Classification of documents as a theoretical problem in office work and in the archive

Print PDF

Scientific article

УДК 930.2+930.253+025.4.025

DOI 10.28995/2073-0101-2022-3-756-771

Surovtseva, Nataliya G.

Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, Russian Federation

Classification of documents as a theoretical problem in office work and in the archive

Abstract

For archival and documentary studies, classification issues are of key importance for the development of the methodology of scientific research, the results of which should be applied in practice. The issues of document classification were raised by scientists and specialists in the field of working with documents throughout the Soviet period. K.G. Mityaev paid a lot of attention to the problem of document classification. He was the first to draw attention to the fact that it is necessary to achieve conjugation in the classification of documents in office work and archive. In archival science and archival work, the question of the classification of documents has traditionally been associated with the development of lists of documents with an indication of storage periods. The purpose of the selection of documents for archival storage determined the approach to the classification of documents as the formation of complexes of document systems and subsystems formed as a result of documenting various areas of society. In document science, the problem of document classification resulted in the development of the concept of "document type" and the construction of a specific classification scheme. The problem of classification was actualized in connection with the development of unified documentation systems and raised in the scientific research of A.N. Sokova on document systematics. Her attempt to deepen the classification scheme to the level of a document was unsuccessful and in document science the concept of "document type" was fixed in the meaning of the classification unit of documents with a common self-designation, functional purpose and design features. Modern possibilities of using information technologies in working with documents allow us to take a different look at solving the problem of document classification. It is necessary to abandon the idea of constructing a universal hierarchical classification, which is a flat, linear model. It is necessary to create an integral classification structure, which is based on numerous internal relationships between meanings. The model of such an integral classification is the database of the information system. The classification scheme of the database is based on specific measurements (details, attributes, indicators), the meanings of which are determined using the reference book. At the same time, the composition of classification measurements for all documents in one information system will be the same, but the values of these measurements for each document will be different. Practical possibilities for classifying documents are associated with the need to solve a number of theoretical problems. It is necessary to determine the composition of measurements for constructing a classification scheme and to establish those that are uniform for information systems in management and in the archive.

Keywords

Record, record type, document classification, document classifier, record management.

Download the article: surovtseva_doi

References

BELOVA, E. V., ELPAT'EVSKIJ, A. V., KOLOSOVA, E. V. O «Perechne dokumentov, podlezhashchih priemu v gosudarstvennye arhivy SSSR» [About the “List of documents subject to admission to the State archives of the USSR”. In Russ.]. IN: Sovetskie arkhivy, 1973, no.2, pp. 18–26.

VOROB'EV, G. G. Dokument: informacionnyj analiz. [Document: information analysis. In Russ.]. Moscow, Nauka publ., 1973, 252 p.

LARIN, M. V., MINGALEV, V. S. Istochnikovedenie i dokumentovedenie v paradigme tendencij integracii i specializacii nauk [Source studies and documentation studies in the paradigm of trends in integration and specialization of sciences. In Russ.]. IN: Tvorcheskoe nasledie A.A. Zimina i sovremennaya rossijskaya istoriografiya [A.A. Zimin's creative heritage and modern Russian historiography. In Russ.]. Moscow, 2017, pp.105–122.

LARIN, M.V., YANKOVAYA, V.F., SUROVCEVA, N.G., TERENT'EVA, E.V. Upravlenie dokumentami v cifrovoj ekonomike: organizaciya, reglamentaciya, realizaciya [Records management in the digital economy: organization, regulation, implementation. In Russ.]. Moscow, RSUH publ., 2021, 242 p.

MITYAEV, K.G. O meste, granicah i osnovah klassifikacii v sovetskom arhivovedenii. Trudy MGIAI [About the place, boundaries and basics of classification in Soviet archival science. Proceedings of the MGIAI. In Russ.]. 1962, pp. 173-198.

RUDEL'SON, K.I. Sovremennye dokumentnye klassifikacii [Modern document classifications. In Russ.]. Moscow, Nauka publ., 1973, 267 p.

SOKOVA A.N. Ponyatie vida v dokumentovedenii (dokumentnaya sistematika) [The concept of a species in documentary studies (documentary taxonomy). In Russ.]. IN: Deloproizvodstvo, 2002, no. 3, pp. 7–12.

SUROVCEVA, N. G. K voprosu o sostave metadannyh, podlezhashchih peredache v informacionnuyu sistemu hraneniya elektronnyh dokumentov [On the issue of the composition of metadata to be transferred to the information system for the preservation of electronic records. In Russ.]. IN: Vestnik VNIIDAD, 2021, no. 3, pp. 74–80.

About authors

Surovtseva, Nataliya Gennadievna, PhD in History, associate professor, Russian State University for the Humanities, Department of automated record management systems, associate professor, +7-916-020-21-65, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Submitted 17.03.2022, published (for Citation):

SUROVTSEVA, N. G. Classification of documents as a theoretical problem in office work and in the archive In Russ.]. Vestnik arhivista / Herald of an Archivist, 2022, no. 3, pp. 756-771. doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2022-3-756-771

You can read completely article in the russian historic-archival magazine “The Herald of an Archivist”. Read more about terms of subscription here.

Полностью материал публикуется в российском историко-архивоведческом журнале ВЕСТНИК АРХИВИСТА. Ознакомьтесь с условиями подписки здесь.