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	An archive refers to a collection of historical records, and also refers to the location in which these records are kept. *'Archives' are made up of records (AKA primary source Primary source Primary source* is a term used in a number of disciplines. In historiography, a primary source is a document, recording or other source of information that was created at the time being studied, by an authoritative source, usually one with direct personal knowledge of the events being described.... documents) which have been accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime. For example, the archives of an individual may contain letters, papers, photographs, computer files, scrapbooks, financial records, diaries or any other kind of documentary materials created or collected by the individual--regardless of media or format. The archives of an organization (such as a corporation Corporation A corporation is a legal entity separate from the persons that form it. It is a legal entity owned by individual stockholders. In British tradition it is the term designating a body corporate, where it can be either a corporation sole or a corporation aggregate .... or government Government Government is the body within any organization that has the authority to make and the power to enforce laws, regulations, or rules. Typically, the government refers to a civil government -- local, provincial, or national -- but commercial, academic, religious, or other formal organizations are also administered by governing bodies.... ), on the other hand, tend to contain different types of records, such as administrative files, business records, memos, official correspondence, meeting minutes, and so on. In general, archives of any individual or organization consist of records which have been especially selected for permanent or long-term preservation, due to their enduring research value. Archival records are normally unpublished and almost always unique, unlike book Book A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of paper, parchment, or other material, usually fastened together to hinge at one side.... s or magazines, in which many identical copies exist. This means that archives (the places) are quite distinct from libraries with regard to their functions and organization, although archival collections can often be found within library buildings. Archives are sometimes described as information generated as the "by-product" of normal human activities, while libraries hold specifically authored information "products". A person who works in archives is called an archivist Archivist An archivist is a professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to information determined to have long-term value.... . The study and practice of organizing, preserving, and providing access to information and materials in archives is called archival science Archival science Archival science is the theory and study of the safe storage, cataloguing and retrieval of documents and items. Emerging from diplomatics, the discipline also is concerned with the circumstances under which the information or item was, and is used as evidence and memory of historical facts and acts.... . Archivists tend to prefer the term 'archives' (with an S) as the correct terminology to serve as both the singular and plural, since 'archive,' as a noun or a verb, has meanings related to computer science. Archive Users and Institutions Historian Historian A historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, systematic narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time.... s, genealogists, lawyer Lawyer A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an Attorney at law, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice fraud." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain stability, and deliver justice.... s, demographers, filmmakers,and others conduct research Research Research is defined as human activity based on intellectual application in the investigation of matter. The primary purpose for applied research is discovery , interpretation , and the development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a wide variety of scientific matters of our world and the universe.... at archives. The research process at each archive is unique, and depends upon the institution in which the archive is housed. While there are many different kinds of archives, the most recent census of archivists in the United States identified five major types: academic, for profit (business), government, non profit, and other. Academic Archives Archives existing in college College File:Government college for Women Dhoke Kala Khan.JPGCollege is a term most often used today to denote an education institution. More broadly, it can be the name of any group of collegialitys, for example, an electoral college, a College of Arms or the College of Cardinals.... s, universities, or other educational facilities are usually grouped as academic archives. Academic archives typically exist within a library Library A library is a collection of information, sources, resources, books, and services, and the structure in which it is housed: it is organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution, or a private individual.... , and duties may be carried out by an archivist Archivist An archivist is a professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to information determined to have long-term value.... or a librarian Librarian A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs.... . Occasionally, history professors may run a smaller academic archive. Academic archives exist to celebrate and preserve the history of their school and academic community. The inventory of an academic archive may contain items such as papers of former professors and presidents, memorabilia related to school organizations and activities, and items the academic library wishes to remain in a closed-stack setting, such as rare books or thesis Thesis A dissertation is a document that presents the author's research and findings and is submitted in support of candidature for a degree or professional qualification.... copies. It is always a good idea to contact an academic archive before visiting, as the majority of these institutions are available by appointment only. Users of academic archives are often graduate students and those wishing to view rare or historical documents for research purposes. Many academic archives work closely with alumni relations to help raise funds for their library or school. Because of their library setting, a degree certified by the American Library Association American Library Association The American Library Association is a group based in the United States that promotes library and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 65,000 members.... is preferred for employment in an academic archive in the USA. Business (For Profit) Archives Archives located in for-profit institutions are usually those owned by a private business Business A business is a legally recognized organization designed to provide good s and/or Service to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalism economies, most being privately owned and formed to earn profit that will increase the wealth of its owners.... . Examples of prominent business archives in the United States include Coca-Cola Coca-Cola Coca-Cola is a carbonation soft drink sold in stores, restaurants and vending machines worldwide . It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke or as Cola or Pop.... (which also owns the separate museum World of Coca-Cola World of Coca-Cola The World of Coca-Cola is a permanent exhibition featuring the history of The Coca-Cola Company and its well-known advertising as well as a host of entertainment areas and attractions.... ), Proctor and Gamble, Motorola Motorola Motorola, Inc. is an United States, multinational, Fortune 100, telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It is a manufacturer of wireless telephone handsets, also designing and selling wireless network infrastructure equipment such as cellular transmission base stations and signal amplifiers.... Heritage Services and Archives, and Levi Strauss & Co. Levi Strauss & Co. Levi Strauss & Co. is a privately held clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's brand of denim jeans. It was founded in 1853 when Levi Strauss came from Bavaria, Germany to San Francisco, California to open a west coast branch of his brothers' New York dry goods business.... . These corporate archives maintain historic documents and items related to the history of their companies. Business archives serve the purpose of helping their corporations maintain control over their brand Brand A brand is a collection of symbols, experiences and associations connected with a product, a service, a person or any other artifact or entity.... by retaining memories of the company's past. Especially in business archives, records management Records Management Records management, or RM, is the practice of maintaining the records of an organisation from the time they are created up to their eventual disposal.... is separate from the historic aspect of archives. Workers in these types of archives may have any combination of training and degrees, from either a history or library background. These archives are typically not open to the public and only used by workers of the owner company, although some will allow approved visitors by appointment. Business archives are concerned with maintaining the integrity Integrity Integrity comprises perceived consistency of actions, values, methods, measures and principles. As a holism concept, it judges the quality of a system in terms of its ability to achieve its own goals.... of their parent company, and therefore selective of how their materials may be used. Government Archives The category of government Government Government is the body within any organization that has the authority to make and the power to enforce laws, regulations, or rules. Typically, the government refers to a civil government -- local, provincial, or national -- but commercial, academic, religious, or other formal organizations are also administered by governing bodies.... archives includes those institutions run on a local and state level as well as those run by the national (federal) government. Anyone may use a government archive, and frequent users include reporters, genealogists, writers, historians, students, and anyone wanting more information on the history of their home or region. While it is a good idea to make an appointment before visiting government archives, at many government archives no appointment is required, as they are open to the public. In the United States, NARA Nara Nara can refer to:Geography* Nara, Attock, a village in Attock, Pakistan.* Nara, Jhelum, a village in Jhelum, Pakistan.* Nara, NWFP, Union Council of Abbottabad, Pakistan.... archives exist not only in the District of Columbia, but regionally as well. Some city or local governments may have repositories, but their organization and accessibility varies widely. State State A state is a political Social contract with effective sovereignty over a geographic area and representing a population. These may be nation states, State or multinational states.... or Province Province A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.... archives typically require at least a bachelor's degree Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts for three, four, or in some cases and countries, five or six years.... in history for employment, although some ask for certification by test (government or association) as well. In the UK the National Archives , formerly known as the Public Record Office, is the government archive for England England native_name =\|conventional_long_name = England\|common_name = England\|image_flag = Flag of England.svg\|image_coat = England COA.svg\|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms... and Wales Wales native_name = Cymru\|conventional_long_name = Wales\|common_name = Wales\|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg\|national_motto = ... . The National Monuments Record National Monuments Record The National Monuments Record is the public archive of English Heritage, located in Swindon. It holds an archive of over 10 million historic photographs, plans, drawings, reports, records and publications covering England's archaeology, architecture, social and local history.... is the public archive of English Heritage English Heritage English Heritage is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government with a broad remit of managing the historic built environment of England.... . The National Archives of Scotland National Archives of Scotland Based in Edinburgh, the National Archives of Scotland are the national archives of Scotland. The NAS claims to have one of the most varied collection of archives in Europe.... , located in Edinburgh Edinburgh Edinburgh ; is the Capital city of Scotland, a position it has held since 1437. It is the seventh largest city in the United Kingdom and the second largest Scottish City status in the United Kingdom after Glasgow.... , serve that country while the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland Public Record Office of Northern Ireland The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland is situated in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure .... in Belfast Belfast Belfast is the capital city of Northern Ireland and the seat of Devolution#United Kingdom Northern Ireland Executive and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly in Northern Ireland.... is the government archive for Northern Ireland. A network of local authority-run record offices and archives exists throughout England, Wales and Scotland and holds many important collections, including local government, landed estates, church and business records. Many archives have contributed catalogues to the national Access 2 Archives programme and online searching across collections is possible . In France, the Directorate of the Archives of France (Direction des Archives de France) in the Ministry of Culture Minister of Culture (France) The Minister of Culture is, in the Government of France, the French government ministers in charge of national museums and monuments; promoting and protecting the arts in France and abroad; and managing the national archives and regional "maisons de culture" .... manages the National Archives Archives nationales (France) The Archives nationales preserve the national archives of the France, apart from the archives of the Ministry of Defence and the Minister of Foreign Affairs , as these two ministries have their own archive services, the Service historique de la d?fense and the Archives diplomatiques respectively.... (Archives nationales) which possess 364 km. (226 miles) of archives as of 2004 (the total length of occupied shelves put next to each other), with original records going as far back as A.D. 625, as well as the departmental archives (archives départementales), located in the préfectures of each of the 100 départements of France, which possess 1,901 km. (1,181 miles) of archives (as of 2004), and also the local city archives, about 600 in total, which possess 449 km. (279 miles) of archives (as of 2004). Put together, the total volume of archives under the supervision of the Directorate of the Archives of France is the largest in the world, a testimony to the very ancient nature of the French state which has been in existence for more than eleven centuries already. In India India India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world.... the National Archives are located in New Delhi. In Taiwan Taiwan Taiwan is an island in East Asia. "Taiwan" is also commonly used to refer to the country governed by the Republic of China and to the ROC itself, which governs the island of Taiwan, Orchid Island and Green Island, Taiwan in the Pacific Ocean off the Taiwan coast, the Penghu islands in the Taiwan Strait, and Kinmen and the Matsu Islands... the National Archives Administration are located in Taipei Taipei Taipei has been the de facto capital of the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, since the Chinese Civil War in 1949, and the capital of Taiwan since Japanese rule that began in 1895.... . Most intergovernmental organisations keep their own historical archives. However, a number of European organisations, including the European Commission, choose to deposit their archives with the European University Institute in Florence. Church Archives Include Archdioceses, diocese Diocese In many rites of the Roman Catholic Church and in Anglicanism, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a bishop. It is also referred to as a *bishopric* or Episcopal Area or episcopal see, though strictly the term episcopal see refers to the domain of ecclesiastical authority officially held by the bi... s and parish Parish A parish is a local church; it is an administrative unit typically found in Roman Catholic, Anglican, United Methodist, and Presbyterianism churches.... es archives in the Roman Catholic and Episcopalian Anglicanism Anglicanism is a tradition of Christianity faith. Churches in this tradition either have historical connections to the Church of England or have similar beliefs, worship and church structures.... Churches and another kinds of archives in the different denomination Denomination Denomination may refer to:Religious denomination, such as a:Christian denominationJewish denominationIslamic denominationHindu denominations... s of the Christian Church Christian Church Christian Church* and the word church are used to denote both a Christian Groups of people and a Church . The word church is usually, but not exclusively, associated with Christianity.... es. The most famous Church Archives is the Vatican Secret Archive. Non-Profit Archives Non-profit archives include those in historical societies List of Historical Societies This is a partial List of Historical society from around the world. The sections provided are not mutually exclusive. Many historical societies websites are their museums' websites.... , not-for-profit businesses such as hospitals, and the repositories within foundations Foundation (charity) A foundation is a legal categorization of nonprofit organizations. Foundations may also and often have charitable organisation. This type of nonprofit organization may either donate funds and support to other organizations, or provide the sole source of funding for their own charitable activities.... . Non-profit archives are typically set up with private funds from donors to preserve the papers and history of specific persons or places. Often these institutions rely on grant Grant (money) Grants are funds wikt:dispersed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a wikt:recipient, often a non profit entity, educational institution or business.... funding from the government as well. Depending on the funds available, non-profit archives may be as small as the historical society in a rural town to as big as a state historical society that rivals a government archives. Users of this type of archive may vary as much as the institutions that hold them. Employees of non-profit archives may be professional archivists, para-professionals, or volunteers, as the education required for a position at a non-profit archive varies with the demands of the collection's user base. Special (Other) Archives Some archives defy categorization. There are tribal archives within the Native American Indigenous peoples of the Americas The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples.... nations in North America, and there are archives that exist within the papers of private individuals. Many museums keep archives in order to prove the provenance Provenance Provenance, from the French provenir, "to come from", means the origin, or the wiktionary:Source, of something, or the history of the ownership or location of an object, The term was originally mostly used of works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including science and computing.... of their pieces. Any institution or persons wishing to keep their significant papers in an organized fashion that employs the most basic principles of archival science Archival science Archival science is the theory and study of the safe storage, cataloguing and retrieval of documents and items. Emerging from diplomatics, the discipline also is concerned with the circumstances under which the information or item was, and is used as evidence and memory of historical facts and acts.... may have an archive. In the 2004 census of archivists taken in the United States, 2.7% of archivists were employed in institutions that defied categorization. This was a separate figure from the 1.3% that identified themselves as self-employed. Etymology The word archive is derived from the Greek (arkhe) meaning government or order (compare an-archy, mon-archy). The word originally developed from the Greek (arkheion) which refers to the home or dwelling of the Archon Archon *Archon* is a Greek language word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem ???-, meaning "to rule", derived from the same root as monarch, hierarchy and anarchism.... , in which important official state documents were filed and interpreted under the authority of the Archon. The adjective formed from archive is archival. Archives in history The word "archives" can refer to any organised body of records fixed on media. The management of archives is essential for effective day-to-day organisational decision making, and even for the survival of organisations. Archives were well developed by the ancient Chinese, the ancient Greeks, and ancient Romans. Modern archival thinking has many roots in the French Revolution. The French National Archives, who possess perhaps the largest archival collection in the world, with records going as far back as A.D. 625, were created in 1790 during the French Revolution French Revolution The French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudalism for the aristocracy and Roman Catholic Church clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on Age of Enlightenment principles of cit... from various government, religious, and private archives seized by the revolutionaries. Standardization Currently, ISO International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO , is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations.... is working on the standards, which will be implemented soon ^, . Footnotes Ark-Ive See also Archival informatics Archival informatics To understand the term archival informatics, it is important to first understand the term "informatics". Informatics is a term which has a variety of meanings in different fields.... Archival science Archival science Archival science is the theory and study of the safe storage, cataloguing and retrieval of documents and items. Emerging from diplomatics, the discipline also is concerned with the circumstances under which the information or item was, and is used as evidence and memory of historical facts and acts.... Archivist Archivist An archivist is a professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to information determined to have long-term value.... BS 5454 BS 5454 BS 5454, "Recommendations for the storage and exhibition of archival documents" is a British Standard for the preservation of archive. Among other things, it specifies temperature and humidity ranges for document storage, shelving schemes, and materials for document containers.... Collection (museum) Collection (museum) A museum is distinguished by a collection of often unique objects that forms the core of its activities for wikt:exhibitions, education, research, etc.... Computer data storage Data proliferation Data proliferation Data proliferation refers to the unprecedented amount of data, structured data and unstructured, that business and government continue to generate at an unprecedented rate and the usability problems that result from attempting to store and manage that data.... Digital preservation Digital preservation Digital preservation is the management of digital information over time. Preservation of digital information is widely considered to require more constant and ongoing attention than preservation of other media.... Greenstone (software) Information repository Information repository An information repository is an easy to deploy secondary tier of data storage that can comprise multiple, networked data storage technologies running on diverse operating systems, where data that no longer needs to be in primary storage is protected, classified according to captured metadata, processed, de-duplicated, and then purged, automat... Internet Archive Internet Archive The Internet Archive is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building and maintaining a free and openly accessible online digital library, including an archive site of the World Wide Web.... List of archives List of archives This list of archives contains many archives from around the world. An archive is a establishment that collects and stores historical documents, photos, and other media.... Manuscript processing Preservation (library and archival science) Preservation (library and archival science) Preservation is a branch of library and information science concerned with maintaining or restoring access to artifacts, documents and records through the study, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of decay and damage.... Web archiving Web archiving Web archiving is the process of collecting portions of the World Wide Web and ensuring the collection is digital preservation in an archive, such as an archive site, for future researchers, historians, and the public.... External links - over 8000 links worldwide - guide for media professionals seeking to find and license archival materials — gateway to descriptions of archives held in UK universities and colleges, part of the National Archives Network — international project on electronic records — the English strand of the UK archives network - archives wiki AIM25 - archives within the UK M25 M25 M25 or M-25 may be:* M25 motorway, a motorway that encircles London, England* M-25 , a state highway in Michigan* Miles M.25 Martinet, a 1942 target tug aircraft of the Royal Air Force... area. British Cartoon Archive mega archieve