The functions of records maintenance include organizing and filing records and identifying which records to retain and for how long.

A records survey is a useful tool for understanding the existing records of an organization. The survey creates an inventory that reveals existing record groups, locations, conditions, and quantities.

Archivists provide clarity to collections. They help users understand records of enduring value: what they are, who created them, and what events they represent.

To do so, they identify groupings of records. Then, they explain aggregations of records through appraisal, processing, and description. Through the archival process, archivists transform complex groupings of primary sources into insightful and succinct information through arrangement and description.

Organizations benefit from records and archival management programs in both tangible and intangible ways.

The purpose of an archives is to preserve and make accessible the various elements of the historical and enduring value of a business, organization, agency, family, or other entity. Significant components include files, photographs, correspondence, legal documents, press clippings, and a wide range of informational items in between.

To advocate for the archives appropriately, archivists should have deep knowledge of their repository.

An increasingly important question for organizations is whether archival collections must or should be located within the same facility as the organization.

While archivists process historical holdings, storing the materials may require additional space within or outside the institution.

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.