What is the value of the information contained in archival materials? To determine this, archivists concentrate on the circumstances of creation.

The focus is on identifying the role and significance of the records creator and the position that the records creator held within the organization. The records of a high-level person in an unimportant function may be less critical than lower-level records documenting a vital function. Archivists consider the creator’s position in the organization, the unit activities, and the record function.

The management of electronic records is based on traditional archival and records management theories and practices adapted to the digital environment. A noticeable difference is that the preservation of records begins earlier in the digital environment.

Most archivists would agree that an electronic record is a record in electronic form and a record is a record, regardless of how it is created or the medium on which it is stored.

Archival description, primarily, is a way to bring order to the chaos of unprocessed records of enduring value.

Description is not just what archivists do to an individual collection. Description begins when the collection first comes into a repository—when archivists accession collections into a repository’s recordkeeping system. Archival description is incremental and progressive, and proceeds in a continuum. As archivists work further on a collection, they can provide more detailed and comprehensive information. Archivists are also able to provide a broader range of access points, both local and remote.

Two major events affecting archives and records management have occurred. The basic principles, while still valid, need to be adapted to the contemporary information environment. The world in which archival procedures implement those principles has changed.

Technology has complicated the processes for creating and managing records, and the environment in which archival management takes place has changed as well.