This guidance aims to introduce the principles and practice of managing archives for those with little or no previous experience. You may have a collection of archives that you are newly responsible for and need to get up to speed quickly. Or you could be thinking about creating an archive and want to understand what is involved. It is not aimed at community archives.
This document will provide an overview of areas you should consider when managing archive collections, highlighting aspects that will keep you legal and the collection safe. It will demystify some of the technical language you have found elsewhere, explaining key principles and how these are applied in practice. Definitions from other documents are referenced and where definitions are not referenced they have been created in the writing of this guidance. Finally, it will provide links to additional sources of advice and guidance for when you need to explore an issue in more detail.
This document was written by Janice Tullock, Archive and Heritage professional and is based on experience helping organisations, businesses and charities establish and develop their archives.
What are archives?
Archives capture the memories, experiences and activities of our ancestors, our organisations and eventually, our lives. They provide evidence for court cases, are sources for research and enable us to understand how and why decisions were made.
For organisations, such as businesses and charities, a well organised archive can help in many areas including by preventing them from repeating work, enabling them to repair and rebuild vital machinery, helping them to understand the origins of their organisation, and promoting the strength and longevity of a company.
Individuals use archives to demonstrate their legal rights, to explore their heritage and to understand local history. For both organisations and individuals, archives provide evidence for activities, ownership and beliefs.
Archives might include:
- Photographs
- Sound recordings
- Financial ledgers
- Oral histories
- Digital images
- Maps and plans
- Diaries
- Research notes and data
- Architectural drawings
- Digital files
- Minute books
The word archive is used in many different ways. Confusingly, sometimes it is used to describe a collection of items, sometimes to describe a building holding documents and sometimes to describe the process of saving documents for future use. More correctly, archives are documents created during the day-to-day work of a person or organisation, that have been chosen as being worthy of being preserved permanently. They may be as diverse as administrative documents, personal photographs, diaries or digital plans, but all have been selected to be preserved.
We will explore how archives are selected later, but items may be selected on the basis of their legal, administrative or historical value for example.
Definition of archives
Materials created or received by a person, family or organisation, public or private, in the conduct of their affairs and preserved because of the enduring value contained in them or as evidence of the functions and responsibilities of their creator, especially those materials maintained using the principles of provenance, original order and collective control; permanent records. (Society of American Archivists)
Archive Service
An organisation which holds a collection which meets the standard definition of an archive (Archive Service Accreditation Glossary).
An archive collection
A group of archives that created by one organisation or person.
What aren’t archives?
Many people use the word archives to describe the place where they back-up their digital files, or where they store old paperwork. Sometimes the word archive is used to describe large amounts of material that is still used by an organisation, but not being used as frequently as before. On other occasions, a group of items collected by an individual may be called an archive. Following the strict definition of an archive, none of these should be called an archive.
An archive should be:
- Created in the process of day-to-day work and events
- No longer used in day-to-day administrative activity but have enduring value
- Selected as being worthy of permanent preservation because of the evidence it contains
A collection that has been brought together and isn’t created by one person, project or organisation is an artificial collection, but can be organised using the principles of archive management, such as an oral history collection.
This guidance uses these definitions throughout.
Why collect, manage and preserve archives?
When faced with a large amount of unsorted archives produced by an organisation over several years, it can be tempting to see the collection as a problem. However, a comprehensive, well managed, accessible archive can provide an organisation or individual with great benefits. For companies and organisations an archive can protect its intellectual property, manage evidence of ownership of its assets, ensure accountability and transparency and help to explain its brand to consumers and partners.
For individuals, an archive can provide legal evidence and support a whole range of academic and personal activities, from family history to model building, local history and preserving personal and collective memory.
A poorly managed archive creates a risk for both organisations and individuals. Organisations that do not take action to preserve an archive, risk having no future access to important documents containing vital decisions, resulting in the repetition of work. There are also reputational risks, particularly through the loss of material and the lack of access to information prevents full accountability. The lack of management of personal and public data also often results in non-compliance with legislation.