Editing Archive (section)

{{Short description|Accumulation of historical records}}
{{redirect2|Archived|Archiving|other uses|Archive (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect-distinguish-for|Digital archive|Digital library||Digital archiving}}
{{redirect|Dark archive|the book about books bound in human skin|Dark Archives}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
[[File:Fondos archivo.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Shelved record boxes of an archive]]
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An '''archive''' is an accumulation of [[Historical document|historical records]] or [[Historical source|materials]], in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usd.edu/library/instruction/glossary.shtml#a |title=Glossary of Library and Internet Terms |access-date=30 April 2007 |publisher=University of South Dakota Library |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090310132820/http://www.usd.edu/library/instruction/glossary.shtml#a |archive-date=2009-03-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Definition of ARCHIVE |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/archive |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601220902/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/archive |archive-date=1 June 2022 |access-date=1 June 2022 |publisher=Merriam-Webster |language=en}}</ref>

Archives contain [[primary source]] documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the history and function of that person or organization.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The OPS Historical Archives - Ophthalmic Photographers' Society |url=https://www.opsweb.org/blogpost/772200/154046/The-OPS-Historical-Archives |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=www.opsweb.org}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=SAA Dictionary: archives |url=https://dictionary.archivists.org/entry/archives.html |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=dictionary.archivists.org}}</ref> Professional [[archivist]]s and historians generally understand archives to be records that have been naturally and necessarily generated as a product of regular legal, commercial, administrative, or social activities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Manoff |first=Marlene |date=January 2004 |title=Theories of the Archive from Across the Disciplines |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/51302 |journal=portal: Libraries and the Academy |language=en |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=9–25 |doi=10.1353/pla.2004.0015 |issn=1530-7131|hdl=1721.1/35687 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> They have been metaphorically defined as "the secretions of an organism",<ref>{{cite book |first=V. H. |last=Galbraith |author-link=Vivian Hunter Galbraith |title=Studies in the Public Records |place=London |year=1948 |page=3 }}</ref> and are distinguished from documents that have been consciously written or created to communicate a particular message to posterity.

In general, archives consist of records that have been selected for permanent or long-term preservation on the grounds of their enduring cultural, historical, or evidentiary value.<ref name=":3" /> Archival records are normally unpublished and almost always unique, unlike books or magazines, of which many identical copies may exist. This means that archives are quite distinct from [[Library|libraries]] with regard to their functions and organization, although archival collections can often be found within library buildings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.archivists.org/glossary/terms/a/archives|title=A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology|access-date=7 December 2012|publisher=Society of American Archivists|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615035638/http://www2.archivists.org/glossary/terms/a/archives|archive-date=15 June 2013}}</ref>

A person who works in archives is called an [[archivist]]. The study and practice of organizing, preserving, and providing access to information and materials in archives is called [[archival science]]. The physical place of storage can be referred to as an archive (more usual in the [[United Kingdom]]), an archives (more usual in the [[United States]]), or a repository.<ref>{{cite web|title=Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology|url=http://www2.archivists.org/glossary/terms/a/archives|publisher=Society of American Archivists|access-date=2013-10-21|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022034302/http://www2.archivists.org/glossary/terms/a/archives|archive-date=22 October 2013}}</ref><ref name="oed">{{OED|archive, n.}}</ref>

The computing use of the term "archive" should not be confused with the record-keeping meaning of the term.