What is a Record?

A record is a document, data, set of data that is created or received in the course of an organization’s business that:

A record has content, structure, fixity, context and is maintained as evidence.
  • has Content, that is the text, data, metadata, symbols, numerals, images, and/or sounds that make up the substance of the record
  • has Structure, that is the physicality and internal organization of the Content.
  • has Fixity, that is the quality of the Content being stable and resisting change
  • has Context, that is the organizational, functional, and operational circumstances surrounding a record’s creation, receipt, storage, or use, and
  • is maintained as Evidence of an organization’s activity(s)[*]

The Ohio Revised Code (ORC) defines what records are for the “public” agencies, organizations, and institutions that must adhere to these regulations:

  • ORC 149.011(G) defines records as “…any document, device, or item, regardless of physical form or characteristic, created or received by, or coming under the jurisdiction of, any public office of the state or its political subdivisions, which serves to document the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the office.”
  • ORC149.43 goes on to designates a subset of records as “Public record" that are available for public scrutiny: “…any record as defined in ORC 149.011(G) that is kept by any public office with certain exceptions, such as medical records, trial preparation records, confidential law enforcement investigatory records, intellectual property records, donor profile records, and records the release of which are prohibited by state or federal law.”
  • The ORC defines in 149.011(A) and (B) a public office as “…any state agency…established by the laws of this state…including any state-supported institution of higher education…”
  • Finally, ORC 149.33(B) empowers state-supported institutions of higher education to run their own records management programs stating, “The boards of trustees of state-supported institutions of higher education shall have full responsibility for establishing and administering a records program for their respective institutions. The boards shall apply efficient and economical management methods to the creation, utilization, maintenance, retention, preservation, and disposition of the records of their respective institutions.

Therefore, a record is “…any document, device, or item, regardless of physical form or characteristic…” that has been created or received in the course of a University department/unit/organization’s business that meets the criteria of content, structure, fixity, context as discussed above, and is maintained as evidence of the organization’s activity(s).

Records may include but are not limited to:

  • general correspondence
  • financial transactional records
  • working papers, including drafts, versions, and copies databases (including the underlying tables, as well as routine reports)
  • student and course documentation and transcripts
  • personnel documentation
  • web sites (including Web pages, images, documents, and audio/video files)
  • electronic backup media (including tapes, disks, and other storage devices)
  • e-mail

Additional archival and records management terminology may be found at:

   Adapted from Challenges in Managing Records in the 21st Century, NECCC, 2004