Records Management Glossary

Last updated on August 21, 2024

This glossary provides definitions for records management terms used in the B.C. government and is part of the Records and Information Management (RIM) manual. Most recent update: April 12, 2021.

A

Accessibility: The characteristic of being easily reached, retrieved, or used by people regardless of abilities. In an information management context, accessibility refers to the availability and usability of recorded information. For information on the Province's commitments to building a better BC for people with disabilities, please visit https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/about-the-bc-government/accessibility

B

Block numeric system: A records classification system based on the assignment of blocks or groups of numbers to represent primary and secondary headings. The block numeric administrative and operational records classification systems (Administrative Records Classification System (ARCS) and Operational Records Classification Systems (ORCS)) are the standards for describing the recorded information resources of the B.C. government. They are based upon the federal government model and utilize three and four-digit numbers for ARCS and five-digit numbers for ORCS.

C

Cabinet committees: Cabinet committee records relate to the establishment, organization, and functions of Cabinet committees and related deputy ministers’ committees. These include ministry and agency submissions prepared for Cabinet or its committees. Records types include correspondence, submissions, significant draft submissions, working materials and supporting documentation, notices, agendas, minutes, records of decision, reports, and presentation handouts.

Case file: A file containing records pertaining to a specific time-limited entity, such as a person, event, project, transaction, product, or organization, that is part of a series of similar files.

Administrative Records Classification System (ARCS) and Operational Records Classification Systems (ORCS) usually classify case file series under secondary numbers and titles at secondary number –20 and higher, followed by alphabetical or numerical codes.

Chief Records Officer (CRO): Appointed under the Information Management Act, the CRO is mandated to promote the preservation of valuable government information for current and future use, approve information schedules, manage the digital archives and promote its availability to the public, and promote effective information management by government bodies.

Classification: The process of identifying records or information in accordance with a predetermined filing or security system. This includes determination of the function and/or subject of a record and selection of the appropriate classification for filing.

Classification system: A system for organizing records based upon function and subject, for the purpose of facilitating retrieval and filing. In the B.C. government, records classification is combined with scheduling in one integrated system known as Administrative Records Classification System (ARCS) and Operational Records Classification Systems (ORCS), using a block numeric system to provide a unique code for each classification (or “primary”).

Codes: Alphabetic or numeric symbols that help identify and locate a file within a series of case files or subject files.

Common Records: Records found throughout government (i.e., similar types of records created by multiple offices in relation to operational functions), which may be covered by any type of information schedule, as appropriate.

D

Data: The smallest meaningful units of recorded information generated by an organization, which gain significance when stored in a structured manner that enables them to be synthesized and interpreted.

Data administration: Developing and administering the policies, procedures, practices and plans for defining, organizing, protecting and efficiently utilizing data. Promotes consistency in scope, meaning, and handling of data throughout an organization.

See also Data

Database: A common type of electronic system, consisting of a number of structured “fields” where pieces of information are stored, and can be sorted, manipulated, and retrieved in different ways for a variety of purposes. Complex databases re-use information and then display and print it in any number of combinations with other information, thereby creating electronic records.

See also Data

Deaccessioning: See Permanent Removal

Destruction of records: Inactive government information can only be destroyed in accordance with information schedules approved under the Information Management Act. Destruction may be carried out using various methods, such as deleting, shredding, incineration, or pulping, but must always comply with relevant policy. Destruction is only complete when the information is obliterated and cannot be reconstituted.

Digital archives:

An organization or program area that serves as a trusted digital repository, with the responsibility and capacity for permanently preserving digital archival records and making them publicly accessible
The digital records of an organization identified for permanent preservation by an archives

Digital information: See Digital records

Digital records: Records consisting of information that is entered, created, manipulated and/or stored on digital media/storage devices. This includes:

records that are born digital
digitized records (i.e., records that have been converted from a non-digital format)
unstructured data (e.g., documents and electronic messages)
structured data maintained within electronic systems

For purposes of RIM policy this term is used synonymously with “electronic records”.

Digitize: To convert an image or signal into a form easily understood by digital computers. For example, visual images are digitized by scanning, a process which assigns a ‘binary’ code for each visual element sampled. Sounds are digitized by periodically measuring or sampling the sound wave, and assigning representative binary codes.

Dispose: To destroy, or render impracticable to decipher, recorded information, as defined in the Information Management Act.

E

Electronic records: See Digital records

Encryption: The process of transforming information or data using an algorithm to make it unreadable, as a means of protecting data in transit. The result of the process is encrypted information, which can only be unscrambled (decrypted) by authorized users possessing the necessary “key” or algorithm to decode it. It is used by the B.C. government for the secure transportation and transmission of data outside of the workplace, in accordance with the Information Security Policy (c. 5.2.5).

See also Data

Enduring value: See Permanent value

Enterprise Document and Records Management System (EDRMS): An integrated software system capable of managing both electronic and physical records. In June 2003 the Government of British Columbia selected HP TRIM ^TM(Total Records and Information Management) as the standard EDRMS software for office recordkeeping systems across government. It is used to manage government records throughout their lifecycle in accordance with ARCS, ORCS, and other approved information schedules.

Essential records: See Vital records

Evidential value: The usefulness or significance of records for providing evidence about the origins, functions, and activities of their creator, and their value in providing authentic and reliable evidence of the creator’s decisions, actions, transactions, and communications. Evidential value is provided by both the records content and their context with respect to other records and the functions to which the records relate. Archival appraisal work in the B.C. government is focused on identifying and preserving records with high evidential value.

Executive records: The administrative and operational records of the offices of ministers, deputy ministers, assistant deputy ministers, and equivalent positions.

Executive records include the records of cabinet ministers that are created and/or accumulated and used by a minister (or a minister’s office) in developing, implementing and/or administering programs of government. They do not include Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) records or personal records.

Executive Records are covered by the government-wide special schedule 102906.

F

File: A set of related documents treated as a unit, uniquely identified, arranged in a logical sequence, and classified and scheduled together. The file is the logical entity used to organize and manage records. It identifies a group of records that together provide evidence of a transaction, case, subject or other business matter. A file may consist of one or more volumes.

See also Case file; Classification; Volume

File list: A list used to describe, locate and retrieve files. Unless otherwise stated in government policy, file lists are required for the storage and final disposition of government records and must include the following information for each file: classification number, file code or ID, file title, date range, Office of Primary Responsibility (OPR) designation, retention period and final disposition.

Final disposition: The action taken after records become inactive under an approved information schedule. Final disposition can be:

secure destruction that ensures complete obliteration of information, regardless of the records' medium or format;
transfer of the records to the custody of the government archives; or
transfer of the records to agencies not covered by the Information Management Act (also known as alienation).

Final disposition must take place in accordance with RIM policy and authorized procedures.

Finding aid: The descriptive tool (e.g., classification system, inventory, index, register, catalogue, file list) used to establish physical and/or intellectual control over records.

Fiscal value: The value records may have in documenting the fiscal activities of the B.C. government relating to taxation, public revenues, public debt, budget operations, or other financial operations. Fiscal values may be affected by federal or provincial statutes and regulations that govern records retention and disposition.

G

Government archives: The records and information transferred from government bodies to the archives of government. Currently, this includes only the physical archival records held by the Royal British Columbia Museum. When the Information Management Act (IMA) comes into force, this will also encompass the digital archives of government, for which the chief records officer will be responsible.

Government body: As defined in the Information Management Act, government body means a ministry of the government of British Columbia, or a government agency designated as a government body by regulation, but does not include a person who is a member or officer of the Legislative Assembly, in the exercise of his or her functions as a member or officer of the Legislative Assembly, or a court.

Government information: As defined in the Information Management Act, government information means recorded information created or received by a government body in connection with government business, including: information that must be held by the government body by law; information that documents a decision by a government body respecting a course of action that directly affects a person or the operations of the government body; information that documents or supports the government body's organization, policies, procedures, transactions or operations; information created or received by a government body that has archival value; and information relating to matters of court administration assigned to the Attorney General or government by law. Government information does not include: constituency information held in the office of a minister; court information; or information stored in or recorded on a judicial administration record.

Government records: See Government information

Government Records Service (GRS): Delegated by the Chief Records Officer, this is the central government agency responsible for appraising and scheduling government information; providing records management policy and practice advice, guidance and training; implementing and supporting BC Government's EDRMS; and managing offsite storage of government's physical records.

H

Hazardous records / materials: Records and other materials that present a risk to health or the environment. This includes records and other materials that are explosive, gaseous, flammable, toxic, radioactive, corrosive, combustive, or leachable.

Hazardous records will not be accepted for offsite storage as they may endanger employees, facilities, and other records. See RIM Policy 423: Provision of Offsite Records Storage Services (PDF), section 2.2.

I

Imaging: The process of capturing, processing, and managing documents by reproducing their appearance through photography, micrographics, or scanning to create copies or “images” of records. Document imaging reproduces the visual presentation or ‘look’ of the originals when copying and storing them to another media (e.g., paper to microfilm, photograph to digital image). Imaging, by itself, makes no attempt to make any text in the document machine-readable, although a system may use optical character recognition (OCR) to convert imaged text to such form.

Inactive records: Records that are no longer required for ongoing ministry or agency business. These are records that are ready for final disposition; in other words, records for which the scheduled active and semi-active retention periods have lapsed.

J

K

L

Legal custody: The legal responsibility for the ongoing maintenance, security, accessibility and disposition of the records, and associated costs. Typically, the business owner or ‘legal custodian’ is the ministry or agency responsible for the programs and functions the records relate to. For information about transfer of legal custody, including transfer to the government archives, see RIM Section 5.

Legal value: The value records may have in meeting legal requirements or uses. Legal value is determined by identifying any requirements for records to be retained for specific periods of time in the enabling legislation for the records creator or other relevant legislation, such as the Limitations Act (RSBC 1996, c. 266).

Legal values may also be present in records that: document a transaction such as a deed or mortgage; serve a licensing or regulatory function; protect the rights of individual citizens or the Province of British Columbia; are required for evidence in a court of law or to meet the statute of limitations for civil litigation.

M

Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) records: Recorded information created and/or accumulated and used by a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (MLA) acting in that capacity. MLA records document an MLA's legislative and political activities, and include records created by the MLA's constituency office. MLA records do not include an MLA's personal or business records.

MLA records are legislative records not covered by the Information Management Act. However, MLAs who are cabinet ministers do create government records when serving in that capacity; those records are termed “ministerial records” and are covered by the Information Management Act.

Metadata: Metadata is a set of data that describes and gives information about other data. Metadata is structured information about the characteristics of an information resource that helps identify and manage that information resource.

See also Data

Microfiche: A microform in the shape of a rectangular sheet of transparent plastic having one or more miniaturized images usually arranged in a grid pattern, with a heading area across the top. Normal size is 148 x 105mm (6 x 4 inches).

N

Non-government records: Recorded information not created or received by government offices as part of government business. The Information Management Act specifically excludes the following from its definition of government information: constituency information held in the office of a minister, court information, judicial administration records.

Non-Office Of Primary Responsibility (non-OPR): Any office or branch that is not the main custodian of the master record or record copy of a document or information for its ministry or agency.

Non-OPR: See Non-Office Of Primary Responsibility

O

Office Of Primary Responsibility (OPR): The office that has primary responsibility for a category of records or holds the master/official file copy of any record series for that ministry or agency. The OPR maintains the official master copy of the records in order to satisfy operational, financial, legal, audit and other requirements.

Official file copy: A complete, final, and authorized version of a record. An official file copy is the version that is classified and filed in the office recordkeeping system.

One-time accession number: An accession number that is used by an office for a single transfer of records to a government approved records storage facility.

One-time records schedule: An information schedule that authorizes the retention and final disposition of a specific set of records, and does not provide authority for ongoing final disposition of records of the same type.

Ongoing accession number (OAN): An accession number that is used by an office for the regular or continuing transfer of records to government-approved records storage facilities. An ongoing accession number differs from a one-time accession number in that it can be used for multiple transfers. OANs are used to regularly transfer high volume records series, usually related to a single secondary classification number.

Ongoing records schedule: An information schedule that authorizes the retention and final disposition, on a continuing basis, of the types of records described in the schedule. Administrative Records Classification System (ARCS) and Operational Records Classification Systems (ORCS) serve as ongoing records schedules for ministry or agency administrative records and operational records. Special schedules are another type of ongoing records schedules.

Operational records: Records that relate to the operations and services provided by a ministry or agency in carrying out the functions for which it is responsible according to statute, mandate, or policy. Operational records are distinct from administrative records and are unique to each government organization.

Operational Records Classification System (ORCS): An integrated records classification and scheduling system tailored to the operational records of a specific function or program of government, in accordance with government-wide standards. ORCS facilitate classification, filing, retrieval and disposition; ORCS may also be used to identify vital records and freedom of information and privacy designations. ORCS is a block numeric records classification system, reflecting function and subject. Government Records Service establishes standards for the development of ORCS that are published in the Standard ORCS Kit.

OPR: See Office of Primary Responsibility

ORCS: See Operational Records Classification System

Original record: A complete and finished document that is able to produce the consequences intended by its author. It is the first to be issued in that form. In law, it means the first copy from which all others are transcribed, copied or initiated.

P

Permanent removal: Permanent removal occurs when an office retrieves records from offsite storage and notifies Government Records Service that this is a permanent arrangement; i.e., they will not be returned to storage as part of that accession. Sometimes referred to as “deaccessioning” or “reactivation”.

Permanent value: Records of permanent value provide the best evidence of the activities and responsibilities of the BC government (its accountability and the evolution of its powers, organizational structure, programs, policies, procedures, decisions and functions), and/or have significant historical, cultural, intrinsic or informational value. The government archives retains records appraised by a government archivist as having permanent value.

Personal information: As defined in the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (RSBC 1996, c. 165). Personal information is recorded information about an identifiable individual other than contact information.

Personal Information Bank (PIB): As defined in the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act a PIB is a collection of personal information that is organized or retrievable by the name of an individual or by an identifying number, symbol or other particular assigned to an individual. PIBs are flagged in Administrative Records Classification System (ARCS) and Operational Records Classification Systems (ORCS).

Personal records: Records created and/or accumulated and used by an individual or family for personal and/or private purposes. Personal records are a type of non-government record. The retention and final disposition of personal records is not governed by the Information Management Act.

Physical custody: The responsibility for the care, preservation and security of a set of records in their physical location, in accordance with predetermined rules and regulations.

Physical format: The type of medium on which a specific version of a record is stored (e.g., paper, microfiche, or magnetic tape, CD ROM, DVD).

Preservation: The principles, policies, rules, strategies and activities aimed at prolonging the existence of an object by maintaining it in a condition suitable for use, either in its original format or in a more persistent format, while leaving intact the object's intellectual form.

Primary: The basic building block of Administrative Records Classification System (ARCS) and Operational Records Classification Systems (ORCS). A primary relates to a function or subject. It consists of a 5-digit number and a descriptive title under which specific records may be classified and arranged.

Primary block: A set of primaries covering related functions that form a logical group and are assigned sequential numbers. Each block contains a general primary and two or more primaries covering functions or activities subordinate to the major function of the block.

Primary value: Values that records have for assisting their creating office to carry out its operational mandate and administrative duties. Records with primary value are those that are necessary for administrative, operational, fiscal, audit, or legal purposes, that is, the purposes associated with the active and semi-active phases of the information schedule. Special categories of primary value include audit value, fiscal value, and legal value.

Prior legal custodian (PLC): Office previously responsible for the records. Government Records Service maintains PLC historical data in the Archives and Records Information System (ARIS) database.

Provenance:

The office of origin (i.e., the office or administrative entity that created or received and accumulated the records in the conduct of its business);
Information on successive transfers of ownership and custody of a particular record; and
In archival theory, the principle that the archival records of a given records creator must not be intermingled with those of other records creators.

Public records: See Government information

Public Use Records (PUR): Records that are specifically created and organized with the expectation of access by the public, often with user fees. PURs are flagged in Administrative Records Classification System (ARCS) and Operational Records Classification Systems (ORCS).

Q

Quality assurance: The process of verifying that quality control steps have been taken.

R

Reactivation: See Permanent Removal

Record: Recorded information created, received and maintained by an organization or person, in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business. This includes records formats defined in the Interpretation Act and FOIPPA.

Record series: A group of records filed together in a unified arrangement that results from, or relates to, the same function or activity and permits evaluation as a unit for records scheduling purposes. A record series is classified based upon retrieval needs and maintained as a unit according to reference frequency. An Administrative Records Classification System (ARCS) or Operational Records Classification Systems (ORCS) secondary is in most cases equivalent to a record series.

Recorded Information: See Record

Recordkeeping system: A shared filing system in which records are captured, protected, retained and destroyed in accordance with approved information schedules. A recordkeeping system, when used in conjunction with recorded policies and procedures, defined roles and responsibilities, and ongoing training, constitutes an appropriate system for managing government information

Records: See Record

Records classification system: See Classification system

Records disposition: See Final disposition

Records inventory: An analytical list of the records or part of the records of a unit of government. An inventory is usually organized by record type and provides the basis for establishing an information schedule. It fully describes the title, purpose and function, informational content, physical format, physical extent, and date range of the records, legal and fiscal retention requirements for the records, and other factors that may have a bearing on the retention periods and final disposition.

Records management: "The field of management responsible for the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use and disposition of records, including processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and information about business activities and transactions in the form of records." (Source: ISO 15489, cited in International Council on Archives, http://www.ciscra.org/mat/mat/term/297)

Records Officer: The employee responsible for providing information management (IM) direction and support to a ministry or agency, enabling it to meet IM business objectives and legislated requirements. Ministry Records Officer services are provided by Government Records Service, the central agency responsible for records management. Agencies and Crown Corporations outside core government provide their own Records Officer and support staff.

Records retention and disposition schedule: See Information schedule

Records schedule: See Information schedule

Records services application number: The unique number that identifies each application for records services submitted to Government Records Service. The number appears in the top right-hand corner of the application form. If the application is for an Operational Records Classification Systems (ORCS) or one-time records schedule, the application number will become the schedule authority number.

S

Schedule authority number: A unique 6-digit number linked to an information schedule. Used in conjunction with the accession number, the schedule authority number allows Government Records Service, ministries and agencies to manage the storage and final disposition of government records.

Scope note: The component of a classification system that describes the functions, uses and content of the records that are to be classified together; in Administrative Records Classification System (ARCS) and Operational Records Classification Systems (ORCS), each primary has a scope note. A scope note describes the administrative or operational function to which the records relate and provides a general statement about the record types (memos, forms, reports, etc.) and media (photographs, video recordings, etc.) covered. A scope note may also contain information about related records classified elsewhere.

Secondary: A subdivision of a primary that, like the primary, consists of a number and a descriptive title. The 2-digit secondary number is combined with the 5-digit primary number and the information schedule number to form a unique classification number for a file series.

Secondary value: The continuing usefulness or significance that inactive records possess, beyond the purposes for which they were originally created or the function they originally fulfilled. Secondary value includes informational and evidential value.

Security classification: A category assigned to information (and records) according to a security system in order to clearly show the appropriate level of protection against access or disclosure (e.g., open, restricted, or confidential). Government policy requires ministries to provide reasonable security arrangements for their information holdings based on a range of security categories (see Core Policy and Procedures Manual).

T

Transferring agency: The agency responsible for specific records at the time they are transferred to off-site storage. When this happens, an accession number is assigned to the records.

Transitory information: Transitory information is information of temporary usefulness that is needed only to complete a routine action or prepare a subsequent record (e.g. a new version). A record's content and context determine whether it is transitory, not its form or format. Information that is essential for understanding government business is not transitory.

U

Usability: The extent to which a record can be located, retrieved, presented, and interpreted. A usable record should be complete, accurate, reliable, and accessible. In any subsequent retrieval and use, the record should be capable of being directly connected to the business activity or transaction that produced it.

V

Vital records: The records of government that contain information essential to:

Conduct emergency operations during and immediately following a disaster;
Resume/continue government services or operations;
Re-establish the legal, financial and functional responsibilities of government; and
Re-establish the rights and obligations of individuals, corporate bodies and other governments with respect to the Government of British Columbia.

See also Primary value; Record; Secondary

Volume: A component of a file. A volume contains records, and may exist in any media or format (e.g., file folder, electronic folder, microfilm roll, and map drawer). Volumes are also referred to as folders, enclosures, directories, supplements, file parts or sub-files.

W

Working materials: Rough notes, calculations, preliminary drafts, and research notes that are assembled or created in the preparation or analysis of other records, such as correspondence, reports, and statistical tabulations. When the final documents have been produced and classified, working materials generally become transitory information. Working materials relating to statutes, audits, or other records specified in an information schedule are not transitory information.

X

Y

Z

Records Management

Learn about records management in B.C.'s government and broader public sector including guides and resources, information schedules, systems and contact information.

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