the public to have access to archives classified as open access under the PRA. Access status is classified by the administrative heads of the controlling public office or local authority when records are about to become archives, and may be either open or restricted.

> PUBLIC ARCHIVE

A public record that is under the control of the Chief Archivist. (PRA, s4)

> PUBLIC OFFICE

The legislative, executive and judicial branches of the Government of New Zealand and their agencies or instruments, including departments, offices of Parliament, state-owned enterprises, Crown entities, Police, Defence Force, and the Security Intelligence Service. Crown entities include district health boards, school boards of trustees and tertiary education institutions. (PRA, s4)

> PUBLIC PROGRAMMES

"A planned sequence of community outreach projects and promotional activities which informs the wider community about archival holdings and services and involves its members directly in their documentary heritage." (KA, p.476)

> PUBLIC RECORD

A record created or received by a public office in the conduct of its affairs. This includes records declared to be public records by the Governor-General and estray records. This does not include special collections (records collected for purposes such as research) or records created by the academic staff or students of a tertiary education institution, unless the records have become part of the records of that institution. (PRA, s4)

> PUBLIC RECORDS ACT

The legislation governing records, recordkeeping and archives in the New Zealand public sector and local government. Replaced the Archives Act 1957.

> PUBLICATION

The issue of copies of a work to the public; including making it available to the public by means of an electronic retrieval system. (Copyright Act 1994, s10)

> QUALITY RECORDS

"[R]ecords used to demonstrate conformance to specified requirements and effective operation of quality systems under the AS/NZS ISO 9000 series." (AS 4390-1996, Part 1, 4.18)

> READING ROOM

See SEARCH ROOM


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> RECORD/S

  1. The International Standard on Records Management defines a record as: 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. (ISO 15489)
  2. The Public Records Act defines a record as:
    "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, as the case may be-"
    1. in written form on any material; or
    2. on film, negative, tape, or other medium so as to be capable of being reproduced; or
    3. by means of any recording device or process, computer, or other electronic device or process." (PRA, s4)

> RECORDKEEPING

"The creation and maintenance of complete accurate and reliable evidence of business transactions in the form of recorded information." (AS 4390-1996, Part 1, 4.19)

Recordkeeping includes the following:

> RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENTS

"Identified needs for evidence arising from various internal and/or external sources that may be satisfied through appropriate recordkeeping action (such as creation, capture, maintenance, preservation, and access). The sources include legislative and other regulatory sources, including industry codes of best practice, broader government interests, external clients or stakeholders and the general public. An umbrella term that covers identified requirements and prioritised requirements." (DIRKS, Glossary, p.11)

> RECORDKEEPING SYSTEMS

"[I]nformation systems which capture, maintain and provide access to records over time." (AS 4390-1996, Part 1, 4.20)

> RECORDS CONTINUUM

"[T]he whole extent of a record's existence. Refers to a consistent and coherent regime of management processes from the time of creation of records (and before creation, in the design of recordkeeping systems), through to the preservation and use of records as archives." (AS 4390-1996, Part 1, 4.22)

> RECORDS MANAGEMENT

"Activities within the management of the continuum (1) of records of an organisation which facilitate the systematic capture, control, maintenance, dissemination and disposition of the records of that organisation. Records management is primarily concerned with capturing complete, accurate, and reliable documentation of organisational activity for current purposes. See also Recordkeeping system, Records manager." (KA, p.477)

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> RECORDS MANAGER

"A person [...] responsible for the effective and efficient delivery of records management services to meet an organisation's requirements. See also Records management." (KA, p.477)

> RECORDS SURVEY

See SURVEY (2)

> RECORDS SYSTEM

"[I]nformation system which captures, manages and provides access to records through time". (ISO 15489-2001, Part 1, 3.17)

> REGISTERED FILES

Files that are captured into a recognisable system, and which have attributed to them a unique identifier. See also Capture.

> REGISTRATION

The "act of giving a record a unique identifier on its entry into a system". (ISO 15489-2001, Part 1, 3.18)

> RELATIVE HUMIDITY

"The ratio, expressed as a percentage, of the amount of water vapour present in the atmosphere to the amount required to saturate it at the same temperature. Relative humidity varies with temperature." (KA, p.478) See also Humidity.

> REPOSITORY

"The building or room, or part thereof, set aside for the storage of archives and/or intermediate records. Archival repositories are often constructed to meet specific environmental standards designed to ensure the longevity of the records. See also Archives (2), Intermediate storage." (KA, p.478)

> REPROGRAPHY

"The full range of processes used to replicate or copy documents by optical or photographic means. Reprography includes photocopying, photoduplication, microphotography, photography and the family of printing processes." (KA, p.478) Also may include the digital scanning or imaging of records.

> RESEARCHER

See USER

> RESEARCH ROOM

See SEARCH ROOM


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> RESPECT DES FONDS

"Respect for the principle of provenance that the archives of an agency or person are not mixed or combined with those of other agencies or people. See also Provenance (3)." (KA, p.479)

> RESTORATION

See CONSERVATION

> RESTRICTED ACCESS RECORD

A record to which access has been restricted. Records can only be restricted if good reason exists or if another enactment requires a record to be withheld from public access. (PRA s4 and s44)

> RESTRICTION

Any condition imposed on access to records or archives.

> RETENTION PERIOD

"The period of time, usually based on an estimate of the frequency of current and future use, and taking into account statutory and regulatory provisions, that records need to be retained before their final disposal. Sometimes used to indicate the length of time records are to be retained in offices before being transferred to intermediate storage." (KA, p.479)

The retention period usually commences from the time of the disposal trigger.

> RISK

"The chance of something happening that will impact upon objectives. It is measured in terms of consequences and likelihood." (DIRKS, Glossary, p.13, attributed to Australian and New Zealand Standard, AS/NZS 4360-1999, Risk Management)

> SCHEDULE

See DISPOSAL SCHEDULE

> SEARCH ROOM

"A room or area set aside for supervised consultation of archival materials by authorised users with the assistance of the archives. Also referred to as reading room and research room." (KA, p.479)

> SECONDARY STORAGE

See INTERMEDIATE STORAGE

> SEMI-CURRENT RECORDS

See INTERMEDIATE RECORDS


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> SENTENCING

The process of identifying and classifying records according to a disposal authority and applying a disposal action specified in it. In the records continuum methodologies, it can be used as an integral part of the recordkeeping task and assist in the overall management of records from point of creation.

> SERIES

"Those records or archives having the same provenance which belong together because:

A series may consist of only one item.

Also referred to as a record series. See also Class." (KA, p.479)

> SHELF LIST

"A list of the holdings of an archives arranged sequentially in the order of the contents of each shelf. See also Finding aids (1), List, Location index." (KA, p.479)

> STAKEHOLDER

"Those people and organisations who may affect, be affected by, or perceive themselves to be affected by, a decision or activity. The term stakeholder may also include interested parties." (DIRKS, Glossary, p.13, attributed to Australian and New Zealand Standard, AS/NZS 4360-1999, Risk Management)

> STANDARDS

  1. > "Records management and recordkeeping standards are authoritative standards to which an organisation is subject or which it chooses to adopt. Standards provide benchmarks for measuring performance and describe best practices in any or all aspects of recordkeeping. Thus standards may function to specify minimum performance levels or describe best practice." (DIRKS, Glossary, p.13)
  2. > The standards issued by the Chief Archivist under s27 of the Public Records Act. (PRA, s4)

> STORAGE

"[T]he function of storing records for future retrieval and use." (AS 4390-1996, Part 1, 4.25)


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> SURVEY

"The process of gathering information in a systematic and consistent way about records in their administrative context. The most common uses of a survey are:

  1. > An examination of archives to examine their provenance, original order, and interrelationships prior to commencing full arrangement and description processes.
  2. > 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. This information is used to develop disposal schedules, plan conservation, or project space requirements, among other uses. Also referred to as records survey." (KA, p.480)

> SYSTEM

"A set of interrelated components that work together to achieve some common purpose." (DIRKS, Glossary, p.14, attributed to W. Martin, Brown, C., DeHayes, D., Hoffer, J., & Perkins, W., Managing Information: What Managers Need to Know, Prentice Hall, NJ, 1999, p.696)

> SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN

"The process used to develop a system. The systems development life cycle is the traditional methodology used by information system professionals to develop a new computer application. It includes three general phases: definition, construction and implementation. The methodology defines the activities necessary for these three phases, as well as a framework for planning and managing a development project. Operations and maintenance are included in the implementation phase." (DIRKS, Glossary, p.14, attributed to W. Martin, Brown, C., DeHayes, D., Hoffer, J., & Perkins, W., Managing Information: What Managers Need to Know, Prentice Hall, NJ, 1999, p.696)

> TEMPORARY RECORDS

Records with no archival value that can be sentenced for destruction. See also Destruction.

> THERMOHYGROGRAPH

"A scientific instrument which records temperature and relative humidity over a period of time, generally daily or weekly. Also referred to as hygrothermograph." (KA, p.480)

> THESAURUS

"A list of terms that can be used to conduct word searches on a database or to create file or record titles that can be searched." (AAHA, p.119) See also Controlled Vocabulary.


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> TRACKING

The process of "creating, capturing, and maintaining information about the movement and use of records". (ISO 15489-2001, Part 1, 3.19)

> TRANSACTION

"[T]he smallest unit of business activity. Uses of records are themselves transactions." (AS 4390-1996, Part 1, 4.27)

> TRANSFER

Used generally, refers to the transfer of records from one recordkeeping system to another. Used with reference to the Public Records Act, refers to the transfer of control of records to the Chief Archivist, or to a public office or local authority that has taken over the recordkeeping responsibilities of a disestablished public office or local authority.

> TRANSFER LISTS

A list of records compiled at the time of transfer. It usually includes item identifier and date range. (Adapted from definition of Box list, KA, p.464)

> UNCONTROLLED RECORDS

"Records that have not been documented or brought under a system of arrangement or control." (AAHA, p.119)

> UNEVALUATED RECORDS

"Records for which no disposal authority exists and as a result have not been sentenced." (AAHA, p.119)

> USER

"A person who consults records held by the archives, usually in a search room. Also referred to as researcher." (KA, p.480)

May also refer to employees accessing a current records management system.

> USER PERMISSIONS

"[P]rivileges allocated to employees determining the extent of their access to records and authority to author/originate, add, alter and dispose of records in a recordkeeping system." (AS 4390-1996, Part 1, 4.28)

> VERSION CONTROL

"A process that allows for the precise placing of individual versions of documents within a continuum." (JISC-PRO, Appendix 3: Glossary, p.17)

> 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. See also Disaster plan." (KA, p.481)

> XML

"XML is the Extensible Markup Language. It is designed to improve the functionality of the Web by providing more flexible and adaptable information identification. It is called extensible because it is not a fixed format like HTML (a single, predefined markup language). Instead, XML is actually a 'metalanguage' — a language for describing other languages—which lets you design your own customized markup languages for limitless different types of documents. XML can do this because it's written in SGML, the international standard metalanguage for text markup systems (ISO 8879)." (The XML FAQ)