The Society of American Archivists recognizes that access must be restricted to some records with archival value to protect personal privacy, national security, identities of informants, trade secrets, and information obtained in confidence. The presence of private, confidential, or restricted information is not a reason to destroy records. Archivists are professionally competent to meet the challenges presented by the existence of private, confidential, or sensitive information in the archival materials they administer, and accept the responsibility to administer access restrictions as an integral part of professional work. Professional archivists also accept the responsibility to consult widely with the research community when determining the long-term value of records. Preserving electronic records and providing continuing access to them will require significant changes in recordkeeping policies and practices and an enhanced role for archivists in designing recordkeeping systems, appraising records, and setting standards for retention and preservation of records.
Electronic records pose significant challenges to the archival profession.
The effective management of electronic records requires a clear definition of what is a record and what is not, a mechanism to segregate records from other types of information, and administrative procedures and technical means to manage records over time. Recordkeeping systems must be designed to make appropriate distinctions between records and non-record material so that such distinctions are made systematically, consistently, and as automatically as possible. This process is time consuming, labor intensive, and very costly. To reduce the risk of legal actions, loss of valuable records, and expensive recovery procedures, recordkeeping requirements must be identified so that systems can segregate records from non-record material automatically. Organizations must then take appropriate measures to ensure that records with continuing value are not corrupted inadvertently, or intentionally deleted, lost through system failure, or rendered inaccessible from hardware or software obsolescence.