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Appraisal Criteria for Archival Records

The Arizona State Archives is legally mandated to collect and preserve the history of Arizona and its government. The number of archival records is very small, typically two to five percent of the whole of an agency's records.

State Archives and Records Management Division staff work with state agencies and local governments to identify those records with sufficient value to warrant the resources necessary to preserve them in perpetuity and document those appraisal decisions on a records retention schedule. Archivists use their knowledge of Arizona history and their familiarity with other records in the Archives when appraising records. They look for records that add to, complement, or fill gaps in the existing records that document Arizona history.

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Statement
Users
Creator/Office of Origin
Evidence of Programs or Functions (Functional Value)
Content (Informational Value)
Preservation of Individuals’ Rights and Entitlements
Completeness
Relationship to Other Records
Age of the Records
Format

Brief Statements of Archival Value

General Statement of Archival Value

The Arizona State Archives identifies, collects, preserves, and provides access to records in all formats of Arizona state and local governments and of public officials and other individuals. Archival records remain useful for the Legislature, state agencies, and the general public because those records make government accountable to its citizens; provide evidence about public policies and programs; and protect or verify individuals’ rights and entitlements. Archival records provide information about the important people, issues, places, and events that make up the story of Arizona’s history.

Brief Statement Targeted for the General Public
The Arizona State Archives identifies, collects, preserves and provides access to all formats of state and local government records and historical materials for the purposes of retaining evidence about public policies and programs, providing protection or verification of individuals’ rights, and maintaining information about noteworthy people, issues, places, and events that make up the story of Arizona’s history.

Brief Statement Targeted to the Government Officials The Arizona State Archives identifies, collects, preserves and provides access to all formats of state and local government records of Arizona, for the purposes of retaining evidence about public policies and programs, providing protection or verification of individuals’ rights, and maintaining information about noteworthy people, issues, places, and events that make up the story of Arizona’s history.

Criteria

Archivists use the following criteria in combination to distinguish those records which have lasting value. Agency staff who have questions about which records are archival should flag such records for review by the Archives before they are destroyed, even if the destruction is authorized on a retention schedule.

Users

The Archives collects records that retain value for its users, the Legislature, state and local agencies, and the general public. The Archives looks for types of records that are supported by existing patterns of use.

Creator/Office of Origin

The Archives collects the records of state and local government in Arizona. Every agency, large and small, creates records which document policies and programs, and those records are valuable to the Archives.

In addition to public records, the Archives also collects the personal papers of public officials and of other individuals or groups if they contain significant information relating to Arizona government, public policies and programs, or the history of Arizona.

To ensure that archival records are authentic and reliable, the content of the records should not have deteriorated through fraudulent change or loss. Changes made by the record creator (or the creator’s agent) should be documented so that such changes are readily apparent. Note, however, that there is no requirement that records be accurate; in some instances, it is important to preserve inaccurate records to document that information used to make decisions or to prove fraud.

Records of questionable origin are of questionable archival value. The Archives seeks to collect the original records of the agency which created them or its successor; it generally does not collect copies of an agency’s records held by another agency.

Simple association with a notable individual – a mention, a signature – does not, alone, make a record archival.

Evidence of Programs or Functions (Functional Value)

The Archives collects records which document the principal responsibilities of the agency or office and that explain programs that help agencies accomplish their missions by documenting the decision making process are likely to be archival. In particular, the Archives seeks to acquire and preserve those records that document the agency’s organization, that provide continuity between changes in office, and that demonstrate government accountability.

Administrative records relating to an agency’s day-to-day operations are generally not preserved in the Archives. These records include general memoranda, human resources files, facilities files, routine activity reports, and similar records.

Because agencies' policies and programs affect constituents, correspondence and other records documenting public concerns and opinions regarding controversial or divisive policies or programs often warrant archival preservation.

Content (Informational Value)

Some records retain their value over time because they contain information about topics that help define the history and character of the state. Records relating to water, agriculture, mining, tourism, urban growth, environmental quality, multiculturalism, and the economy – among other topics – will continue to have archival value. As time passes, new topics will take on archival value.

Records that provide substantial, unique information and background relating to a newsworthy event are often candidates for the Archives.

Preservation of Individuals' Rights and Entitlements

The Archives collects many records that document individuals' enduring rights or benefits under government programs. Examples include, but are not limited to, rights of citizenship, civil status (birth, death, marriage, and divorce), and ownership of real property. The Archives generally does not collect records that detail temporary benefits individuals have received from government programs, such as welfare or public health.

Completeness

The Archives typically collects an entire record series rather than trying to identify individual files of historical value. (A record series is a group of identical or related records which are normally used and filed as a unit).

In rare circumstances, the Archives may collect sample records from a large series of limited value to document a process or function performed by the agency. Neither the frequency of use nor the size of an individual file necessarily indicate archival value, but use and size may serve as useful flags for more careful appraisal.

Relationship to Other Records

The Archives prefers to collect originals, rather than copies, because it is easier to demonstrate the authenticity and reliability of original records.

Records that contain detailed information may be added to the Archives, in addition to summary reports, if other methods of analysis may yield findings significantly different from those in the summary.

A record series is generally not acquired for the Archives if the information contained in those records is routinely repeated in another series that the Archives already collects.

Format

The Archives collects records in all formats, including – but not limited to – papers, photographs, and video and audio recordings. The Archives also collects text, images, and sounds in electronic format.

Format occasionally makes records more valuable because it increases their usefulness. A record series in paper may not be collected in paper format because analysis is impractical. However, that series might be collected if it is in electronic format because use of a computer makes complex analysis practical.

Age of the Records

Archives are not collections of nostalgia and historical curiosities. Age alone does not justify preservation.

The Archives seeks to evaluate all records from the Territorial Period before disposal. These records were often labeled with terms that today would suggest the records are not archival. Closer examination of those records’ content may reveal that the description is inaccurate and that the records should be retained permanently.

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