Category: Records Lifecycle Concepts
Record
Also known as: authoritative record, recorded information
Simply put
A record is information that an organization or person creates, receives, and keeps as evidence of an activity, obligation, or transaction, rather than as casual or transitory information. What makes something a record is that it serves as proof of what happened and is maintained as an asset for business, legal, or accountability purposes. Not all information is a record; a record is distinguished by its role as trustworthy evidence.
Formal definition
A record is information created, received, and maintained as evidence and as an asset by an organization or person in pursuit of legal obligations or in the transaction of business, regardless of form or medium. In recordkeeping practice, records are typically expected to exhibit the qualities of authenticity, reliability, integrity, and usability, which distinguish an authoritative record from a copy, a working draft, or transitory information. The status of a record is a function of its evidential role and the context in which it was captured and managed, not merely of its content or format; whether a given item qualifies as a record often depends on organizational policy, jurisdiction, and sector. Records may exist at varying levels of granularity, and in some contexts a record refers to a discrete unit of information arranged and treated as a single entity.
Why it matters
The concept of a record sits at the foundation of records management and information governance because it determines what must be controlled, retained, protected, and eventually disposed of. Treating every piece of information as a record would be unmanageable and costly, while failing to recognize genuine records exposes an organization to legal, regulatory, and accountability risk. The distinction matters most when an organization must demonstrate what happened and when, whether in litigation, an audit, a freedom of information request, or a regulatory inquiry. In many jurisdictions and sectors, the ability to produce trustworthy evidence of activities and decisions depends on having correctly identified and preserved records in the first place.
Who it's relevant to
Records managers
Records managers rely on a clear definition of a record to decide what should be captured into recordkeeping systems and controlled across its lifecycle. The distinction between a record and transitory or casual information directly shapes classification, retention, and disposition decisions.
Information governance officers
For those responsible for the broader accountability framework, understanding what qualifies as a record helps align policy, risk, and value considerations. Whether a given item is treated as a record often depends on organizational policy, jurisdiction, and sector, which governance frameworks must account for.
Compliance and legal leads
Because records serve as trustworthy evidence of what happened, they are central to meeting legal obligations and responding to litigation or regulatory inquiries. The qualities of authenticity, reliability, integrity, and usability underpin whether a record can be relied upon as evidence, though specific obligations vary by jurisdiction and sector.
Archivists
Archivists work with records as evidence of activity and as assets worthy of continued preservation. The recognition that records can exist at varying levels of granularity, and that a record may be a discrete unit of information treated as a single entity, informs how materials are arranged and described.
Inside Record
Content
The informational substance of the record, capturing what activity, transaction, or decision it documents. Content alone does not make something a record; it must be fixed and associated with the properties that establish evidential value.
Context
Information about the circumstances of the record's creation and use, including its relationship to the business activity, the creating agent, and other related records. Context is often preserved through metadata and classification and is typically necessary for a record to be understood and relied upon over time.
Structure
The physical and logical arrangement of the record, including its format, layout, and the relationships between its components. Maintaining structure supports usability and helps demonstrate that the record has not been altered inappropriately.
Metadata
Data describing the record and its context, such as identifiers, dates, creators, classification, and management history. Metadata typically supports the authenticity, reliability, integrity, and usability of a record throughout its lifecycle.
Authenticity
The property that a record is what it purports to be, was created or sent by the agent that purports to have created or sent it, and at the purported time. Authenticity is often supported by controls over capture and custody.
Reliability
The property that a record can be trusted as a full and accurate representation of the activity it documents, such that it can be depended upon in the course of subsequent activities.
Integrity
The property that a record is complete and unaltered, or that any authorized changes are documented and traceable. Integrity is central to the distinction between an authoritative record and an uncontrolled copy or draft.
Usability
The property that a record can be located, retrieved, presented, and interpreted over the period it is required. Usability typically depends on preserving content, context, and structure together, particularly in digital environments.
Common questions
Answers to the questions practitioners most commonly ask about Record.
Is every document or piece of data an organization holds automatically a record?
No. Not all information qualifies as a record. A record is typically distinguished by its role as evidence of a business activity or transaction and by properties such as authenticity, reliability, integrity, and usability. Much of what an organization holds may be transitory information, working drafts, duplicate copies, or reference material that does not meet these criteria. Whether a given item is treated as a record often depends on organizational policy and applicable requirements, which vary by jurisdiction and sector.
Are the terms 'record' and 'copy' interchangeable?
Not in a recordkeeping context. An authoritative record is the item relied upon as evidence, whereas a copy is a reproduction that may not carry the same evidential weight. Drafts and transitory information are similarly distinct from the authoritative record. Organizations often designate which instance serves as the record of an activity, and this distinction matters for questions of integrity, retention, and disposition. Treating any copy as equivalent to the record can undermine the reliability of the recordkeeping system.
How does an organization decide what should be captured and managed as a record?
In practice, this determination usually rests on organizational policy informed by the need to evidence business activities and by legal, regulatory, and operational requirements that vary across jurisdictions and sectors. The assessment typically considers whether an item documents a decision, transaction, or obligation and whether it should be retained for accountability, continuity, or compliance purposes. Because requirements differ, many organizations rely on classification schemes and retention rules to guide capture consistently.
What properties should be preserved to keep something functioning as a trustworthy record over time?
A trustworthy record is generally understood to retain authenticity, reliability, integrity, and usability throughout its existence. Authenticity concerns whether the record is what it purports to be; reliability concerns whether its content can be trusted as an accurate representation; integrity concerns whether it remains complete and unaltered in unauthorized ways; and usability concerns whether it can be located, retrieved, and interpreted. Sustaining these properties often requires controls over how records are captured, stored, and maintained across their lifecycle.
How should drafts and transitory information be handled differently from records?
Drafts and transitory information typically do not carry the same evidential status as the authoritative record and are often subject to different handling. Depending on organizational policy, transitory materials may be disposed of once their short-term purpose is served, while drafts may or may not be retained depending on whether they document a significant stage of a decision. Distinguishing these categories at the point of capture helps prevent the recordkeeping system from being cluttered with non-records while ensuring genuine records are retained.
What role does classification play once something has been identified as a record?
Classification generally follows creation and capture and precedes the application of retention and disposition rules. By associating a record with a category or business function, classification supports consistent decisions about how long the record should be kept and what disposition action should apply, whether that is destruction, transfer, or permanent preservation. It is worth noting that classification is a distinct step from retention and disposition, and the specific schemes and rules an organization uses depend on its policy and applicable requirements.
Common misconceptions
Any piece of information or data an organization holds is a record.
A record is information that serves as evidence of an activity or transaction and that is expected to possess properties such as authenticity, reliability, integrity, and usability. Much of the information an organization holds is transitory material, working data, or duplicate copies that do not meet the threshold of an authoritative record.
A draft or a convenience copy is equivalent to the record.
An authoritative record is distinct from drafts and copies. Drafts capture work in progress and copies are duplicates that typically lack the controls establishing evidential value, whereas the authoritative record is the version relied upon as evidence, maintained with its context and integrity intact.
Records management and information governance mean the same thing.
Records management concerns the control of records as evidence of activity across their lifecycle, while information governance is a broader accountability framework spanning policy, risk, privacy, security, and information value. The two overlap but are not interchangeable, and treating them as identical can obscure important differences in scope and responsibility.
Best practices
Assess whether information actually qualifies as a record before treating it as one, distinguishing authoritative records from drafts, convenience copies, and transitory information according to organizational policy.
Capture and maintain content, context, and structure together, since a record's evidential value typically depends on all three being preserved rather than the content alone.
Apply and retain metadata that supports authenticity, reliability, integrity, and usability throughout the record's lifecycle, particularly for records held in digital form.
Establish controls over capture and custody that help demonstrate a record has not been altered inappropriately, and document any authorized changes so integrity can be evidenced.
Plan for usability over the full period a record is required, taking account of format obsolescence and the need to retrieve, present, and interpret records over time.
Frame recordkeeping responsibilities within the organization's wider information governance arrangements while keeping the distinct evidential purpose of records management clear to stakeholders.