Unit 2 Listen and Read:
Record
The ISO defines records as 'information created, received, and maintained as evidence and information by an organization or person, in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business'. The International Council on Archives (ICA) Committee on Electronic Records defines a record as 'a recorded information produced or received in the initiation, conduct or completion of an institutional or individual activity and that comprises content, context and structure sufficient to provide evidence of the activity.'If an item is presented as a legal record, it needs to be authenticated. Forensic experts may need to examine a document or artifact to determine that it is not a forgery, and that any damage, alteration, or missing content is documented. In extreme cases, items may be subjected to a microscope, x-ray, radiocarbon dating or chemical analysis. This level of authentication is rare, but requires that special care be taken in the creation and retention of the records of an organization.