APPENDIX ONE

Glossary of Terms used Throughout this Report

Some terms used in this report may be unfamiliar, or may be familiar terms used in a slightly different way in relation to electronic records. 

Archival electronic records program 

Also referred to as electronic records program, it is the system of policies, procedures, and activities implemented and carried out by an archival institution, the goal which of is the preservation of records in electronic format designated as being of archival value.  This form of management can take a wide variety of forms, from direct management through a custodial approach, or indirectly, through the setting of regulations and standards for the preservation of electronic records of continuing value by the agency that created and/or uses the records as a result of its ongoing activities.  (See the following definitions of preservation and records.)

Archivist

Throughout this report, the term, archivist is used to described any employee of an archives who performs activities which help to carry out the mandate of an archival electronic records program.  Archivist is not, therefore, restricted to those who, for example, carry out the activities performed by members of the HR group at the National Archives, or those who have specific archival qualifications, such as an advanced degree in history or formal education in archival science.  In the context of this report, the term archivist describes any employee of an archives who plays a role in creating, identifying, appraising, acquiring, controlling, describing, and making available electronic records.

Metadata

A straightforward definition is: “Data describing data and data systems, that is the structure of databases, their characteristics, location, usage, and the like.”

Preservation

The Australian manual Keeping Archives defines preservation as the “actions taken which enable the materials in an archives to be retained for as long as they are needed ie the basic functions of storing, protecting and maintaining records and archives in archival custody.”  The usual sense of word in archives relates to actions taken in relation to a physical object, such as a piece of paper or a roll of microfilm.  Preservation in relation to electronic records has two objects: 1) the maintenance of the storage medium, such as magnetic tape or hard disk, in order that the data may be read; and 2) the maintenance of the original “structure” and manipulability (among other qualities) of the record in order for it to remain interpretable.  When the word preservation is used in this report, it is used in the sense of actions taken to keep electronic records readable and/or interpretable. 

Record

The archival literature on electronic records stresses that it is crucial to distinguish records from data and information.  The definition of record in the National Archives of Canada Act is based on physical form, and in the context of electronic systems does not sufficiently distinguish between what constitutes a true record for archival purposes, and non-archival data and information.

This report, therefore, has adopted the concept of the transactional record.  Such records are defined by the International Congress of Archives Electronic Records Committee as follows:

•	recorded information
•	in any form, including data in computer systems
•	created or received and maintained
•	by an organisation or person
•	in the transaction of business or the conduct of affairs
•	and kept as evidence of such activity

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