An archival program within an organization supports employees, allowing them to work more efficiently and retain organizational knowledge.

While staff members have internal needs for organizational archives, individuals external to the institution may also have reason to consult the collection.

With a records retention schedule, retention policy, and collection policy in hand and ideal storage located, the archives program can work on the arrangement and description (also known as processing) of the records of enduring value.

Within each department, the archivist will refine the arrangement of materials to be prepared for the archives, rehouse material, and create inventories to facilitate future access by staff members and other researchers.

Determining the flow of an organization’s records ensures that archivists schedule materials for disposition.

In addition, archivists can liaise with departments within their organizations to help retain significant documentation and inclusion of those records within the archives. If there is not already one, creating a records retention schedule should be one of the archivists’ first tasks after an archival assessment.

Many organizations have little room to store archival collections, so rare and fragile materials often end up in less-than-ideal locations.

In addition, most materials deteriorate over time, especially audiovisual materials, so a vigilant eye is needed to protect the items chosen for archival collections.

An accurate assessment of archival collections assists organizations in strategically meeting user needs, allocating resources effectively, and securing funding. Simply put, archivists cannot manage collections if they do not know what they are managing.

Only a fraction of an organization’s records finds their way into the archives. Archives hold non-current records with permanent historical value.

They are no longer needed during day-to-day institutional activities, but they document organizational history. Just as each organization is unique, its archives are equally distinctive. Professional archival principles and standards have been developed over decades of archival practice. However, each organization will adhere to them in its own way.

Founding an archives program takes knowledge and skill. To be successful, archivists also need to wield their political savvy and institutional advocacy. Building support for archival management requires buy-in from executives and employees.

Every organization has a history; ideally, institutions should organize and preserve their records for the future. Written records are often the only source of information about an institution’s early intentions and activities, and these documents provide institutional knowledge about the organization’s establishment, by whom, and what programs and activities it created.

Record retention is either date-driven or event-driven.

Managing an organization’s current records is records management, and maintaining records of enduring value is archives management.