Description

Archival records are paper documents or computer files preserved by organizations and institutions as evidence of events that are important to that organization or institution. For example, records of office discipline referrals are stored by schools, along with records of attendance, grades, and academic test scores. Other examples of archival records include (a) arrest and incarceration records kept by the police; (b) medical records kept by doctors, dentists, pharmacies, clinics, and hospitals; (c) vital statistics of births and deaths kept by county governments; and (d) marriage records kept by churches and governments. Families, businesses, departments of motor vehicles, historians, and the public in general find value in maintaining records.

Institutional records are kept because they contain information about events that are important ...