Society of American Archivists

PDFR27 | https://dictionary.archivists.org/ | What does the word Archives mean? |

Contents

1. Plural Noun
2. Singular Noun - 1. an institution’s or individual’s entire preserved body of interrelated and interdependent records; a fonds
3. Adjective
4. Notes - The most central term to the field of archives is also the most fraught. The word “archives” carries within it twelve commonly used and sometimes overlapping meanings. Archivists generally recognize only three senses of the word (the records, the facility where they are stored, and the organization responsible for both), but Richard Pearce-Moses’ Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology (released in 2005) identified six. |

Many different conceptions or misconceptions of the meaning of the word prevail among those who are aware that it has some relation to records or documents.” [“‘Let’s Look at the Record,’” American Archivist 8, no. 2 (April 1945): 110.] | Hilary Jenkinson, famously (to archivists, at least) claimed that government records could not be considered archives if a continuous chain of custody had not been maintained, thereby reducing the definition of “archives” to its narrowest possible state. Otherwise, he asserted, the records could not be treated as evidence, and they were, essentially, null
and void—though a nongovernmental body might take them in, as a curiosity, we assume. | a clear distinction between
records (always active) and archives (always inactive), causing writers to use “records and archives” to clarify they were referring to records currently in use by their creators and those that had passed over into the archives for secondary use |

Records or Manuscripts vs. Archives (Active vs Passive)… (meer)

This is an essential archival reference that puts forward the Archival Content Standard. As such it is essential to properly formatted archival resource records and finding aids. The content is excellent. However, there could be some improvement on the publishing layout with more visual helps. The text was also a bit challenging to access for a neophyte archivist. And while this isn't necessarily a weakness of the text since it is designed as a central archival tool. I do think some of the introductory materials could be improved to help bridge that gap.… (meer)