Definition of archives

Today, because of its unique relationship with various activities of human society and the uniqueness of its content, such as originality and authenticity, archival resources have finally attracted more and more attention from the society. The following are the definitions of files and enterprise files that I share with you, hoping to bring you help!

Definition of file:

According to incomplete statistics, there are hundreds of definitions of archives at home and abroad. According to the starting point and angle of definition, it can be divided into five types: regulations, dictionaries, textbooks, monographs and papers. Why are there so many file definitions? The reasons are as follows: 1. Different countries have different political and cultural concepts and different understandings of archives. For example, French-speaking countries believe that once a document (the same below) is formed, it is called an archive, which includes three stages: current role, semi-current role and non-current role; In our country, a document is called a file only after it is filed in the archives department, including two stages: semi-active and passive. In English-speaking countries, a document is called a file only after it enters the archives, which only refers to the inactive stage of the document. 2. People in different periods in the same country will have different understandings of archives. For example, some people in China think that only archived documents that have been specially sorted out and appraised can be called archives, and some people think that only documents that have no current effect can be called archives, and so on. As Su Dongpo, a great poet in the Northern Song Dynasty, wrote in the poem "Topic Xilin Wall"? Looking across the ridge into a peak, how far is it? . Third, people in the same country at the same time have different understandings of archives because of different needs. For example, archives in China's archives law refer to historical records with preservation value, and many archival scholars believe that archives are historical records preserved by archival institutions for future reference. Fourthly, archival science, as a new discipline, is still in an immature stage. Fifth, with the progress of society and the development of science and technology, archives and archival work are constantly developing, and the theory of archival science is always under construction, so the understanding of archives will be enriched and improved. Sixth, people's understanding of objective practice cannot be achieved overnight, and it will deepen with the development of practice. The following are three examples of file definitions:

France * * * and the Archives Law of the Republic of China (promulgated at 1979): All documents produced or received by any natural person or legal person, any state organ or organization, any private institution or department in their own activities, regardless of their formation date, form and materials, are archives. ?

Encyclopedia of the Soviet Union (Third Edition): Archives are the sum of documents and materials formed by organs, individuals and families in their activities. ?

Shellenberger, a famous modern American archivist, wrote his masterpiece Modern Archives? Principle and technology say: what is a document? Documents of any public or private institution are determined to be worthy of permanent preservation for reference and research, and are hidden or selected for storage in archival institutions. ?

Although the above definitions of archives are different, they all think that archives must have three basic elements: creator, retrievable value, diversity of carriers and forms.

The archival circles in China began to discuss the definition of archives from 1950s, and it was not until the birth of "People's Republic of China (PRC) Archives Law" published by1September 5, 987 and implemented by 1988+ 1 year1October 5 that the definition of archives had a relatively consistent understanding basis. The law says: files? Refers to the past and present state organs, social organizations and individuals engaged in political, military, economic, scientific, technological, cultural, religious and other activities directly formed, which is of preservation value to the country and society in various forms of historical records. ?

Definition of enterprise archives:

? Documents? The origin of this word

It has been thousands of years since the archives originated today, but? Documents? The use history of this word is not long.

About what? Documents? This word did not exist before the Ming dynasty, and the titles of different dynasties were different. Shang dynasty said? Books? Zhou Dai said? Medium? , the qin dynasty said? Classic? After the Han and Wei Dynasties? Documents? 、? Copy? 、? Case? 、? Books? Wait a minute.

According to the existing historical materials and files? This word was first seen in the Qing Dynasty. The existing archives of the Qing Dynasty appeared in Residential Notes in the 19th year of Kangxi (1680). Documents? This word. The written expression about it was first seen in Bin Yang's "A Brief Introduction to Liu Bian" (about forty-six years of Qing Emperor Kangxi). The book contains: besides the text, many books are made of wood, and the sender asked the brand to cut the sawdust. What has been stored for a long time is called archives, which has accumulated a lot of pimps. However, what is written on paper today is also called brand and file. ? Documents? Words, Kangxi dictionary interpreted as? Vertical and horizontal frame file? , meaning wooden frame; ? Case? In other words, Shuo Wen Jie Zi is interpreted as? How many genera? Like a little table or something. Therefore, the relevant documents dealing with an event are called a case, and the collected official documents are collectively referred to as? Case? Or? Documents? . ? Documents? And then what? Case? Continuous use is the text files and files stored on the bookshelf. After more than 300 years, it has been used to this day. Now it has become a scientific concept, and its definition is still the deepening and development of its original meaning.

State organs, social organizations and individuals engaged in political, military, economic, scientific, technical, cultural, religious and other activities directly formed with the preservation value of words, charts, audio-visual and other forms of historical records. Archives is one of the earliest documents in history and an important information category in modern society.

Etymology Before the Ming Dynasty in China, there was no distinction between the names of archives and documents, including canon, volume, strategy, Chinese (the provincial form of volume), bamboo slips, documents, books, case files, copywriting, case slips and so on. ? Documents? This word began to appear in the Qing Dynasty. In the 19th year of Kangxi (1680), it was recorded that Emperor Kangxi asked:? Mahara's father and uncle were not in the battle, and I also played the meritorious card. What crime? College students play:? There is no file in the Ministry, so it is not allowed to discuss complaints in the Ministry. ? Vencent Yang's Liu Jibian, written in about forty-six years of Kangxi, explains the archives. The words outside the frame are mostly written in wood, and the sender is called a brand, so it is also because of chopping wood. What has been stored for a long time is called archives, which has accumulated a lot of pimps. ? After entering the customs, I switched to writing on paper, but I got used to it. Is it still called a saved document? Documents? 、? Documents? . In the subsequent laws and regulations, for? Documents? And then what? Documents? The usage of ""has a clearer distinction and is used in many places. Write files, collect and store files? ,? Record files? ,? A copy of the file? Wait a minute. According to the original meaning of Chinese characters, documents? For the cross bar frame, it refers to the shelf for storing things; ? Case? In other words, things like small tables are extended to handle case files of events. ? Documents? That is, the file stored on the bookshelf still has its image and internal meaning, and it has been given new scientific significance.

Loanwords in the archives, European and American languages all come from Greek and Latin archivum, and their characters and pronunciations are very similar. Its original intention is the seat of the administrative organ, and then refers to the place where official documents or other documents are stored, and then refers to the files stored in these places. It is a polysemous word, which can be interpreted as archives, archives, archives, etc., so it often needs to be limited or explained when used. For example, архив in Russian, in the 1930s, mostly referred to archives, but was called архивныйматт of archives. In recent years, the national standard documents of the Soviet Union stipulate that архивныйдокумент (archive file) refers to the general name of archives. In general Japanese vocabulary, there is no file, and ぶんしよ (official document) or こぅぶんよ (official document) is commonly used. However, the National Archives of Japan is called こぅぶ.

There are always different opinions about the historical background and historical period of the original archives. Among them, the more representative views are class social product theory and primitive social product theory, also known as social product theory. There are two main viewpoints in the theory of class social products: ① It is believed that with the emergence of class and the formation of a country, the country needs written records as a tool for management and communication in order to manage the country and mass production and conduct exchanges or wars between countries, so it invented writing. State organs use written records to record and convey various affairs, so they produce documents, which are preserved to form archives. (2) It is believed that although there were characters before the country came into being, there was no social demand for people to save and use archives in primitive society. Only after the class came into being and the country was formed, did the country need to record its affairs and express the will of the ruling class in words, so as to produce documents and store files. The same argument of these two viewpoints is that they all think that the appearance of words and state organs becomes a necessary condition for the emergence of archives; The difference mainly lies in the time when the characters were produced and their differences in the relationship of file formation. There are two main opinions about the products of primitive society: ① It is believed that before the formation of the country, in the later period of primitive society, with the development of production, the expansion of social communication and the invention of writing, people began to use written records, that is, the earliest documents were produced, and they became files after being saved. ② It is considered that it is necessary and possible for human beings to use and preserve archives as early as a long period in primitive society. Before the invention of writing, people recorded records by knotting and lettering, which were the earliest files in history. The same argument of the two viewpoints is that archives originated from the primitive society before the formation of the country; The main difference is that the theory of knotting and engraving archives thinks that these carriers have archival attributes such as records and vouchers, while the theory of writing archives thinks that knotting and engraving cannot independently and systematically embody the functions of recording and transmission, and writing records is the first time in the history of archives.

Judging from the known historical facts and research results, archives are not social phenomena and material entities at the beginning of human beings, but the product of civilization when human society develops to a certain stage. Up to now, the earliest files found around the world to record people's practical activities in writing system are mostly historical relics after the emergence of the country, such as the files on Oracle bones or tortoise shells in China, the clay tablets in the two river basins, and the Egyptian papyrus files. But a file with a relatively complete writing system like Oracle Bone Inscriptions can't be the earliest file in history. This involves the earliest time when characters were invented and applied to records, and their relationship with archives. Whether the original form of non-writing has the nature and degree of archives before the invention of writing remains to be further investigated and studied.

Exploring the origin of archives is helpful to deepen the understanding of the essence of archives, archives and the development law of archives work, so it has become a subject with academic value and practical significance.

For a long time, scholars at home and abroad have different opinions on the definition of archives, which is also reflected in relevant laws, regulations and normative documents. As far as the constituent elements of the connotation of archives concept are concerned, they can basically be divided into two types: ① restrictive type. Historical documents that emphasize permanent preservation value and are kept in specific places such as archives are archives. For example, the Dictionary of Archives Terminology compiled by the International Archives Council (1984) defines archives as? Selected or unselected inactive documents are used by the founders or successors of their functions, or are kept by the appropriate archives because of their archival value? . ② Relaxation type. Historical documents with certain preservation value, no matter where they are kept, are archives, regardless of factors such as permanent preservation value and preservation place. France's Archives Law (1979) stipulates that all documents produced or received by any natural person or legal person, any state organ or organization, any private institution or department in their own activities, regardless of their formation date, form and materials, are archives. ? In view of the fact that China has a network system composed of archives at all levels and a large number of archives of government agencies and units, it implements a centralized, unified and hierarchical management system for archives, and stipulates that all kinds of historical documents that need short-term, long-term or permanent preservation are archives.

As far as the genus relationship of archives concept is concerned, there are roughly three main modes of archives definition: ① Use? Historical records? Or? Original record? It is a concept of genus. For example, the introduction to archival science edited by Wu Baokang is expressed as? Archives are formed by state organs, social organizations and individuals in social activities, and various forms of original records such as words, images and sounds are kept for future reference? . 2 with? Documents? It is a concept of genus. For example, in shellenberger, T.R. wrote Modern Archives? Principle and technology (1956) is defined as? Any documents of public or private institutions, which are determined to be worthy of permanent preservation for reference and research, and are hidden or selected for storage in archival institutions? . 3 with? Information? Or? Information materials? 、? Information carrier? It is a concept of genus. If we think that archives are an orderly information carrier directly formed in the practice of human society and stored for future reference. With what? Documents? The definition of archives as a general concept is popular in the international scope, from? Information? In recent years, the trend of studying the definition of archives from the perspective has developed. 1987 article 2 of the archives law of People's Republic of China (PRC) stipulates that the archives mentioned in this law refer to various forms of historical records, such as words, charts, audio-visual and so on, which are directly formed by past and present state organs, social organizations and individuals engaged in political, military, economic, scientific, technological, cultural and religious activities and are of preservation value to the country and society. ? This clause is not a general definition of archives, but defines the scope of archives managed by the state, which is limited to? Of preservation value to the country and society? However, it reveals the essential attributes of archives, has the basic elements of archives definition and is full of theoretical significance of archives definition, so the archives definition expressed on this basis is more general in China.

Features and Scope ① Archives are historical records transformed from documents. After being used and processed, some files lost their social value and were eliminated with the end of the existing functions such as description and processing. The other part, because it has reference value in the future, I choose to save it as a file. Therefore, there are both connections and differences between archives and documents: documents are the predecessor of archives, and archives are the destination and essence of documents. This also determines the essential attributes of archives and their differences from other documents. Archives are original historical records, not materials written afterwards. Archives are different from ordinary historical relics because they combine documentary and originality. (2) Archives are groups of records accumulated by various organs, organizations and individuals in their specific social activities. Its emergence and existence always comes from a specific forming unit and its functional activities, and thus constitutes the internal relationship between archival materials. This must be the characteristics of accumulation and historical relevance, which makes the existence and movement form of archives different from other materials. It requires respecting the internal relationship between the source and content of archives and maintaining the historical features of the archives system, so as to effectively play the unique role of the archives information system. (3) Because archives are original records of history, rather than copies, they are more reliable, simple and rare. Archives are different from other publications because of their primitive and rare characteristics, and their protection and utilization also have special requirements. ④ The types and forms of archives are rich and varied, with a wide range (see archives classification). Some archives with a long history and special nature or carrier often have a certain transformation relationship or partial overlapping relationship with cultural relics, books and materials, that is, they have duality or multiplicity. So it is collected in museums, libraries and archives. Some countries have laws on this, such as the Archives Law of People's Republic of China (PRC). Cultural relics, books and materials kept by museums, libraries, memorial halls and other units are archives at the same time, which can be managed by the above-mentioned units in accordance with the provisions of laws and administrative regulations. ? The archives and the above-mentioned units shall cooperate with each other in the utilization of archives. ?

People who have read the Definition of Archives _ Definition of Enterprise Archives are also concerned about:

1. Enterprise Archives and Knowledge Management

2. Basic knowledge of enterprise archives management

3. Basic knowledge of file management.

4. Question and answer of archival knowledge

5. Problems and countermeasures of enterprise file management